Examining Echo Phonology in American Sign Language (ASL)
Numerous research studies have been conducted across the globe in locations
such as Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, and England regarding mouth components in
sign languages (Boyes-Braem and Sutton-Spence (2001). These components have been
divided into two categories: mouthing and mouth gestures. In their introduction, BoyesBraem and Sutton-Spence summarize the works of various authors to define mouthing
and mouth gestures. Mouthing is the use of spoken languages that is produced
simultaneously as manual signs; is used for emphasis; is used in loan signs and contact
signing. Mouth gestures are defined as obligatory mouth patterns that function as separate
morphemes and are not derived from spoken language (Boyes-Braem (2001). Bergman
and Lars (2001) propose using visual phonemes to represent the sequential order of
opened and closed segments of mouth components. They propose labeling open mouth
components as (+) and closed mouth components as (-).
Woll (2001) refers to the three components that make up mouth gestures:
adverbials, enaction and echo phonology, the bulk of her work focusing on echo
phonology. Woll argues that echo phonology is a component of mouth gestures due to
obligatory mouth patterns. Echo phonology is a theory that defines as a subset of mouth
gestures that are driven by and mirror the open/close movements of manual signs in
addition to changes in the mouth’s configuration known as echo syllables. Woll
emphasizes that movement in echo phonology has no relation to the sign’s meaning and
its movement of the mouth is obligatory or necessary to the manual production and the
sign requires the associated mouth gesture. As you can see in Fig. 1, the sign WON is
produced with the mouth and hand opened and completed with the mouth and hand
closed. Influenced by work from Bergman and Lars (2001), we propose the directional
pattern will be labeled as open (-C) and closed (+C); these labels can be applied to both
the mouth and hand.
We examined whether echo phonology applies to mouth components in ASL by
analyzing various videos of ASL narratives. From what has been learned from Woll
about echo phonology and the data collected for this study, we have concluded that
Woll’s theory can be applied to ASL mouthing, moreover, we have also found that the
directional pattern goes from closed to open but can be reversed going from open to
closed as seen in Fig. 2. In addition, we identified an emerging pattern, that is, body
contact mechanism (BCM). We propose that the label (+) represents contact with the
body and (--) represents no contact with the body. In this study, BCM can be defined
when contact is made with the body, the signer’s mouth is closed and when movement is
made and the contact is broken, the signer’s mouth opens, as seen in Fig. 3. The data
shown showcases the possibilities of another subgroup of mouthing, much like the one
we refer to as body contact mechanism as part of echo components.
Key: +C=closed
Fig. 1
Mouth
Hands
-C=opened
WON
Start
-C
-C
Fig. 3b
Mouth
Body Contact
Start
-C
-C
-- = no body contact
Fig. 2a MANY
Finish
+C
+C
Fig. 2b GOT
Mouth
Hands
+= body contact
Mouth
Hands
Start
+C
+C
Finish
-C
-C
Fig. 3a AGE-FOUR
Finish
+C
+C
Mouth
Body Contact
Start
+C
+
Finish
-C
--
MAD
Start
+C
+
Finish
-C
-References
Bergman, B. & Lars, W. (2001). A preliminary analysis of visual mouth segments in Swedish Sign
Language. In P. Boyes Braem & R. Sutton-Spence (Eds.), The hands are
the head of the mouth: The mouth as articulator in sign languages (pp. 51-68). Hamburg,
Germany: Signum-Verlag.
Boyes Braem, P., & Sutton-Spence, R. (2001). Introduction. In P. Boyes Braem & R.
Sutton-Spence (Eds.), The hands are the head of the mouth: The mouth as
articulator in sign languages (pp. 1-9). Hamburg, Germany: Signum-Verlag.
Kraft, B. (Narrator). (1997). Tomorrow dad will still be Deaf and other stories [Motion
picture]. Dawn Sign Press. Video Clips: Telephone Nightmares & Trouble with
Tarantulas.
Woll, B. (2001). The sign that dares to speak its name: Echo Phonology in British Sign
Language (BSL). In P. Boyes Braem & R. Sutton-Spence (Eds.), The hands are
the head of the mouth: The mouth as articulator in sign languages (pp. 87-98). Hamburg,
Germany: Signum-Verlag.