ASL Grammar Rules American Sign Language IS NOT English. This is a common misconception. People think to learn ASL they just have to memorize signs. That is not the case. The language has three parts: vocabulary, grammar and affect (nonmanual signals to show grammar markers and tone of voice). Each of these three equally make up the language, and once you get all three you must master delivery. That means that if you have great handshapes on vocabulary, great grammar, and fluency is nice, but you don’t use your face you will not be earning an A. You MUST use nonmanuals. Yes, it is hard. That doesn’t matter. You must use your face for grammar markers and for tone of voice. In addition, you cannot sign everything in English word order. You will use the grammar structures below to create your presentations. Focus on topic/comment. Remember that in ASL everything goes in a “what comes first” kind of order. The English sentence, “I was relieved when the plane landed and no one was hurt,” does not go in order of what happened first… this sentence in ASL is: I was relieved when the plane landed and no one was hurt ____when____ _neg_ PLANE LAND HURT NONE ME RELIEVED. Another example: I took two cookies out of the cookie jar ______t______ COOKIE JAR COOKIES 2 I TAKE. Notice that the words we sign are in capital letters and the glossing marks are in lower case letters. Follow this format. Learning any language takes time. ASL is no different. Invest the necessary time needed to earn the grade you want, because the grade you earn is the grade you will get. Non-Manual Signals (NMS) What your face and body are doing—showing grammar markers through eyebrow and mouth movements and showing emotion through facial expressions. Your NMS is your “tone of voice” in ASL. Miscellaneous little words Am, is, the, a, be… Leave them out. We don’t sign them, we don’t gloss them. Hyphenated signs When multiple English words make up one sign the English words are hyphenated. Example: 3-OF-US, FALL-DOWN, LOOK-UP + Signs Compound signs have a + between them. Example: BED+ROOM, STEP+DAD Reference Points Use IX (index finger) to place things in your signing space. Example: ___t___ fs-BOB IX-he I LIKE. Subject/Verb/Object (SVO) This structure follows English word order. It is used for simple sentences ONLY. NMS matches emotion. Example: smile/nod I LIKE DOGS. Topic/Comment __t__ Topic precedes the comment. NMS eyebrows up on the topic, NMS matches the emotion on the comment. A lower case t is placed above the topic ___t___ Example: __t__ smile/nod DOGS I LIKE. Yes/No Question y/n-q or __q__ Order of the signs is variable. The non-manual is to have the eyebrows up the whole question. Lean in with your head and conclude with a closing signal to indicate you are done and it is time for the other person to answer you. There is no DO… ever in a yes/no question. Example: __________y/n-q_________ YOU LIKE DOGS YOU? __________q___________ DOGS YOU LIKE YOU? Closing Signal Repeat the pronoun at the end of your sentence to show you are done signing. Example: ___t___ smile/nod DOGS I LIKE I. Question Mark Use as a closing signal or to show anyone in the group may answer the question. DO NOT use with a wh ?. ________q________ Example: YOU LIKE DOG? shift Shifting shows the concept of AND or allows clarity in a list of items. Example: _____↑_____ BREAKFAST I EAT BACON shift EGGS shift TOAST. Wh Question (whq) Sign order follows topic/comment with the question word at the end. NMS eyebrows up on the topic and down on the question ___________whq__________ Example: DOGS YOU HAVE WHY? Negation Adding NO, NOT, NONE or NEVER to a sentence to make it negative or adding a negative incorporation of a sign like DON’T-WANT, DON’T-LIKE, DON’T-KNOW. Put __n__ or _neg_ above the whole sentence or just the negative sign in the sentence. You must shake your head for the non-manual. Example: __t__ ____neg____ DOG I DON’T LIKE. Directional Verbs Signs that move from where the action begins to where the action ends. These words are hyphenated in the gloss because multiple words make up one sign. Ex: HELP-ME, TELL-YOU, PHONE-YOU, etc. _____________y/n-q_____________ Example: TOMORROW you-HELP-me MOVE? Tense Time signs come first in the sentence to set up when something happened. NMS eyebrows up on the time. The arrow above the tense is not a required grammar marker, but it is a reminder to raise eyebrows on the tense. Example: ↑ _neg_ TOMORROW I NOT BUY DOG. ↑ __t__ TOMORROW DOG I BUY. Rhetorical Question (_rh-q_ or _rq_) Acts as a conjunction connecting two short sentences, emphasizes what comes next in the sentence or gets rid of the English word BECAUSE. NMS eyebrows up on the question word. Also, include any other necessary NMS to match emotion. Example: ___t___ _rh-q_ DOGS I LIKE WHY THEY NICE. _rh-q_ I LIKE DOGS WHY THEY NICE. Initialization Using a letter handshape to narrow a broad topic. This structure has no required order or glossing mark. Examples: CLASS, FAMILY, TEAM, GROUP MATH; ALGEBRA; GEOMETRY; TRIGONOMETRY; CALCULUS SCIENCE; BIOLOGY; CHEMISTRY Listing: Listing on your non-dominant hand to discuss 2 or more items. You can list up to 9. Be sure to use the number handshape on the non-dominant hand that matches the number of items you are going to sign about. Example: I LIKE IX-index DOG, IX-middle CAT I ENJOY IX-thumb READ, IX-index WATCH TV, IX-middle RUN I HAVE IX-index DOG, IX-middle CAT, IX-ring FISH, IX-pinky BIRD I LIKE IX-thumb READ, IX-index TV, IX-middle RUN, IX-ring SING, IX-pinky EAT Contrastive Structure Shoulder shifting to compare two like things. Set up the two things/persons first and place them to the left and right. Use shoulder shifting to compare them using pronoun placement Pronoun Incorporation Incorporating a number handshape into the pronoun sign. Use numbers 3-8 only. This structure requires no glossing marks. Example: ___t___ fs-BOB, fs-SUE, 3-OF-US STORE GO. Agent Marker (am) Adding the person sign to a verb to make a noun. This structure requires no glossing marks. Examples: COOK + agent marker = CHEF TEACH + agent marker = TEACHER LEARN + agent marker = STUDENT DANCE + agent marker = DANCER When glossing write the word in full: TEACHER, DANCER, STUDENT, and CHEF There are some signs that do not require the AM like SECRETARY, PRESIDENT, POLICE OFFICER, FIREMAN, DOCTOR, NURSE, and DENTIST. You will need to memorize these exceptions. Rule of Nine Incorporating a number (2-9 only) into an age or time base sign to change the duration or amount of time. This sign may need to be placed at the beginning of the sentence if it sets up a time frame… The time structure does not require a glossing mark but I often tell students to put an arrow up above it to help them remember to raise their eyebrows. Examples: OLD-4; OLD-2; TIME-6; TIME-9 Dollar Twist Numbers 1-9 twist from palm out to palm in—no $ sign is used. No specific glossing mark needed. $ Signs 10 + Sign the number then the dollar sign. No specific glossing mark needed. Cents Sign the number then the CENT sign or the CENT sign then the number. No specific glossing mark needed. Dollar/Cent Combinations For number combinations follow the $ rules above, but do not use the CENT sign. The Age Spot… is at the chin. No specific glossing mark is needed. Ages 1-9 Ages 10+ Ages 13, 14, 15 start with the index finger at the chin and pull down into the number. start with the index finger or with the age sign and pull down into the number. have a special movement. Place the appropriate number hand shape on the chin and pull down before making the number hand shape movement. The Time Spot… is at the wrist. Times 1-9 Times 10-12 a.m. and p.m. start with the number hand shape at the wrist and pull up. start with the index finger on the time spot and pull up into the number hand shape. are made with the MORNING and EVENING signs. Conditional Sentences If, then statements. The condition must come first. NMS? Eyebrows up on the entire condition; NMS on then statement matches the intended emotion. Put _cond_ or __if__ above the condition. Example: ______cond↑______ IF BOB SHOW-UP, I LEAVE. Possessives Use the POSS sign or the ‘S twist FINISH Can be used as a question to ask if someone is finished with a task. Can be used to show that something has been done already. Can be used as a conjunction in place of THEN, NEXT, etc. NMS mouth the word FISH while signing FINISH ______when____ __t__ Example: SCHOOL FINISH HOME GO. POW! Hit with a sickness or something unexpected that is positive or negative. No specific glossing mark is needed. Number Types Numbers: 1-1,000,000 Ordinals: 1st, 2nd, 3rd Listing: Use the correct number handshape when listing Money: Dollar Twist, Dollar Sign and Cents Pronouns: up to 8 Ages: Use Rule of 9 Times: Uses Rule of 9 Modals MAYBE, WILL, FINISH, CAN, SHOULD, MUST These signs do not require specific glossing marks. However, note the slight difference between SHOULD and MUST… the non-manual. On SHOULD the eyebrows are raised. Negative Modals NOT-YET, CAN’T, REFUSE (WON’T). These signs require the negative marker ____neg____ Classifier a hand shape that adds details to a situation by representing the size, shape, placement and movement of a noun DCL: descriptive (describes an object or a person) LCL: Locative (representing an object in a place) SCL: Semantic (vehicle or person) BCL: Body (classifier enacts the verb) ICL: Instrument (part of the body manipulates an object, like turning a crank) BPCL: Body part classifier (foot tapping) PCL: Plural classifier (long line of people) ECL: Element (water dripping) Some examples are SCL3: wheeled vehicles SCL1: people up to 5 BCL^: legs or eyes Remember when glossing a classifier the classifier is in upper case letters and what the classifier represents is in lower case letters: Example: WOW, CL4: long line THERE. Recurring Sign Used when something happens again and again at a different time. Time signs in English begin with EVERY… A specific movement is added to the time sign and at times the movement of the activity sign must be modified as well. The verbs will usually have a short, repetitive motion. Example: ↑ Time sign slides EVERY MORNING I THROW-UP++. THROW-UP is repeated in short, abrupt movements Continuous Sign Used when something happens for an extended period of time. Time signs in English begin with ALL… A specific movement is added to the time sign and at times the movement of the activity sign must be modified as well. The verbs usually move in a circular fashion. Example: ↑ Time sign moves up ALL MORNING I THROW-UP-cont. THROW-UP is repeated in a circular motion Loan Signs A fingerspelled word with missing letters and a special movement. It is identified by the # sign. Loan signs are used for speed or emphasis. Examples: #CAR, #WHAT, #CAN, #SALE, #EARLY… When Clause begins with statements like, “When I was …” or “When _________ happened…” Eyebrows are up on the entire when clause. The word WHEN is needed in the English translation. If it is not needed it is just a tense sign and it comes first in the sentence. The marker is ___when___. Three types _when_ Age: OLD+5 START SCHOOL. When I was 5-years-old I started school. ______when______ Event: COLLEGE FINISH GOOD JOB OFFER. When I finished college I got a good job offer. Unexpected Change !WRONG! The WRONG sign twists as it comes up to the face. It always has a negative connotation __________________↑_________________ Example: DURING COLLEGE SOPHOMORE YEAR !WRONG! DAD SICK POW! CANCER DROPOUT MUST. Role Shifting Shifting from side to side to adopt the character of the person signing. This eliminates the repetitive, “He said, she said.” This feature of the language fits into ASL story telling and is a purer form of ASL than signing, “HE SAID …” or “SHE SAID …” When glossing place each person, then put <rs> in front of the dialogue portion to indicate you are shifting from side to side. Shift from your hips, NOT your feet.
