American Sign Language 1
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THE BASICS
American Sign Language
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A sign is a
or
that
conveys a concept.
Each sign is made with a specific hand
configuration or
, placed at various
locations on or near the signer's body.
If the handshape, movement, or location
changes, the
of the sign also
changes.
ASL Continued…
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ASL is a
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If you do not understand or learn a vocabulary
word/concept, then you will become behind.
ASL is evolving
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language
New signs are ________ daily, therefore more
signs/concepts will be added to the lists, class, and books
throughout the year.
There are ______ ways to sign a word or concept

Please be understanding and ______ any new signs that
may _________ from what you have seen or used.
EYE CONTACT
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ASL is a
language
While conversing in ASL
one _______ maintain
full eye contact
Do NOT look at the
__________ hands
will be lost if
eye contact is broken
THE EYE QUESTIONS:
(please write on a separate piece of paper)
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If you are having an ASL conversation
and you look away once, what will the
deaf person think?
If you are having an ASL conversation
and you keep looking away, what will
the deaf person think?
Why must you maintain eye contact
when having an ASL conversation?
Check your Answers:
1.
2.
3.
They will think that you have ended the
conversation.
If you keep looking away they will think that
you are rude or angry.
You must watch the signer or you won’t
“hear” the conversation. Deaf people must
watch the signer. They cannot take notes,
or look away during class.
BODY LOCATION
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Signs are made from
the _____ of the _____
down to the _______.
Imagine a _________
being drawn from your
head down to your
________.
Signs must be made
________ this rectangle
or they become difficult
_________ and
meaning can be lost.
LOCATION CONT…
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Signs are formed
only certain
areas of the _______.
Approximately ______ of all signs are formed
in the head and neck area because they can be
__________.
The
of a sign frequently
contributes to its _______.
For example, many signs that denote _______
are formed near the heart, whereas signs
related to _________ concepts are formed
near the ________.
Movement and Meaning
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Much of the meaning of signs may be
___________ through _____________ in
relation to the body.
For example the sign "children" moves as if
___________ children on the top of the head.
Or "school" is signed as if one is a teacher,
clapping their hands to get the class'
attention.
Noticing movement helps to formulate
__________________, which are vital for full
comprehension of a sign.
SIGN PRODUCTION
Signs are Produced in
TWO ways:
1.
Signs
2.
Signs
a. Symmetry
Condition
b. Dominance
Condition
ONE HANDED SIGNS
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Always performed by
the
hand
Movement can be in
_____ direction(single,
double, repetitive)
Hand can be in any of
the acceptable
____________
Sign must be
performed ________
the rectangle
Examples: cat,
bathroom
Two Handed Signs: Symmetry
Condition
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Both hands ______
Both hands have
same
of
movement
Both hands have the
same ___________
Example: family,
maybe
TWO HANDED SIGNS:
DOMINANCE CONDITION
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Each hand has a
different _________
Only the active hand
moves while the
other hand (passive)
serves as a ______.
The passive hand
does not move.
Example: money,
word
THE FIVE BASIC PARTS
(PARAMETERS) OF A SIGN
Every language has 5 Linguistic components:
 Phonology (study of how sounds are
____________ and used)
 Semantics (the __________ of a word)
 Syntax (word ________)
 ______________ (the meaning of the word)
 Pragmatics (how you ________ the word)
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(this WILL be on many tests)
PARAMETERS for ASL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Handshape
Movement
___________
Palm Orientation
Non-Manual Signals(______________)
**** MEMORIZE THIS! YOU MUST KNOW THIS ALL YEAR!
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Ex. Summer, dry, ugly
Why use the 5 Parameters?
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If you can learn to ________ ASL signs
using these categories, you will be able
to more easily ___________ the sign.
Each sign will begin to look ________
versus a blur of hands!
ASL Handshapes
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The handshape is generally the most
___________ component of a sign.
It is the configuration the hand assumes
when ______________ to make a sign.
The most frequently used handshapes are the
letters of the _______________________
and the manual numbers
Most signs can be organized into _____
possible handshapes.
40 ASL Handshapes
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"A"
Examples: with, aunt, sweetheart, practice, live
"Open A"
Examples: girl, not, which, remember, tomorrow,
yesterday
"B"
Examples: daughter, son, blue, brown, door
"Open B" or "Closed 5"
Examples: please, paper, nice, school, thank you
"Bent B" or "Bent Closed 5"
Examples: know, near, how, have, excuse me
"C"
Examples: cousin, class, marry, wife, husband, chocolate
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"D"
Examples: dorm, divorce, date, department
"E"
Examples: elevator, elementary school,
educate
"F"
Examples: France, cat, family, tea
"Open F"
Examples: meat/steak, big-eyes
"G"
Examples: peabrain!, green, mustache
"H"
Examples: fun, hard-of-hearing, horse, name,
train
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"I"
Examples: if/suppose, art/draw, institute
"K"
Examples: take-care, people, two-of-us, purple
"L"
Examples: later, library, live, sister, brother
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"Bent L"
Examples: moon, run, camera, big
"M"
Examples: medical, math, member
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"N"
Examples: nurse, niece, nephew, no
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"O"
Examples: sunrise, none, office, owl, teach
"Baby O" or "Closed X"
Examples: perfect, write, celebrate
"Flattened O"
Examples: give, home, eat, boy, number, buy, money
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"R"
Examples: restroom, rules, ready
"S"
Examples: yes, motorcycle, car, bike, coffee, how-many
"T"
Examples: team, toilet,
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"U"
Examples: cute, uncle, university
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"V"
Examples: stuck, see, either, stand, fall down
"Bent V"
Examples: stairs, ride-in, speechless
"W"
Examples: weird, world, water
"X"
Examples: tease, hearing aid, apple, friend,
expression, key
"Y"
Examples: silly, oh-I-see, same, cow, waddle,
New York, phone
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"L-I"
Examples: I love you, fly, why, California
"1-I"
Examples: tent/camping, cigarette, liquor, ironic
"1"
Examples: stars, go-to, where, black, deaf, candy,
boring, sign language
"3"
Examples: lousy, vehicle, clumsy
"Bent 3"
Examples: bug, radio, rooster, devilish
"4"
Examples: line of people, talk, chat, meeting
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"5"
Examples: fingerspelling, mom,dad, man,
woman, fine, candle, what
"Bent 5" or "Claw 5"
Examples: OOPS!, roommate, machine, want
"8"
Examples: hate/despise, light (as in bulb),
pumpkin
"Open 8"
Examples: what's up!, feel, sick, tendency
In some ASL signs there is more than one
______________ used or the sign might
______ with one handshape and end with
another. Pay attention to handshape the next
time you sign.
MOVEMENT
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Single Movement (SM) - the sign moves _________. An
example of this are the signs "not", "tomorrow", "now"
and "yuck!".
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Double Movement (DM) - the sign moves two times.
Examples of _______________ in signs is "take-care",
"door", and "business".
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All of these signs go from _________ position to the
__________ position one time only.
Each movement is repeated twice.
Repetitive Movement (RM) - the sign moves
_________________ two times. Examples of this are
the signs "light" (as in bulb), "children", and "school".
Why is movement important?
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If the movement is not ________ you
can sign inaccurately.
___________ of the movement may
indicate several things--the _________
of the action, if a noun is plural or
___________, or the distinction
between a noun and a _______.
________ of the movement may
indicate volume or size.
Speed and vigor indicates __________.
For example…
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If you sign "yuck" with repetitive
movement that means "throw-up".
If you sign "now" repetitively, rather
than one time, it means "today".
The same holds true with the sign
"business". If it's signed with repetitive
movement it means "busy".
PALM ORIENTATION
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Another component of a sign is its orientation,
or the ____________ in which the _______ is
turned.
The direction that the _______ of the hand
faces (up, down, left, or right) is a useful way
of ___________ the orientation because once
the palm is described, the _________ of the
fingers and the back of the hand is obvious.
Noticing _________________ will help you
_________ a sign.
Examples
FACIAL EXPRESSION/NONMANUAL SIGNALS (NMS)
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Show _________
Give _______ their meanings
Can ________ the meaning of a sign
Ex. Like (smile)
Like (negative head shake)
Eyebrows up: ________ Questions
Eyebrows _________: WH question (who,
what, when, where, why & how)
WITHOUT _______ THE SIGN IS INCORRECT!
NMM/NMS
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If you can execute the first 4 ___________ of a
sign, you can succeed in correctly making a sign.
In _________ languages, additional semantic
information is carried through one's ___________.
In ______, additional semantic information is
carried through one's _______ and
____________________. The signed message is
quite _________ if you shake your head yes, or
nod your head no while signing "married".
When a person signs all of the components of a
sign including ______________, there is a
complete thought--__________. Without the
Nonmanual Markers there is merely a string of
signs.
TAKING NOTES
Taking notes in reference to the ____________
helps you recreate the sign and ________ it in
your memory.
For example, let's take the sign "cat" and take
notes:
 Sign:
"cat"
 H.S.(HandShape):
"F"
 Palm (orientation):
out
 Location:
dominant cheek
 Movement:
RM (Repetitive
Movement), like cat's whiskers
 Nonmanual:
none
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REFERENCES
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http://www.ltcconline.net/ASLLT/scsign
components.htm
CSW workshop information
Melissa George
My experiences
Practice
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Now practice the vocabulary words we have
learned and be ready to see them on the test
AND any of the signs I emphasized on the 40
handshapes slide.
Ex: good morning, toilet, my, name, do-do,
afternoon, evening, bad, yes, no, what’s up,
deaf, hearing, hard of hearing, camp/tent,
elevator, train, sweetheart, please, sorry,
thank you, chocolate, purple, party