American Sign Language

Maybe you read the Contact Sign Language page and decided that you wanted to move full-force into the Land of ASL. This decision, although not at all a bad one, is to be taken seriously. Remember that, contrary to popular belief, learning American Sign Language is as challenging and time consuming as learning any other second language. The grammar, sentence structure, syntax, and such are all completely different than that of English. However, if you’re up to the task and you have realistic expectations (meaning you don’t expect to be fluent in one year), this can be a rewarding and wonderful experience.

Sign language classes are offered throughout the community at schools and colleges, churches and recreation departments. Some of these are excellent, and some are very poor. The classes may be ASL, CSL, SEE or some mixture of all. Instructors may be experienced, professional educators, or people who have only taken a few classes themselves. Buyer beware!

Of course, Deaf Expressions offers wonderful classes, workshops, and even tutoring where you can learn to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing people and have fun doing it! Go here for any upcoming events and here for tutoring information!

There are no exact English translations for ASL signs. Because there are no direct translations, we give each sign an English “gloss,” which is basically the closest English word to match the meaning of the ASL sign. There are many ASL signs that simply do not have an equal in English. This is something you will learn to convey as you progress. For now, keep in mind that the glosses are not specific words represented by signs, but the closest word to match the meaning. A couple of examples might be:

Like any other language, American Sign Language has its own set of grammar rules to follow. ASL, at times, tends to be a bit more flexible than other languages, but there are still specific rules that must be followed. I will cover just a handful of rules to get you started understanding the way the sentence structure works. Remember, ASL is NOT English on the hands. If you have to go to the store, you’re not going to sign each of those words if you’re truly using ASL. Let’s proceed...

1. Eye contact is a requirement in ASL (and actually any time you are conversing with a Deaf individual). If you look away from a signed conversation, even if it is simply because you are used to that from the Hearing culture, it is a sign to a Deaf person that you’re not interested and can be very offensive. Make sure that eye contact remains throughout the conversation, looking away only when you need to do so for a reference point (discussed later). If someone approaches you, hold your hand out to that someone and finish your conversation. If you cannot do that, simply apologize to the Deaf person and quickly answer the other person (remember to continue to sign if you are in the presence of a deaf person, even if you’re not talking to them).
2. Facial expressions are as important in ASL as the signs themselves. There are actually specific facial expressions for certain grammatical concepts. Even if you are not trying to follow the grammar, you should always show facial expression when you sign. Watching a signer with a blank face is like listening to a speaker with a monotone voice: boring and often confusing.
3. Topic/Comment -- In these sentences, the topic is always described first to give the reader an idea of what you’re discussing. Instead of signing “He’s mad because the dog bit him,” you would sign “Dog bit him, he’s mad” (or DOG BITE HIM, MAD HE). Also, your eyebrows should raise as you state the topic and your head should bend slightly forward. You can then stop as you're stating the comment (although specific non-manual markers will still apply).
4. Tense comes first. In order to place a sentence in a specific time frame, it’s important to let the reader know when you’re referring to. If you wanted to tell someone, “I couldn’t sleep last night,” you would simply acknowledge the time first: “Last night, I couldn’t sleep.” (or LAST NIGHT All-NIGHT TOSS-AND-TURN). Again, for the tense (LAST NIGHT), your eyebrows should raise and your head should bend slightly forward.
5. Yes/No Questions -- This type of sentence requires you use a specific facial expression. If you signed YOU WANT EXERCISE without the correct facial expression, it could be perceived that you are telling someone that they want to exercise. Instead, make sure that you raise your eyebrows and tilt head forward while you’re asking, in order to show that you’re looking for an answer. In longer sentences of this type, you will describe the topic first and then ask the question at the end of the sentence. For example, if you wanted to ask if that blue house across the street is theirs, you would sign HOUSE BLUE ACROSS-STREET, YOURS? While you are signing the question part of the sentence only (YOURS), you would use the non-manual signal of the raised eyebrows and tilted head.
6. WH- Questions -- These are questions that are asking who, what, why, when, where, how, how many and how much. They’re looking for answers; not simply a "yes" or "no." Again, in this type of sentence, facial expression is of the utmost importance here. Also, the question usually comes at the end of the sentence. An example would be: WANT EAT DINNER, WHERE? As you sign the question word (WHERE?), you need to squeeze your eyebrows together (this is different than a Yes/No question), tilt your head forward and hold the sign for the question word a few seconds.
7. Pronominalization -- This is a big word that basically means pronouns (I, he, she, him, her, it, they, their, etc.). This can turn into a rather lengthy explanation, so I will attempt to summarize. If you are referring to a person, place, or thing that is in your presence, you will sign the sign for the word (HOUSE, etc.) or fingerspell the name (M-A-R-Y) and then you will point to the reference. From then on, any time you want to talk about that specific reference, you simply point to it. For example: “My friend, Mary, wants to meet you, She used to live in Chicago,” would be signed: MY FRIEND M-A-R-Y (point to Mary) WANT MEET YOU. SHE (signed by simply pointing at her) FROM WHERE? CHICAGO.  If the person or object is not in your presence, then you would sign or fingerspell the reference and then point to a place in space. From then on, whenever you point to that particular space, your audience will know you mean that reference. MY FRIEND F-R-E-D (point to the right), HE (point right) DEPRESSED. That space will continue to mean FRED until you put a different person or thing in that reference place.
8. Rhetorical Questions -- These are questions that the signer asks and then answers himself. The signer isn’t actually asking a question that is expected to be answered by whomever they are conversing with. An example would be: I grew up in Philadelphia: I GROW-UP WHERE? PHILADELPHIA. Or “I’m not feeling well because I have a stomach-ache,” would be signed: I SICK WHY? STOMACH-ACHE. The non-manual marker (facial expressions, etc.) are similar to Yes/No Questions, except the eyebrows are raised when the question is signed (I GROW- UP WHERE? PHILADELPHIA would have the raised eyebrows on WHERE?).
9. In a simple sentence, the verb can be placed before or after the object. For example: ME WANT SWIM or SWIM WANT ME are both correct. Same thing applies to adjectives. It is very common for the adjective to come after the object. HOUSE BLUE, WOMAN PRETTY, DUCKLING YELLOW, although some signers do not follow this all the time.
10. Conditional Sentences -- In these sentences, first the condition is described and then the outcome. SUPPOSE JOE NOT SHOW UP. DO-what YOU? You can also use a fingerspelled loan sign of I-F. It can be used interchangeably with SUPPOSE, but is often used to emphasis the condition: I-F YOU WIN, YOU CHAMPION. Raised eyebrows and forward head tilt accompany the condition part of the phrase (I-F YOU WIN, SUPPOSE JOE NOT SHOW UP, etc.).
11. Negation -- This is making a positive statement into a negative one. You can negate a thought by placing a negative sign (NO, NOT, NONE, NOTHING, NEVER, NOT-YET, DON’T WANT, NOT-POSSIBLE, NO-GOOD, ILLEGAL, NOT-FAIR, NOT-WORTHWHILE, WON’T, REFUSE, CAN’T, DON’T, DENY,  DON’T BELIEVE, etc.) before the verb or by first describing a topic and then signing the appropriate negative sign or simply giving a negative head shake. An easy way to negate something is simply shaking your head. You could sign I DON’T-LIKE LOBSTER, or you could sign I LIKE LOBSTER while shaking your head and signing LIKE. Simple, eh?

A mouth morpheme is the way your mouth should be shaped to convey different meanings and grammatical aspects of ASL. There are many mouth morphemes and  this truly is a very advanced part of ASL. I will go over a few well-known mouth morphemes that you should keep in mind while signing. Keep in mind that without photographs, this may be hard to understand. I recommend the book and video set entitled, “DEAF TEND YOUR,” or the video, “Mouth Morphemes.” Here are a few to keep in mind. In general, where the word is underlined in the example is where the mouth movement will be.

EEK / hate, despise, yuck / MANY CHILDREN HATE WHAT? GREEN VEGETABLES

I-I-I FINISH YOU                                                        Stop bragging!

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