English and Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) and English share several similarities, including their capacity for nuanced expression, the use of grammar and syntax to convey meaning; both languages serve as vital tools for communication and cultural identity, reflecting the rich diversity of human experience. Lets examine both similarities and differences.

English and ASL

Morphology

Phonology Cont.

Grammar

Phonology

Question words like "who", "what", "when", "where", "why", and "how" go at the end of a sentence.

American Sign Language (ASL) has several sentence structure options, including Subject-Verb-Object (SVO), Time-Subject-Verb-Object (TSVO), and Object-Subject-Verb (OSV).

Syntax

ASL isn't limited to only SVO structure

English and American sign language have different word orders typically following a “topic-comment” or “subject-predicate” sentence structure. For example, in English we would say “I went to Missouri a year ago”; however, in ASL it would be “last year me went (go + finish) Missouri”.

• Heres how we break it down:
• Time: "Year past"
• Subject: "Me"
• Verb: "Went" (go + finish)
• Object: "Missouri”

We can even see examples of phonology in Signed languages outside of American sign language! Heres some beautiful examples of minimal pairs amungst different Sign Languages.

Morphology

Morphology in sign language is seen when the meaning of a sign can change when movement is used, for instance when a noun sign changes into a verb sign. To illustrate, the sign for "chair" is made by tapping the dominant pointer and middle fingers against the non-dominant pointer and middle fingers twice or more. The sign for "sit" is made by tapping these fingers together only once, but with more force.

Understanding Sign Language Development: Acquisition of Grammatical Facial Expressions

Facial Expressions, Emotions, and Sign Languages

Facial Expressions Hanshapes & Movement

Facial expressions and hand movements can be used to add emphasis or detail to a sign. For example, the sign for "long" can be emphasized and lengthened to express "very long". The sign for "tired" can be emphasized and the shoulders can be slumped to express "very tired".

Handshapes and movment are used to indicate personal, possessive, demonstrative, and reflective pronouns. To clarify, the index finger handshape indicates personal pronouns like "me", "you", "he/she/it", "we", "you-all", and "they". The "B" handshape indicates possessive pronouns like "my", "your", "his/hers", "our", and "their". The "Y" handshape indicates demonstrative pronouns like "that", "these", and "those". Whereas the "A" handshape indicates reflective pronouns like "myself", "yourself", "him/herself", "ourselves", "yourselves", and "themselves".