ASL Linguistics Chapter 9 ASL Syntax Worksheet Answer Key PDF

# ASL Linguistics chapter 4D - ASL Syntax ## Syntax Syntax is the study of sentence structure; how to string together signs to form proper sentence types. ## ASL is a High Context Language ASL is a high context language. Communication and what you will sign will depend on where you are, who is p...

# ASL Linguistics chapter 4D - ASL Syntax ## Syntax Syntax is the study of sentence structure; how to string together signs to form proper sentence types. ## ASL is a High Context Language ASL is a high context language. Communication and what you will sign will depend on where you are, who is present, to whom you are signing, what your receiver already knows about the important topic, what you are about most and probably some other factors as well. Just like English; in ASL, there is always more than one way to structure a sentence. ### ASL syntax follows the general - to - specific pattern. Another way to think of this is tell me what you're talking about, then tell me about the noun first, followed by any adjectives that modify or change what that noun looks like. ## Sentence patterns 1. **Topic-Comment** Topic-comment sentences follow the general-to-specific pattern mentioned above; tell me the topic (what you are talking about), then tell me the comment, (what are you saying about it). No time, feeling, or opinion element is needed because you're talking about current situations. - When producing the signs that function as the topic there are certain non-manual features you will produce (like a Yes-No Question or a WH-Question). The non-manual features when signing the topic are: - raise your eyebrows slightly and tilt your head slightly forward and to the side. - In an English sentence, the direct object often becomes the ASL topic, and the English subject + verb become the ASL comment. 2. **Time-Topic-Comment** This is another type of declarative sentence. Here you aren't talking about the present - these events occurred in the past or will occur in the future. ## Whenever time is required in a sentence, it always comes first in the syntax. After establishing the time or tense in ASL it remains that tense throughout that story or until you change it to another time or tense. ## 3. People, then Action If you want to recount a conversation between two people, an action they performed, or tell what happened to them you must introduce the people before the action. If you are referencing people who aren't present, you will usually establish them in the space to your left in front of you or to your right. You can also establish a person or people on your non-dominant hand by pointing to a different finger to establish each person on a different finger - like you have likely done in your ASL class when introducing and discussing your family and siblings. Like time, once you establish a person in space or on your hand, they remain there throughout the story or until you replace them with something or someone else. ## 4. Time-Scene-People-Action This pattern is used at the beginning of a lengthy discourse. As always, time comes first. Next the scene is described, then the people are introduced and established. Now that those three things are in place, the action can begin. See the textbook under Topic-Comment Pattern for examples and sentences to practice on pages 106-110. If we do not practice/discuss all of these in class and you have questions about the ones we do not cover, want to discuss those in class or ask about how they are signed - just ask. ## Topic-Comment Sentence Pattern summary - The **time** always comes first. - The two non-manual features that accompany a topic when signed are 1. slightly raised eyebrows and 2. a head tilt. - The **comment** comes after the topic, when the raised eyebrows and the head tilt have been dropped. - The **comment** , is signaled by head nod (for positive) and head shake (for negative). - Where you have one **topic** you can have multiple topics. ## Topic-Comment Sentence Pattern summary continued - Where you have one **comment** you can have **multiple** comments. - **Adjectives** come after the **noun** IF they change the picture or appearance. - Where you have one **adjective**, you can have **multiple** adjectives. - Any signed sentence can be inflected with a **facial expression** to show the signer's **attitude** about the topics and comments. ## Topic-Comment Pattern with Topic Not Present We think of verbs as expressing actions of mind or physical states - so we call those **states verbs**. Examples are believe, belong, care, doubt, (dis)like, need, own, prefer, seem, think, and want. In English, these verbs never take the -ing ending. Also, notice these verbs express **mental activity** (believe, care, doubt, like etc.) or ongoing situations of states (be, belong, need). In English sentences that include verbs of state, the **subject** is the ASL **topic** - the person is who or what you are talking about. The **verb** and what follows it become the ASL **comment**. See the textbook under Topic-Comment Pattern with Topic Not Present for examples and sentences to practice on pages 113-116. If we do not practice/discuss all of these in class and you have questions about the ones we do not cover, want to discuss those in class or ask about how they are signed - just ask. ## Two Non-Present People ASL allows signers to establish two or more people in space, and then tell or re-enact what happened by role shifting. Over the years this feature in ASL has been referred to by many names. This book uses the term 'Role Shift'. Another term used recently is 'Constructed Action' - (becoming a character and showing what they did) and 'Constructed Dialogue' - (becoming a character and signing what they said). I typically use the terms Constructed Action/Dialogue, however, on a quiz or test I will accept either of those terms as well as Role Shift. ## Role Shift You may see some signers use Constructed Dialogue to narrate a conversation or exchange between two or more people. Signers use a range of techniques to shift back and forth between the two characters (when they 'become' each character). Some of these techniques are very obvious and others aren't. Following are five ways people use to shift between characters. 1. To indicate which character they are, they may take a step to the right and turn to somewhat face the left for one person and then step to the left and turn, somewhat to face the right to 'become' the other person. Usually, you will not see people who are Deaf make this big of a movement. 2. More subtle, and sometimes harder to notice or identify will be shifting their weight from one foot to the other and slightly turning their shoulders to the right or left. 3. An even more subtle way is to turn your head right or left and possibly sign slightly to the left or right. 4. Another way to accomplish this is to only shift the perspective of your eye gaze to show each character - this is often used when the height or orientation of the two people are different (i.e., a mother and daughter or a dental patient reclined in a chair and the dentist standing above them). 5. Possibly the most subtle technique may be to 'shift' between characters without any body or eye shift at all. This is possible, within a context, when the mood or message of the two people are different (i.e., mad and apologetic, sad and consoling). ## Eye Gaze Eye gaze is very crucial in several aspects of ASL. This is true particularly when using Constructed Action/Dialogue in two ways. 1. When you are shifting between two or more characters to show a conversation - your eye gaze should be congruent with the character (usually looking at the location of where the other character is in space). This is also important when the two characters are of different height or different orientation. 2. The entire time you are actively using Constructed Action/Dialogue you should avoid making eye contact with the receiver/listener (the person you are telling the story to). You will only look back at them when you shift out of either one of the characters to provide additional information. When you do this, you are functioning as a narrator. See the textbook under Two Non-Present People for examples and sentences to practice on pages 118-121. If we do not practice/discuss all of these in class and you have questions about the ones we do not cover, want to discuss those in class or ask about how they are signed - just ask. ## Non-Person Topic With ASL being a visual language, we often state the noun first and then follow that with any adjectives that modify the way it looks. When the topic is not a person, ASL will usually state the topic first and then give all of the information that relates to that topic. See the textbook under Non-Person Topic for examples and sentences to practice on pages 122-124. If we do not practice/discuss all of these in class and you have questions about the ones we do not cover, want to discuss those in class or ask about how they are signed - just ask. ## Topic-Comment sentence pattern summary - Time is established/stated first and you don't have to mention it again until you move on to a different topic/story or the time changes in that story. - The topic is what the signer wants to tell about. - In English sentences that use am-are-is-was-were, the English subject is probably the same as the ASL topic; it still needs to be fronted in the sentence so that the receiver knows what the comment will refer to. ## Time-Topic-Comment Pattern In ASL, verbs are not modified for tense. The way ASL handles this is to state the time or tense at the beginning of the sentence, conversation or story. You do not have to mention time at the beginning of every sentence. By 'time,' we mean only past or future. If you do not establish events as having occurred in the past or that they will occur in the future - it is assumed your message is happening in the present. By 'time,' we don't mean frequency or duration. English adverbs of frequency are always, frequently, often, sometimes, not very often, seldom, infrequently, almost never, and never. These don't tell past or future, they tell how often something happens. Adverbs of duration tell how long something continued. A few examples are: For an hour-and-a-half, two days, a whole week, month-long, and all year. These are not placed at the beginning of an ASL sentence because they do not establish past or future. So only past or future time is stated at the beginning of a sentence, not duration or frequency. See the textbook under Time-Topic-Comment Pattern for examples and sentences to practice on pages 127-130. If we do not practice/discuss all of these in class and you have questions about the ones we do not cover, want to discuss those in class or ask about how they are signed - just ask. ## Time-Topic-Comment sentence pattern summary - The time occurs as the first chunk of information in ASL, to establish the time frame as past or future. - Once stated, that time frame stays the same and controls all the subsequent elements until the signer changes the time frame. - ASL verbs are not modified for tense. - Adverbs of frequency do not set the verb tense as past, present, or future; they tell how often something happens. - Adverbs of frequency can occur at several places in a sentence, but often show up as the last chunk of information. - Adverbs of duration do not set the time and usually occur at the end of a sentence. - Numbers follow the ASL general - to - specific pattern. - Adjectives that change the mental image will come after the noun. - Spatial agreement is required in ASL. If you establish something or someone in space, you must continue to reference that location unless you change the location. ## Chronological Ordering of Events sentence pattern ASL usually structures a series of events according to time - chronological order. When including a series of events in your ASL narrative, you will need a transition sign between each event. Following are several ways to do this. - They use their non-dominant hand and the number of events are 'listed' using that many fingers being held up (out). They point to each finger before identifying the item, so it is clear which finger that item belongs to. - When they are done with one event, they may sign FINISH when they are ready to go to the next event. If events occurred in different places, the signer would reference each new location in space as they recount information about that location. You can either establish all the places first then comment on each or establish each new location before commenting. They use HS: bent-B or 2h-bent-B to indicate a 'list'. If specific times of events are important, they will insert a transition sign such as FUTURE, or NIGHT, or ONE-DAY-FUTURE MORNING, and a specific clock time if relevant to order things in chronological order. If the length of time an event occurred is included, the ASL will include an adverb of duration associated with that event. See the textbook under Chronological Ordering of Events sentence pattern for examples and sentences to practice on pages 132-134. If we do not practice/discuss all of these in class and you have questions about the ones we do not cover, want to discuss those in class or ask about how they are signed - just ask. ## Time-Scene-Characters-Action This syntactic pattern is used for longer or more detailed stories such as fairy tales, a movie summary, a Bible story, or a personal experience. - Time is still the first thing stated which can be very specific or vague. - Scene or situation will be introduced next. Usually this is when locations are established in space. - Characters are introduced next. Sign names will be included if the characters have known sign names, otherwise sign names are not usually included outside of education. - Action can only occur after the above have been established.