ASL University | Bookstore | Catalog | Dictionary | Lessons | Resources | Syllabi | Library


American Sign Language Linguistics:
Grouping Signs by Their Parameters
Also See "linguistics (1)"
Also See "linguistics (2)"

Kerry Kurtzman
10/26/04

Grouping Signs by Their Parameters

 An Inventory of Nuances 

     In my quest to learn approximately 500 signs within a five week period, it occurred to me that when I linked signs according to their similarities, I was able to retain/recall the signs more easily.  American Sign Language (ASL) is not just a gestural language, but a complex, visual-spatial language (Nakamura, 2002).  In fact, each sign has four general characteristics or parameters: 1) handshape; 2) orientation (palm); 3) location; and 4) movement (Note: a possible 5th parameter could be facial expressions).  Therefore, creating visual links has helped me to categorize the signs and store them more efficiently into my memory.  Table 1 lists 59 signs (29 cognates) which differ in only one or two parameters:

Table 1

     Common:

      Location

    Orientation

     Movement

(differ in hand-

  shape)

        Common:

       Handshape

         Location

       Orientation

(differ in movement)

 

      Common:

     Handshape

     Orientation

     Movement

(differ in location )

       Common:

      Orientation

      Handshape

     (differ in location, move-

      Ment)                              

 

        Common:

        Handshape

          Location

        Orientation

         Movement

Brave/Strong

( handshape

   modified)

Cafeteria/

Bachelor/

Restaurant

      Dance/Read

      Again/Often

      Beer/Brown

       Fish/Blue

  Computer/Church

      Tired/Have

     Almost/Easy

      Other/Ten

   French Fries/"99"

    Keep/"Type of"

      More/Lost

   Surprise/Wake-up

(differ in facial expression)

    Strike match/Cost

     Think/Cents

     Work/Habit

Pea Brain/Government

        (coincidence?)

Mother/Father

Grandmother/

Grandfather

 School/Paper

  Leave/And

Taste/Prefer

  Interesting/Like

    Please/Enjoy

   (differ in # of hands)

      Cute/Sugar

(differ in facial express-

  ion)

Apply(run for)/

        Shirt

 Gold/California

Glasses/Gallaudet

  During/Parallel

        Ugly/Dry

   (facial expression)

 

 

 

 

 

 

      Notice that I did not include noun/verb pairs that are similar/related in meaning (e.g.: "sit/chair", "drive/car"), or words of similar meanings with initialized differences (e.g.: "math/algebra/geometry").  Right or wrong, intentional or not, I believe that I see the "shape" of words/thoughts instead of individual signs. 

References

Nakamura, Karen. (2002, March 28)  Sign Language Linguistics.  About American Sign Language.  Deaf Resource Library.  Retrieved 26, Oct. 2004 <http://www.deaflibrary.org/asl.html>.


 


Want to help support ASL University?  It's easy DONATE (Thanks!)
(You don't need a PayPal account. Just look for the credit card logos and click continue.)

Another way to help is to buy something from the ASLU "Bookstore."

Want even more ASL resources?  Visit the "ASL Training Center!"  (Subscription Extension of ASLU)   CHECK IT OUT >


Bandwidth slow?  Check out "ASLUniversity.com" (a free mirror of Lifeprint.com less traffic, fast access)   VISIT >