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temporal adverbs in American Sign Language (ASL)


Temporal adverbs are adverbs that provide information about when an action takes place. They describe the time of an action or the frequency of its occurrence. Temporal adverbs help give context to the timing, duration, or sequence of events.  Temporal adverbs help to provide a clear picture of when events happen in relation to one another.

Here are some examples of temporal adverbs:

1. Frequency:

always
usually
often
sometimes
rarely
never
 

2. Point in time:
 

now
today
tomorrow
yesterday
soon
later
immediately
presently
 

3. Duration:
still
already
yet (when used in negative statements or questions like "Have you not finished yet?")
anymore
 

4. Sequence:
first
then
next
last
finally
afterwards
 

5. Specific times:
daily
weekly
monthly
yearly
hourly
 

 

Question: Are words or signs like today, tomorrow, and yesterday -- always temporal adverbs?


Answer:  No.

Words such as "today," "tomorrow," and "yesterday" are commonly referred to as temporal adverbs when they indicate when an action takes place. However, their classification (grammar role) can change based on their function in a sentence.

Temporal Adverb: When they modify a verb to indicate when the action occurs.
I will call you tomorrow.
She visited yesterday.

Noun: When they serve as the subject, object, or complement in a sentence.
Today is a good day.
I miss the fun of yesterday.
We have plans for tomorrow.

 

 


 

Many time signs can be modified to become adverbs.
For example, do you recall the signs for TOMORROW, WEEK, and MONTH?
Each of those signs can be changed into adverbs by repeating the sign.

TOMORROW repeated becomes DAILY
WEEK repeated becomes WEEKLY
MONTH repeated becomes MONTHLY (or "rent")

Also, you can change signs like DAY, MORNING, and NIGHT to mean, "all day," "all morning," and "all night" by doing the signs bigger, using a longer movement, and adding a slight arching movement of the head.

For example:
DAY

becomes: "ALL-DAY"


The sign annually is a modified version of "YEAR" that changes from an "S" hand into an "index" hand:


Animation:  Annually:


MONDAY can be changed into EVERY-MONDAY by using a downward sweep instead of a circular movement. 
(Note:  Each of the days of the week can be made plural by holding the sign a bit higher, then dragging it straight down a foot or two.)


Student Questions:

In a message dated 4/20/2005 6:58:19 AM Pacific Daylight Time, a student @hotmail.com writes:

What are temporal adverbs?
Temporal adverbs are signs or modifications to the movements of signs that change the meaning of time signs to make them become adverbs.  For example repeating the movement of the sign "MONTH" to change it into "MONTHLY."

Note:
1. Habitual Time:  every-day, every-Monday, ...
2. Time Duration:  all-day, all-night, ...
 

 

 

 

 

 



Notes: 
index-old.htm

 

matrix-for-sign-pages (_matrix.htm)




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