GLOSS:
Glossing, in the context of language and linguistics, refers to the practice of providing a word-for-word translation or explanation of words or phrases in a foreign or sign language, often including grammatical details, to help understand the structure and meaning of the original language.
In regard to American Sign Language (ASL), glossing refers to the written or typed representation of ASL signs using English words or terms. This method is used to document the structure and content of ASL sentences, indicating the order of signs, specific movements, and non-manual signals, such as facial expressions or body movements, that are integral to conveying meaning in ASL. Glossing helps in studying, teaching, and analyzing ASL grammar and structure, providing a bridge between ASL and English for learners and researchers.
Basically, glossing is what you do when you write one language in another -- particularly when you have to add notes and other information, indications, or explanations to help more clearly represent one language in target language. The written information is known as "gloss."
When we see someone signing and we write it down or type it out sign for sign and include various notations to account for the facial and body grammar that goes with the signs--we are "glossing ASL."
When you gloss, you are not trying to interpret a language. Rather you are attempting to transcribe it. Your goal is to write it down, type it, or otherwise represent it in text form -- word for word.
So, why don't we just call it writing?
The difference between "writing in a language" and "glossing of a language" has to do with the fact that the target language may not have equivalent words to represent the original language.
For example, in American Sign Language (ASL) we have a sign known as "PAH!" Loosely translated it means "At last! Finally! Success! Ta da! Voilą! Presto!) This "sign" requires a plosive sound to be made as if saying "pah!" (Which makes the gloss of PAH! a rather obvious choice.) ASL also uses special signs known as ASL classifiers that are difficult to write in English. For example, there is a sign that uses a "3-handshape" which is commonly used to represent "vehicles." This sign not only represents a vehicle but it also can include information regarding the location, orientation, speed, direction, and movement path of the vehicle.
This sign is glossed as 3-CL: "additional information goes here."
Example: 3-CL: "goes uphill"
You might also see a "classifier 3" glossed as "CL-3" or "CL:3."
Glossing allows researchers (and students) to make notes in their own language regarding the second language. For example, an English-speaking researcher would use gloss to transcribe the "clicks" of the tongue that occur in the Bantu languages of South Africa (such as Zulu).
Below are some conventional (typical / normal) "glossing" symbols and notation.
ASL Glossing Conventions
"+" When you see a plus symbol behind a single capitalized word it means to repeat the sign."!" When a sign gloss has an "!" exclamation point after it that means you should emphasize the sign. Sign it a bit faster, stronger, or more exaggerated than normal.
"#" The # symbol, which goes by many names, (number sign, crosshatch character, pound sign, hash, octothorpe, etc.) is used to indicate the lexicalization of a fingerspelled word. (For example: #ALL, #WHAT, #BUSY). When you "lexicalize" a fingerspelled word, you mutate the spelling so that it is produced more like a sign than a fingerspelled word.
PRO.1 / PRO.2 / PRO.3 These terms refer to "first person," "second person," and "third person" pronouns. PRO.1 means "I or me." PRO.2 means "you." PRO.3 means "he, she, him, or her." For example, the ASL gloss "PRO.3 LOVE PRO.1" is typically translated as: "He loves me" or "She loves me"-- depending on whether the subject is a male or female. You might also see these terms glossed as PRO-1, PRO-2, and PRO-3.
"QM-wiggle" The gloss: "qm-w" stands for "question mark wiggle." That is the process of holding an "x" hand up at the end of a sentence and wiggling the index finger (flexing it a few times.).
DASHES: When you see dashes between letters, that generally means to fingerspell the word. Also, sometimes you might see "fs" when someone is writing about ASL. The letters "fs" are sometimes used as a shorthand for "fingerspell."
IX The "IX" stands for "INDEX." Which means to point toward a certain location, object, or person.
"CL" When you see a "CL" it generally refers to a "classifier." 3-CL: "additional information goes here." Example: 3-CL: "goes uphill" You might also see a "classifier 3" glossed as "CL-3" or "CL:3."
DASHES: When you see dashes between letters, (for example: A-T-T-I-C) that generally means to fingerspell the word. Also, sometimes you might see "fs." The letters "fs" are sometimes used as a shorthand for "fingerspell." Some authors have suggested using the @ sign to indicate regular fingerspelling -- however this may create issues with online media and auto-generation of links.
Capital Letters: ASL signs are represented in English words written in all capital letters (e.g., DOG, EAT, HAPPY)
Non-Manual Signals (NMS): Facial expressions and other non-manual elements may be indicated with special symbols, abbreviations, or notations added to the glossed line. For example, raised eyebrows for a yes/no question might be noted as ^ or indicated with a y/n (referring to a "yes or no question facial expression) above the sign that uses the raised eyebrows.
Directional Verbs: The direction of verbs that indicate the subject and object through movement are shown by writing the subject and object with the verb in between, sometimes using arrows to indicate direction (e.g., I-GIVE-YOU).
Classifiers: Classifiers are represented by the abbreviation "CL" followed by a description of the handshape and/or action (e.g., CL:3 (car) "drives forward" for indicating a car moving forward.
Temporal Aspects: Repeated actions or aspects are indicated by repeating the gloss (e.g., EAT-EAT or EAT^EAT for eating repeatedly or voraciously).
Repeated signs: If you see a capital word followed by a plus sign, for example: WEEK+ the plus sign indicates that you should repeat the sign WEEK. (In this situation that would create the meaning of "weekly.") Using WEEK+ is a more compact way of typing WEEK-WEEK.
Number Incorporation: Numbers integrated into signs, like those for days of the week or counting, are shown by combining the number with the sign (e.g., 3-WEEK for "three weeks").
Role Shifting: Role shifting, used to indicate different speakers or perspectives in a conversation, is indicated by shifting the gloss position or using abbreviations to show the change in perspective (e.g., fs-BOB [shift] SAY).
Signing Space: The use of space in ASL to convey location, agreement, or to establish referents is noted by spatial terms or by indicating the movement in space (e.g., (left)-TABLE, (right)-CHAIR for placing referents in signing space).
Use of Hyphens: Hyphens are used to connect signs that make up one concept but consist of multiple signs (e.g., GIVE-UP, GET-UP).
Fingerspelling: Fingerspelled words may be represented by the abbreviation "fs" followed by the word in English capital letters. For example: fs+DOG or (fs)DOG
Lexicalized Fingerspelling: If a fingerspelled word becomes more compressed, blended, and reduced to the point of looking somewhat like a sign it is referred to as being "lexicalized." Lexicalized spelling tends to be indicated in gloss by putting a # symbol in front of the spelling. For example: #WHAT However, due to the changing nature of auto tagging and linking in online media this may change to other approaches to avoid auto-creation of tags and links. For example, if you see (lex)-WHAT assume that it refers to the lexicalized version of the fingerspelling of the letters W-H-A-T.
What is another name for the rules that researchers have generally agreed upon for typical or standard ways to do things? * conventions
What term means choosing an appropriate English word for signs in order to write them down? * Glossing
List some sample conventions of glossing: * Sample 1: small caps, Sample 2: #, Sample 3: M-A-R-Y, Sample 4: _____t
When glossing, what do we represent with small capital letters preceded by the # symbol? * lexicalized fingerspelled words
What do we call the facial expressions that accompany certain signs? * Nonmanual signals (or nonmanual markers, or NMMs)
What kind of features are indicated on a line above sign glosses? * Nonmanual signals and eye gaze
When glossing, what do we use "small capital letters" in English to represent? * Signs
When glossing, what is represented by dashes between small capital letters? * full fingerspellling
What are some glossed examples of lexicalized fingerspellling? * #WHAT, #BURN, #ALL
Note: The GLOSS label of an ASL sign doesn't equal "English." For example, the sign glossed as "FINE" doesn't mean all of the things that the English word "fine" means. I wouldn't use the sign FINE to sign, "I paid the fine for my ticket." The sign glossed as "GLASSES" also means: Gallaudet University, Thomas Gallaudet, and Moses.
Sample gloss: YESTERDAY PRO-1 INDEX-[at] WORK HAPPEN SOMEONE! MAN CL:1-"walked_past_quickly" I NEVER SEE PRO-3 BEFORE. That sentence would be generally mean: "Yesterday at work a stranger (some guy I've never seen before) rushed past me.
A challenge faced by curriculum writers and ASL teachers when describing how to efficiently sign "What is your name?" -- is how to efficiently gloss the process of signing "NAME" while furrowing your eyebrows to create the concept of "what" non-manually.
(In other words: Use your face not your hands to create the meaning of "what?" and add it to the sign "NAME.")
Classrooms are not real life. Teachers use teacher-talk (or in our case, "teacher-signing") which is analogous (similar) to motherese.
In real life:
Deaf people typically do not sign "YOU WHAT NAME?"
Deaf people typically do not sign "YOU NAME WHAT?"
Deaf people do typically sign "YOU NAME?"-[while furrowing the eyebrows to create the concept of what]
The point here is that if we want ASL students to learn to sign like Deaf people then we need to stop using three signs to do the work of "two signs and a facial expression."
One approach to glossing "What is your name?" while emphasizing the importance of using facial expressions instead of unnecessary signs -- would be to lowercase the word "what" and attach it to the sign NAME.
For example: "YOU what-NAME?" (The lowercase what should not be signed but shown on your face as furrowed eyebrows.)
Or to help emphasize that we don't need to actually sign WHAT -- we could type: "YOU [what]-NAME?"
However, students usually don't take the time to ask "Why is the word 'what' lowercased?"
While there is no perfect approach to writing ASL and indicate the non-manual features in a way that can be typed easily -- an approach would be to gloss "What is your name?" as:
"YOU NAME-[what]?"
That way when students mistakenly choose to add a third sign (WHAT) to the other two signs "YOU NAME" (instead of just efficiently furrowing their eyebrows and not using a separate sign for WHAT) at least they will still be putting the "WH"-question at the end.
See: https://youtu.be/FHPszRvL9pg