In a message dated 10/20/2012 7:28:49 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, an
student writes:
Dr. Vicars,
Can you explain the difference between nonmanual markers (NMM) and
nonmanual signals (NMS).
Thank you,
- Sarah
A non-manual marker is always a non-manual signal.
But a non-manual signal is not always a nonmanual
marker.
If we used a nonmanual signal as an independent sign then we
wouldn't (or at least in my opinion we shouldn't) call it a
marker. For example, if you ask me a question and I shake my
head "no" then I'm not
marking some other sign, I'm simply
signaling (signing) to you the meaning of "no." In that case, the
nonmanual signal is not a marker, it is a
nonmanual "sign."
Consider the sentence "He arrived very recently."
If we sign that sentence in a somewhat English manner: "HE ARRIVE
VERY RECENT" using the initialized form of VERY that looks like
"BIG" done with "V" hands then we are
not "marking" the
sign RECENT with the sign VERY. We are simply using two different
signs to create meaning.
However, if we sign in an ASL fashion, "HE ARRIVE RECENT-(CS)"
wherein the "CS" means "move your cheek and shoulder together" then
we can say that the "CS" (cheek to shoulder movement) is being used
to mark the sign RECENT. By "mark" we mean "change or influence the
meaning of." We changed the meaning from "recent" to instead be
"very recent." Thus the "CS" movement is a nonmanual signal that was
used as a non-manual marker.
If you have other questions on this (or any other) topic, do let me
know.
Cordially,
Dr. Bill
Topic: NMS vs NMM:
What is the difference between "non-manual signals" and "non-manual
markers?"
Warning:
If you have not passed an ASL Linguistics course (or the equivalent)
you should not expect to understand much of what I write about
below.
It doesn't mean you are stupid. Nor does it mean I don't know how to
explain stuff. It just means that the following discussion "isn't
for beginners."
Thought questions to get your mind warmed up. Ask yourself:
When discussing "visual languages," what is a good definition of the
word "sign?" What is "a sign?" "What are signs?"
Next ask yourself:
What is the difference between a "sign" and a "non-manual" marker?
And finally, ask yourself:
What is the difference between a "sign," a "signal," and a "marker"
(all in the linguistic sense)?
"Someone" (not me) could argue that for a visual language signal to
be considered "a sign" it must be done with the hands. (I disagree.)
"Someone" (not me) could claim that anything other than a hand-based
sign is a "non-manual something" -- typically a "non-manual marker (NMM)."
We can think of ASL as having two broad categories:
1. Manual signals expressed via manual signs. These are what we
typically think of signs: Think "MOM" "APPLE"
2. Non-manual signals (NMS). These are all the various signals we
send with our body without using our hands.
You can further divide (number 2) non-manual signals into:
1. Non-manual signals that function as articulatory phonemes. Those
big words (articulatory phoneme) simply mean that if you do
something with your body that helps clarify which sign you are doing
but not actually influence the meaning of that sign one way or
another. For example think of the difference between NOT-YET (which
typically uses a phonemic non-manual signal) and LATE (which doesn't
use a non-manual signal). Does the slightly open mouth and tongue
over the teeth actually have independent "meaning" in the sign for
"NOT-YET?" Or is the mouth (in this case) simply used to distinguish
NOT-YET from LATE? If the mouth configuration in NOT-YET does not
actually have meaning (which I'm claiming that it doesn't) it is
simply articulatory and therefore a phoneme and not a morpheme. Test
it: Walk up to your Deaf friend, sign "what-MEAN THIS?" then stand
there with your mouth slightly open and your tongue over your lower
teeth and do no other signals for three seconds. (Do not give any
clues. Do not ask "which sign does this typically go with." Do not
shake your head; do not move your arms or hands -- just show that
particular mouth configuration.) Then see what your Deaf friend
responds. Then try it with nine more friends. If the typical
response is "You are weird" or something like "Oh yah -- that means
to do something thoughtlessly or carelessly"* -- then you have proven
my point: The "tongue over the bottom teeth" in the sign NOT-YET
serves to distinguish it from LATE but doesn't actually carry any
independent meaning and therefore is "not" a morpheme. It is just
"how" the sign is done. A non-manual signal that functions as an
articulatory phoneme is simply one more meaningless parameter that
has to be combined with other phonemes (handshapes, palm
orientations, locations, movements, holds, etc.) to add up to up to
a sign that has meaning.
[Side note: Actually the "thoughtlessly / carelessly" morpheme
requires more than just the mouth -- it needs to include the whole
face. I just went and did this little "mouth only" experiment with
Bee (my wife) and she came up with zip -- which was totally my point.
Oh sure, after about three minutes she made the connection to
"NOT-YET" but by then totally agreed with me that the tongue-over
mouth done independently did not carry meaning and that further
involvement of the eye-area of the face was necessary to create the
"thoughtlessly / carelessly" morpheme.]
2. Non-manual signals that function as inflective markers (think:
"bound morpheme"). For example the raising of one shoulder and the
movement of your cheek toward the shoulder. This "signal" has
meaning of "very" or "acute" but is typically only used by binding
it to a sign such as RECENT or PAST.
3. Non-manual signals that function as independent signs. For
example nodding to mean "yes" or shaking your head to mean "no." You
can even observe people doing the "PAH!" morpheme (without the sign
SUCCEED) independently to mean "At last! Finally!" and the "CHA!"
morpheme to mean "big, massive, or imposing!" ("CHA!" as an
independent morpheme seems to even be evolving to mean "very" as in
"sooooo…" -- but that is a discussion for some other time).
Since the above info is "CHA!" thick and full of big words you might
have lost track of my point so I'll back up and review:
Non-manual signals include:
1. Phonemic NMS (don't have independent meaning but are good for
distinguishing signs)
2. Morphemic bound NMS (Have meaning but are almost always combined
with "a sign") (This is where NMM's can be found).
3. Morphemic unbound NMS (Function as "signs")
When referring to "all" non-hand-based signals (as part of a visual
language) we can / should be use the term "non-manual signals"
rather than "non-manual markers."
Why? Technically not all "NMS" "mark" (inflect or change the meaning
of) an accompanying sign. (If a signal doesn't "mark" something --
it isn't a marker.)
For example, in ASL we don't consider a closed mouth rendition of
NOT-YET as being the "unmarked" form of NOT-YET. No. Instead we
consider that closed-mouth version be a different sign that means
"LATE." The sign LATE is not an unmarked version of NOT-YET. LATE is
a different sign with a different meaning.
(But hey, feel free to argue and tell me that "not yet" means you
are "not yet late" and therefore they basically mean the same and so
one is a marked version ot the other. Uh huh. Sure. Try that on your
next ASL test. Write LATE on the "NOT-YET" sign and see if your Deaf
ASL (tenured so they don't give a crap about your end of semester
teacher evaluation) instructor gives it to you.) At some point
inflecting stops and deriving begins. (Inflecting creates nuanced
meanings of the same work. Deriving creates a new word. A "runner"
is not an inflected form of running. A runner is a person.
"RUN-[fast] is an inflected form of running.
Inflected: RUN-[fast]
Derived: RUNNER
A nonmanual signal is a change of your facial expression; the tilt,
shake, or nod of your head; the hunching of one or both shoulders,
the turning or leaning of your torso, and/or any other similar body
moves -- when used to indicate meaning.
If such movements are not used independently or in combination with
other bodily articulations to create meaning or to help distinguish
a sign that has meaning -- they are not "signals" -- instead we
would simply call them twitches.
The term "nonmanual marker" refers to a type of nonmanual signal
(that you do without using your hands) that influences (marks) the
meaning of something else that you are signing.
A non-manual marker is always a non-manual signal.
But a non-manual signal is not always a nonmanual marker.
If we used a nonmanual signal as an independent sign then we
wouldn't (or at least in my opinion we shouldn't) call it a marker.
For example, if you ask me a question and I shake my head "no" then
I'm not marking some other sign, I'm simply signaling (signing) to
you the meaning of "no." In that case, the nonmanual signal is not a
marker, it is a nonmanual "sign."
Consider the sentence "He arrived very recently."
If we sign that sentence in a somewhat English manner: "HE ARRIVE
VERY RECENT" using the initialized form of VERY that looks like
"BIG" done with "V" hands then we are not "marking" the sign RECENT
with the sign VERY. We are simply using two different signs to
create meaning.
However, if we sign in an ASL fashion, "HE ARRIVE RECENT-(CS)"
wherein the "CS" means "move your cheek and shoulder together" then
we can say that the "CS" (cheek to shoulder movement) is being used
to mark the sign RECENT. By "mark" we mean "change or influence the
meaning of." We changed the meaning from "recent" to instead be
"very recent." Thus the "CS" movement is a nonmanual signal that was
used as a non-manual marker.
Question:
When teaching a high school class about nonmanual features should I
refer to them as NMS or NMM?
Response:
In general I would advise just using the term "NMM" (or NMM's) not
because it is necessarily / technically accurate but rather because
when in Rome you should do as the Romans -- and lots of ASL teachers
use the term "NMM."
I suppose you could sidestep the whole issue and just use the term "nonmanuals."
Check it out:
1. handshape
2. movement
3. orientation
4. location
5. nonmanuals
Sort of has a nice flow eh? Both NMS and NMM are "nonmanuals" so the issue is solved.
(wink)
Or just stick with the traditional:
5. NMMs
___________________________
Definition: "enigmatic"
- difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious.
(Source: Oxford)
Definition: "blech"
- used to express disgust or distaste.
(Source: Oxford)
More notes on nonmanual signals:
Consider this -- a nonmanual signal can function as a nonmanual
marker to mark a different nonmanual signal. For example squinting
your eyebrows and shaking your head at same time changes "no" into
"seriously no!"
Sometimes a nonmanual signal can be combined with a different
nonmanual signal to create two different meanings (rather than just
marking one meaning). For example wagging the tongue while jerking
your head in the direction of something you want someone to look at
creates the two meanings of "look at" and "that." (We are not just
"marking" the concept of "that" but rather creating two meanings
"look at" and "that.")
Nonmanual signals can either be free or bound.
If a nonmanual signal is free (not bound to a sign) it is not
marking anything and thus is not a marker but rather functions as
what could be thought of as a nonmanual "sign." Since handshape is
commonly considered to be one of the defining characteristics or
parameters of a sign we can either choose to think of the status of
"none" or "no handshape" as an okay description for the handshape
parameter of a sign -- or we can sidestep the issue by using a
different term for nonmanual signs and choose to refer to nonmanual
signs as "signals" instead of as signs.
Many nonmanual signals if used in isolation are ambiguous or
confusing. Such NMS's must be are paired with another signal or a
sign. In other words the nonmanual signal must be bound to some
other signal or sign in order to unambiguous (or clearly
understood).
Free nonmanual signals can be used independently. Typically a free
nonmanual signal being used independently would not be considered a
marker (of another sign) since it is not marking something but
rather it is functioning as an independent nonmanual sign.
Bound nonmanual signals are called bound because they must be used
with (or bound to) another signal or sign.
Bound nonmanual signals typically function as markers.
If the bound nonmanual signal is used to modify the meaning of a
sign or some other nonmanual signal then the bound nonmanual signal
is being used as a marker. (For example raised eyebrows with a WH-question
marks the question as rhetorical.)
If the bound nonmanual signal is used to create its own meaning but
is being combined with a sign or some other nonmanual signal then it
is not a marker but rather the nonmanual-signal being used as a
either a bound morpheme or as a member of a compound. (For example,
wagging the tongue while pointing means "look at that." The wagging
tongue in this instance is functioning as a bound morpheme (a unit
of meaning that needs to accompany some other unit of meaning) not
as a marker.