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Chapter 18
"How do I know if someone
is using ASL or signed English?"
How do I know if someone is using ASL or signed English?
I have some sign language skills which I have learned from
family members who are deaf but just recently I learned that
there is a difference. I always thought it was just one language, that is, sign language. So I am wondering if you would
inform me a little bit more about ASLj maybe some rules or
some examples if possible.
-Shelley
MacLean, Sydney, Nova Scotia
hen sign-language students talk about all
the different kinds of sign systems, Manually Coded English systems, and variations
thereof, they use the term "continuum."
What's a sign-language continuum, anyway?
It's a diagram representing the entire population of signlanguage users-from the purest Signing-Exact-English approach to the purest ASL approach, and all possible blends or
variations in between. Think of a broad arc. On the right are
the "pure ASL" users; on the left, the "pure English users.
Pidgin Sign English, which borrows features from both ASL
and English, would be situated in the middle of the arc, a bit
towards the right. Signed English would be a bit more towards the left. But both are distinct from ASL.
As we've already noted, English and ASL are two very
distinct languages. One is orally/ aurally based; the other is
visual/gestural/spatial. It's possible to transpose any English sentence into a visual/ gestural/ spatial equivalent-at
the crudest level, it can be done with fingerspelling, which
simply shows each letter as a differenthandshape-a manual
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code. It is considerably more difficult to render ASL into
spoken or written English- Every time it gets translated, it
loses something. When you say "signing," it can be a basic
manual rendition of English, or it can be true ASL. There are
many shades of possibilities-and many opportunities for
confusion as well.
ASL, it should be emphasized, is not synonymous with
sign language." The term "sign language" can be loosely
employed to mean any sort of sign-based communication,
including manually coded systems. So taking a course in
"Basic Sign," "Basic Sign Communication," or even "Basic
Sign Language" won't necessarily introduce you to ASL, but
to some or many of the components of communicatingin ASL.
"Signed English" is not strictly the same as "Sign English,"
but for the sake of simplicity, that's the term we're using here.
We define "Signed English" as English rendered into sign,
essentially following the syntactical pattern (sentence structure) of English, not ASL. The signs may be borrowed liberally from ASL usage; the arrangement follows English word
order. English markers such as -ly are denoted by special
signs or are spelled out.
How do you tell ASL from Signed English on sight? Very
roughly speaking, you have to catch the rhythm of the signing. ASL has a different flow, a different "look" from Signed
English. The rhythm is entirely different because the syntax
of ASL is so different from Signed English. In ASL you would
sign "YOU BUY CAR MAYBE YOU?" or "CAR BUY YOU
MAYBE?" or "YOU-CAR BUY MAYBE?" (depending on
your emphasis and signing style), while using the facialgrammatical questionmarker, the eyebrow raise/brow crease,
and a subtle tilting forward of the head. In Signed English or
Pidgin Sign English you'd sign something like "WILL YOU
BUY CAR, MAYBE?" with more mouthing of the English
words.
To someone not familiar with the language, an ASL conversation looks like a lightning-quick, intense "pantomime" of
If
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sorts. ASL is very expressive, eruptive. Since the face is used
as a grammatical marker, expressions are "exaggerated" and
held momentarily. There is very little mouthing of words.
Signs and phrases are often repeated for emphasis: "YOUGO-FINISH, WHY?. . .WHY?" ("Why did you go?")
One way to "tune intorfASL is to try to catch the sentence
subject. In ASL, the subject, the topic of the sentence, often
comes first. Modifiers (such as adjectives) often come after the
subject. Signed-English systems follow the syntax of spoken
English, and thus place verbs and modifiers before the subject. This makes signed sentences a bit easier-or more difficult-to "read." It depends on your visual-communicative
background.
As for the political ramifications, be aware that some ASL
advocates look askance at Signed English (i.e.,as an everyday
medium of communication among deaf people). Signed English, in this view, "dilutes" and "distorts" pure ASL. It
employs many initialized signs, a number of which have
found their way into "permanent" ASL usage, and are certainly acceptable to most Deaf people. But woe betide the
signer who inadvertently uses one of them while talking to a
purist!
What many people, purists included, may not realize is that
"pure" pre-Signed-English ASL absorbed a number of initialized French signs, such as "look at/see," with the distinct "V"
handshape, which was borrowed directly from the LSF sign
for voiv. This sign is often described as iconic, with the
extended index and middle fingers supposedly mimicking
the two eyes as they look (rather like snail's eyes on stalks).
But it's actually an old initialized French sign. Research has
uncovered the "real meaning" of more of these signs.
So it cannot be said that initialized signs are automatically
bad, intrusive, non-ASL usage. Which contemporary initialized signs are acceptable ASL and which are not is a matter of
dispute. Don't let that stop you. Keep practicing, and have
fun.