A Brief Interlude. . .

(Warning: links embedded in this post do NOT open in a new window)

Aloha! In the few days since my last post, Del has improved on her repertoire of signs and has added another. . ."poop"!! Mommy couldn't be more proud! She was signing it to me clear as can be yesterday while she was very obviously dealing with a little bit of gastric distress. She had the orientation of the sign a little confused, but the handshapes and motion of the sign were both correct. (click here for the ASL sign for "poop") Del's "milk" sign is now made almost the correct way, by clenching and unclenching her vertically held fist. The exception is that unlike the ASL sign, which has the thumb wrapped over the fingers, (click here for the ASL sign for "milk") Del holds her thumb up in the air and just clenches and releases the other four fingers. She seems to have had an "aha!" moment with her signing and is now very earnestly playing with her hands, changing shapes, moving them in different ways and directions, holding them at different angles and studying them carefully. She seems to be as fascinated with her language development as I am! I don't have a new video to post but I'll work on capturing "poop". . .it's cute as can be!

I think now would be a good time for me to give a brief overview of the parameters of ASL so as I start to talk more and more about things like movement and handshape, you will be crystal clear as to what I mean and how it applies to whatever aspect of ASL acquisition I'm talking about.

ASL Parameters
Parameters are how we describe the phonemes (or smallest unit of meaning) of ASL and how we differentiate signs from each-other. When two signs are the same except for one parameter, we call them a minimal pair. This means that there is only a minimal difference between how the signs are produced, and that the minimal difference between the signs (e.g., a variation in the handshape, location, movement or palm orientation of the signs) is a phoneme.  We talked a while back about the smallest unit of meaning in English (or any spoken language) being a sound produced by the articulators in one's mouth. Well, in ASL (or any manual language) the smallest unit of meaning is in the shapes and movements of one's hands. Let's clarify these parameters a little further.

1. Handshape - the shape that one or both hands make during the production of a linguistic sign. Changing the shape of one's hand while keeping all other aspects of a sign the same can create a minimal pair in ASL. For example, the sign for "please" is made by rubbing small circles on the chest with an " open B" handshape. If you keep everything the same but change the "open B" handshape to an "S", the sign now means "sorry." (See here for a video of 40 ASL handshapes and related signs).

2. Location - where in space or on the body (or a combination of the two) the sign is produced. Changing the location of a sign but keeping all other aspects the same creates a minimal pair. For example, the "five" handshape means "mother" if it is signed with the thumb on the chin and "father" if it is signed with the thumb on the forehead. 

3. Movement - any movement completed by one or both hands while producing a linguistic sign. This movelent can be uni- or bi-directional; it can be either a one-time or repeated motion; movements can be paths drawn through the air, shakes, wiggles, rotations, or bounces. (Static signs on the other hand have no motion and are produced in one location. Some examples of static signs are all of the alphabet signs except for"J" and "Z," which involve movement). Changing the movement of a sign can create a minimal pair. For example, the "five" handshape means "mother" when signed with the thumb on the chin with a very subtle bouncing motion. Keeping everything else the same, but moving the hand away from the chin and down in two short movements means "grandmother."

4. Palm Orientation - which way the palm faces during the production of a sign. Changing palm orientation can create a new sign. For example, when signing "my" the hand is in an "open B" shape facing the chest of the signer. By keeping all other parameters the same but facing the palm outward, the sign now mean "your."

5. Facial Expression/Non-Manual Markers(NMM) - this fifth parameter is not always included in descriptions of ASL parameters, but since NMMs are used linguistically in ASL I am going to include it in my description. This parameter includes the facial expression one makes while producing a sign, shoulder raising, torso orientation, mouthing, and head tilting. For example, a "yes/no" question is always asked with the eyebrows raised, whereas "WH" questions (who, which, where, when, why) are asked with the brows furrowed down and together. So if you were talking about someone named Chris, your listener could sign "girl?" with eyebrows raised, meaning "is Chris a girl?" Conversely they could sign "who girl?" with brows furrowed. (This is not an example of a minimal pair because we have to sign "who" to get the full meaning across).

If you are looking for more information or videos, YouTube is full of great informational ASL videos. I'll do my best to post links as well.

It's cool and crisp this morning on the lazy weekend after Thanksgiving. Del will be up soon and then it's off to the Farmer's market for fresh fish and vegetables, warm baked bread. Happy day to you and yours!

Exploration

One of the many things that has always fascinated me about language is how fluid it is. It runs fluidly from the lips and hands of its native speakers and signers; it is acquired fluidly as the baby's coos turn to babbles to words, and as the baby's perspective changes from horizontal to vertical; it changes fluidly from one region to the next, from one time to another; language is the sacred fluid - the life-blood so to speak - of what sets us humans apart from the rest of Earth's creatures. Language allows for one to flow more serenely within the foreign walls of another's culture or time; it gives voice to the fluid mercurial emotions that pepper our days, our minds; language runs like so much water through the woven histories of our species, repelling or uniting our ancestors along the often pride-filled lines of language identity. Without language, there would be no poetry, no algorithms, no fairy tales or creation myths.

I was thinking about fluidity earlier today as I was watching Del try on half a dozen new handshapes and wondering how I have managed to already miss so much of her language development despite my close attention and interest. It can't be helped. . .it's because language changes so fast and there are no starts and pauses. . .it just goes and it does not stop. Since my last post it has become clear to Daddy F and I that Del is signing several things consistently, and that we (her slow parents) are likely just catching onto something she's been doing for a couple weeks now. Since we are so accustomed to certain linguistic handshapes and signs, we unconsiously attend to familiar signs that she creates more than the "made up" ones. But those made up ones are Del's way of signing right now, and if she's signing something with intent then it's a sign.

So far we think she's telling us she needs to be changed (by signing an approximation of "inept" as seen in the beginning of the video), that she wants "more," that she would like some "milk," and that she is "all done." We're keeping a careful eye on those signs that we believe she has assigned meaning to in order to figure out for sure what she's trying to tell us. What is for sure is that Del has discovered language and the power of her voice and her hands, and there is no turning back. She is destined to have a lot to say if her constant chatter has anything to say about it!

My favorite part of this video is when Del snatches the spoon away from me fast as can be and then holds it out of my reach and signs what looks like one mighty sassy "all done." I'm sure it's all coincidence but it's still funny to think she's already one-upping me!

I'm fascinated with watching Del play with some of the parameters of sign: palm orientation, handshape, location. I wonder when children who are acquiring a signed language start using only signs that are native to that language, such as a child learning a spoken language will eventually stop making sounds that are not in that native language.


I hope you all have a very happy and satisfying Thanksgiving. I'm thankful today for my healthy loving family. What are you thankful for?

Eeny Meenie Miny Moe. . .

Hello there. It's been a little while. How silly of me to think I would find even twenty minutes of quiet time each week to sit and make some kind of cohesive sense of the chaos and wonder of watching my child grow. It's not that I don't have any down time. I spend a couple hours in the evenings doing my own thing after Del has gone to sleep, but it's harder than I thought to put that time into action and converge onto the laptop and try to write intelligible things! So here I am yet again, late enough that I should be sleeping but I'm not because I have to share the video I managed to capture earlier this evening and put down some thoughts about motor development.

With a hearing child of hearing parents, we talk about that child's motor development and language development as two separate but parallel entities. Those fascinating and wonderful motor milestones checked off: reaching, picking up a block, transferring it to the other hand, reaching to the side, picking up small objects with the thumb and forefinger (also called a pincer grasp), pointing. Meanwhile, the language milestones run their course: cooing,  screeching and growling, babbling, turn-taking, first words. These paths overlap and weave their way through the first year of the child's life, as the child delights all those around her with her amusing journey from neophyte to expert on each milestone reached. It's quite clear with such a child that a wave is a wave and "ba ba ba" is babbling, and that a pincer grasp is a pincer grasp, and "doggy" is a first word.

Not so much with the kid who is acquiring a manual language.

For Del, and all the other children exposed to a signed language as infants, the line between motor development and language development is not clear because they require the same skill set, the same body parts. For Del, a wave might be her way of saying hello or her attempt at signing "all done" or "change." Or what looks like a pincer grasp could be a pincer grasp, or it could be her attempt at the letter "G." Or perhaps she's trying to tell us something is tiny by signing "little." (See below for all of the letter handshapes for ASL)

(Caveat: The laryngeal and lingual movements required for the production of speech sounds are fine motor movements as well, but what I'm speaking to here are fine manual motor skills, or those that require the use of the hands and fingers).

I realize that we can tell a true pincer grasp from her attempts to communicate (mostly because she has an object she's trying to pick up at the time), but the point is that the paths of language and fine motor development overlap and rely on each other when it comes to manual languages. I find myself wondering if fine motor development milestones are reached in a different order or rate with children acquiring a signed language, seeing as language development is contingent upon fine motor skill with sign language whereas the two are separate with a spoken language. I'm also curious if it's easier to determine a child's handedness earlier if they are acquiring a signed language, instead of having to wait until they start drawing or writing. Are native signers more dexterous with both hands than those who don't use their hands to communicate? Is there a higher incidence of functional ambidextrousness in the deaf community than among hearing or non-signing persons? So many questions, so precious little time to search for answers.

Today's video shows Del using her newly mastered pincer grasp to pick up her beloved cheerios. At one point she takes a cheerio from between her thumb and forefinger with the readied pincer of her other hand. So far we aren't sure about her handedness, but she seems to prefer the right one when sign-babbling with one hand. It will be interesting to watch as she figures that out.

Please enjoy the video, and don't hesitate to share your thoughts and/or experiences.

With a flick of the wrist. . .

Thanks to our dear friend "Mo," who takes care of Del from time to time, we have video footage of the new hand-babbling style that our little lady has started to use. So what do you think. . .is this acquisition of palm orientation awareness?

Last night Daddy F was talking with a friend of his while I sat with Del on my lap on the kitchen counter and watched their conversation. Del was enthralled with their hands, staring at each of them in turn while they went back and forth in their chat. At one point, when there was a pause in their conversation, Del took her turn by rotating her hands around and around in tight circles for a few seconds. Then she waited while Daddy F said something to her, to which she responded with another conversational turn! It is so fun watching her participate so actively with communication.

As for her vocal communication, she continues to screech extremely loudly and at a very high pitch, something I'm hoping she trades in for a less ear-splitting kind of vocalization sometime soon. I like to encourage all of her linguistic exploration, but that one is starting to hurt my ears. It's also not something the diners at nearby tables seem to appreciate when we're out for breakfast or lunch, and I haven't yet been successful teaching her about her "inside voice."

Could it be?

I'm sorry to say that I don't have a video to accompany this post, but I had to write to share with you that Del signed her first sign last weekend when we were camping. And for those of you who know me well, you'll understand why I'm so thrilled that her first sign was. . .TREE! I was hesitant to claim "first sign!" because it just seems to early for her to be communicating in that way with us already, but both Daddy F and I saw her do it not once but twice, and we both agreed that she meant it. So there you have it: first sign at 7 months and one week of age.

Her hand-babbling conversations continue, one of which I showed on video last post, with rotating arms and hands drawing tight circles in the signing space in front of her body. What's fascinating about this new development in her signing is how different and distinct it is from that other kind of sign babble. She now will also hold her hand (or hands) up, very still, and rotate her wrist slowly, so that her palm faces out then in, out then in, out then in. She watches her hands while she does this, changing the shape of her hand slightly from an open hand to an L shape as she rotates from palm facing out to palm facing in. She seems to have turned a corner in her awareness of what sign is and how she can participate, and now watches our hands intently as we sign to her. She now waves in this manner at times, to both greet people and say goodbye, and when she shows off her new movements (not on demand, not suprisingly!), she is obviously very proud of what she's doing and aware that it's pretty dang cool, this language stuff.

Fine motor language skills are developing right along with the other motor tricks she's learning. She has started to use a pincer grasp to pick up anything and everything small that she can find (and try to eat) while almost-crawling around on the ground, and has chosen the classic index-finger point as her go-to hand shape for exploring the tactile world around her. She's begun to explore new-found objects with her eyes in addition to her mouth, and will hold a novel toy or kitchen utensil at arms length, turning in this way and that so she can check it out from all angles. Pretty neat to watch, in addition to buying me a little time to avoid disaster. For example, earlier today I came back into the living room from the bathroom to find her holding a small button and looking at it very carefully, giving me just the right amount of time to grab it from her before she decided that she also wanted to see what it tasted like. Two weeks ago she wouldn't have cared what it looked like, she would have just popped it into her mouth just like everything else she got her hands on.

I'm going to try my best to get Dels' new wrist rotation on video and post it. I'm curious if this is signifying that she is acquiring the palm orientation parameter of ASL. More about that soon. . .my next post will be a basic level crash course in the phonology of English and ASL. But now is not the time. Now is the time when I eat leftover carrot cake and finish my glass of wine before going to bed at the super-cool working-mommy time of 9:00pm. Amazing how dramatically my priorities have changed in the last, I don't know, seven and a half months or so!