A Brief Interlude. . .

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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!