Sign Language Unit 1 Study Guide

Which hand do you use?

Dominant hand

Wh-Question (open ended question)

Furrows eyebrows/squint eyes

Which handshape is used for possessive pronouns (mine, yours, theirs, his, hers, ours) in ASL ?

flat palm

Pronouns

1) You: Points towards the person you're talking to. 2) I/me: Points at your own chest. 3) They/she/he/it (singular): Points to the side. 4) Them/they (plural): Sweeps pointing finger in an arc or in a circular manner. 5) We/us: Point to your shoulder then arc outward to your other shoulder. The handshape for ASL possessive pronouns is a flat hand handshape. Let me show you how to sign each possessive pronoun. [The text for "your/yours", "my/mine", "their/hers/his/its", "their", and "ours" are listed on the screen as the Signer demonstrates the sign for each]. 1) Your/yours: Flat hand towards the person you're talking to. 2) My/mine: Flat hand on your chest. 3) Their/hers/his/its (singular): Flat hand to the side. 4) Their (plural): Sweeps flat hand in an arc or in a circular manner. 5) Our: Land your flat hand on its side on one shoulder then arc outward to your other shoulder.

Statement

1. Eyebrows in a neutral position 2. Head nodding (affirm), shaking (negation), or neutral position

True or False: ASL has only two numerical systems: cardinal and ordinal.

False! The numerical system in ASL includes not just two, but many!

Sign Parameters

Handshape, Location, Non-manual marker, Palm Orientation, Movement, Proximalization

What's Braille?

Language for blind, Braille is the use of raised dots on a surface - on a piece of paper, on a wall, that you can touch and move in a certain direction

Is ASL Universal?

NO! ASL is used only in the United States and Canada. Of course, there are regional variations, and signers in different areas have their own accents.

How many letters in ASL?

None - there's handshapes not letters

ASL Grammar Structure

O S V

Y/N Question (closed ended)

Raise eyebrows ASL: Use the Y/N-Q non-manual markers only and/or accompanying with a question mark wiggle sign.

Seating Arrangements

Semi-circle, horseshoe

Which of the following is NOT the best ASL response to "thank you"?

Signing the "welcome to"

Attention getting signals

Tap on the upper shoulder area -Wave your hand -Stomp your foot on the floor -Flash the lights -Tap the table -Get the attention of a third person to ask to tap the person you want.

where's most grammatical info found?

The face is where 70% of grammatical information in ASL is found.

When you are watching someone sign, where do you look?

look at the area between the signer's face and upper chest

to show the word the

point

Which handshape is used for pronouns (he, she, it, we, you, they) in ASL ?

pointing

Signing Space?

above your head to lower part of your chest.