About American Sign Language

by Karen Nakamura

Table of Contents

Sign Language Linguistics

American Sign Language (ASL) is a complex visual-spatial language that is used by the Deaf community in the United States and English-speaking parts of Canada. It is a linguistically complete, natural language. It is the native language of many Deaf men and women, as well as some hearing children born into Deaf families.

ASL shares no grammatical similarities to English and should not be considered in any way to be a broken, mimed, or gestural form of English. In terms of syntax, for example, ASL has a topic-comment syntax, while English uses Subject-Object-Verb. In fact, in terms of syntax, ASL shares more with spoken Japanese than it does with English. I have some information on Japanese Sign Language as well.

Some people have described ASL and other sign languages as "gestural" languages. This is not absolutely correct because hand gestures are only one component of ASL. Facial features such as eyebrow motion and lip-mouth movements as well as other factors such as body orientation are also significant in ASL as they form a crucial part of the grammatical system. In addition, ASL makes use of the space surrounding the signer to describe places and persons that are not present.

Sign languages develop specific to their communities and is not universal. For example, ASL is totally different from British Sign Language even though both countries speak English. Many people consider it a shame that there isn't a universal sign language (see below), however it's also a shame that there isn't a universal spoken language, right? I personally enjoy seeing the great variety and diversity of languages and the first topic of conversation when I meet a Deaf person from another country is an exchange of vocabulary: "How do you sign this? How do you sign that?"

Interesting, however, American Sign Language shares many vocabulary terms with Old French Sign Language (LSF) because a French Deaf man, Laurent Clerc, was one of the first teachers of the Deaf in the U.S. in the nineteenth century. So if you know ASL, you're better off taking a vacation in France than in England! But the French connection to America is rare, most sign languages develop independently and each country (and in some cases, each city) has their own sign language.

"International" Sign Language?

There is no "universal sign language" or real "international sign language." There is a sign form called Gestuno that was developed by a committee of the World Federation of the Deaf. It's not really a language, more a vocabulary of signs that they all agree to use at international meetings. But no one really signs Gestuno as a native language, just as no one really uses Esperanto as their native spoken language*. In Europe, because of the increasing trade and mobility, there is a lingua franca being developed, a creole sign language that some have taken to calling International Sign Language. But neither Gestuno or the new European creole are true natural languages from the linguistic perspective. Perhaps as a new generation of Deaf Euro-kids grows up, they will develop a new, natural Euro-sign language.

* OK, some people have e-mailed vociferous complaints (see below) that Esperanto is indeed alive and kicking in some small, isolated communities (Berkeley, CA being one).

ASL Grammar and Linguistic Studies

As mentioned above, ASL has a very complex grammar. Unlike spoken languages where there is just one serial stream of phonemes, sign languages can have multiple things going on at the same time. This multiple segmentation makes it an exciting language for linguists to study and a frustrating language for Deaf-impaired (aka, hearing) people to learn. ASL has its own morphology (rules for the creation of words), phonetics (rules for handshapes), and grammar that are very unlike those found in spoken languages. ASL and other sign languages promise to be a rich source of analysis for future linguists to come.

If you're interested in sign language linguistics, one of the best journals to get started on is the journal Sign Language Studies, published by T.J. Publishers in Silverspring, MD. Many university libraries subscribe to it as well, if yours doesn't, give them a little prodding. There have been few textbooks describing ASL grammar (because it's so complex and hearing people still know so little of it), but the Gallaudet Green Book series (especially the teacher's edition) is quite useful. You can get it from Harris Communications or other deaf bookstores.

How to learn ASL

By far, the best way to learn ASL is through a course taught by a Deaf person. Snobby, self-righteous, pig-headed universities such as the one I go to (no names mentioned.... Yale) often do not offer ASL because "it is not an academic language" -- even though ASL is often said to be the fourth most commonly used language in the U.S.A.

Polemics aside, many community colleges do offer ASL courses, just phone them up and ask for their "extension" programs. I found several in my local (New Haven) area that offered them. They usually last around a semester and the ones I found costed in the $300 range for a once or twice a week course. People have told me that it's much cheaper in other areas.

If you live in the vicinity of a school for the Deaf, they also usually offer classes for learning ASL, often geared to the friends and family of Deaf people. For example, the American School for the Deaf (ASD) in Hartford offers several.

Please do not e-mail me asking for schools that teach ASL in your neighborhood. I don't know all of the schools that teach ASL or even a small portion in the U.S. The best way to start is to pick up your yellow pages and call your local community colleges or look in the blue pages for associations of and for the deaf.

Alysse Rasmussen has an excellent page of ASL resources

Programs for ASL Study

The summer program at Gallaudet is thought by many to be one of the best due to its intensity and almost total "immersion" into Deaf culture while you are there. The summer program consists of 3 two-week intensive classes scheduled between mid-June and mid-August. Each one costs about $500 ($1000 if you are Canadian/foreign). You would typically take two courses during the summer, which would... including room and board and tuition, cost you about $2000 for four weeks ($3000 foreign/Canada).

This is the course that I took myself in the summer of 1995 for four weeks (two sessions). All of the courses are taught by Deaf people (of course) and are excellent. Being in DC and Gallaudet is the closest to total immersion that you can get. Highly recommended.

Gallaudet University 800 Florida Ave., N.E. Washington, DC 20002 USA (202)651-5551 v/tty

Aaron Laird writes to me about the program at the University of Tennessee: "The University of Tennesse has a wonderful program for anyone interested in Deaf Education. A student majoring in this subject will spend an extra year to finish, but will receive a Masters Degree for the effort. They offer classes in ASL from beginner to advanced in a four semester program. The degree program also offers many classes in Education, Holistic Learning and Speech and Hearing Pathology. The final year of the program is spent with a few lecture classes, but also entails an intership at Tennessee School for the Deaf. TSD , like most specialized schools, houses students from all over the state. It ranges from K-12 grades or the age of 21 (I believe). I am bringing this to your attention because I didn't see any references for either of these two institutions on your WWW site. So, I thought I would submit the URL's for both sites in case you wanted to add them."

Univ of Tenn: http://www.utk.edu and Tennessee School for the Deaf: http://mamclaus.opup.org/~tsd/

ASL as a foreign language:

If you are trying to get your university or college to recognize ASL as a "foreign language," you might be interested in this article in the journal Sign Language Studies:

Armstrong, David F. 1988 Some Notes on ASL as a 'Foreign' Language. Sign Language Studies 59: 231-239.

Unfortunately, I cannot send it to you due to limitations on my time and financial resources (I'm in a full-time PhD Program). However, you may be able to ask your library to obtain it to you via interlibrary loan. Or you can contact the publishers of Sign Language Studies (TJ Publishers) and ask for a back-issue, if possible. (301) 585-4440 Voice/TTY. (301) 585-4440 Fax.

Christian Science Monitor also wrote a very well researched article in their December 1997 issue about ASL gaining popularity as a foreign language. They have a copy on the web at their website. It's a very nicely written piece and you can easily print out a copy to give to your school's administration.

ASL in Japan

If you're interested in learning ASL and are in Japan, I highly recommend the Japan ASL Signer's Society (JASS). They're located in Iidabashi, Tokyo and teach ASL commercially. All of the teachers are quite good. I think at least 40% of the students are deaf themselves, so come to the classes with some understanding of JSL before trying to learn ASL:

JASS Ponpian heights #702 4-4-5 lidabashi, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo, 102-0072 Japan Tel Fax 03-3264-8977 Email JASSJP aol.com

ASL Dictionaries and other learning material

It cannot be stressed enough that ASL is not the same thing as looking up English words in an English-ASL dictionary and signing them. This is like trying to speak French with only a English-French dictionary.

The proper terminology for words signed using english grammar and word order is SEE (Signed Exact English), MCE (Manually Coded English) or simply signed english. These systems are not the same as ASL, which has its own (beautiful) grammar appropriate for a visual-spatial language. From a linguistic perspective, these are only language systems and not natural languages in their own right. For further information on SEE/MCE, see Omer Zak's somewhat misnamed Methods of communicating with the deaf.

Many hearing people, interpreters, and Deaf people when signing to a hearing person use what is commonly called Pidgin Sign English (PSE). There is a range from very English-like PSE (more like sign supported english) to a very ASL-like PSE, which uses mostly ASL grammar and words, but may not use the finer ASL grammatical points.

That all being said, none of these resources will "teach" you ASL, although the Lou Fant book might help you get an inkling of what the grammar is like. Don't buy the ASL CD-ROM thinking that the QuickTime movies (which are arguably very nice) will teach you ASL, it only has individual signs and does not deal with the grammar in any way. Heck, it doesn't even bother teaching you how to count to ten....

Online

Physical Books

Baker-Shenk, Charlotte and Dennis Cokely. 1991 [1981]. American Sign Language: a student text units 10-18. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press. Fant, Lou. 1994. The American sign language phrase book. Chicago: Contemporary Books. Humphries, Tom. 1991. An introduction to the culture of Deaf people in the United States: content notes & reference materials for teachers. Sign Language Studies (72): 209-240. Sternberg, Martin L. A. 1994. The American sign language dictionary on CD-ROM. First ed. New York: HarperCollinsInteractive. Stokoe, William C., ed. 1980. Sign and culture: a reader for students of American Sign Language. Silver Spring, Maryland: Linstok Press.

Software

Thought I'd just answer to this page. In a lot of communities there are deaf and hearing impaired groups that have numerous functions that they encourage people who would like hearing people to come and learn sign language and more about the deaf community. Learning in classes only helps so much but actually going to these functions help a lot. I never took a sign language class but just growing up and talking to my parents and their friends taught me all I needed and made me very proficient. --- Daniel Krpata (dkrpata vt.edu)

Editor's note: I'd agree, hanging around and socializing with Deaf people is a great way to learn sign language. I've met many people who first became interested when their college roommate (D) or friend taught them and brought them into the community. HOWEVER, I should also note that ASL has a very complex grammatical system that is VERY difficult to pick without formal classes. If you just engage in conversational practice with Deaf people, often they will make amends for your bad signing (just as we, when dealing with foreigners or people who we think are hard of hearing, SPEAK / SO / YOU / UNDERSTAND / YES ? -- a phenomena known as "foreigner speak").

As a Japanese person, I get "foreign speak" from (hearing) Americans all the time, it trips me up. (grin) Anyway, the point of this editorial divergence is to say that as well as socializing with Deaf people, you should also consider taking a higher level ASL class at some point so as to be attuned to points of ASL grammar that would never be apparent in just conversational use. At the very least, pick up Gallaudet's "Green Book" -- teacher's edition and look over the grammatical notes. This is of special note of you want to become a terp. But if you're content to just engage in conversation, this might not be absolutely necessary. [KN]

Dear Ms. Nakamura: In your page on American Sign Language, you write in passing "... just as no one really uses Esperanto as their native spoken language ..." This will come as a horrible surprise to the three instructors of Esperanto at the University of California, Berkeley, all of whom come from among the certainly several hundred and perhaps as many as several thousand people in the world who speak Esperanto as their native spoken language. Have a good weekend. Sincerely, -- Don HARLOW Pasis longa voj' Iri ¾i tien de for; Pasis longa temp', Sed alvenas mia hor' ... Literatura_oj: http://donh.best.vwh.net/Esperanto/Literaturo

There are, in fact, native speakers of Esperanto. Do a search for "denaskaj Esperantistoj" in Google and you will find many articles, including articles written in English, discussing native-born Esperanto speakers. Like hearing speakers who have grown up speaking both English and ASL, native-born Esperanto speakers speak *two* first languages: their native language and Esperanto. -- Raymond S. Wise Minneapolis, Minnesota USA