Not all languages are based on sound. For example, ASL (American Sign Language) is a visual language that helps people who are deaf or hard of hearing communicate. Learning about the ASL alphabet, ASL number system, and ASL rules of sentence structure can help people better understand the functions of visual languages.
ASL Meaning
ASL is an acronym for American Sign Language, a visual language used primarily by those who are mute, deaf, or hard of hearing. A visual language is a communication system that uses visual signs. American Sign Language has linguistic properties like spoken languages, including syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics.
There are many forms of sign language worldwide, dating back officially to the early 17th century when the Spanish priest Juan Pablo de Bonet published the first book on sign language. Many French teachers taught at the early schools for the deaf in the United States, and as a result, the development of American Sign Language was heavily based on French sign language. Today, ASL is the main form of sign language used in the United States and anglophone Canada.
Different forms of sign language follow different rules. For example, there is British Sign Language (BSL) in Britain. In BSL, signers use two hands to sign, while in ASL signers use one hand.
ASL Alphabet
ASL has an alphabet that consists of the same 26 letters as the English alphabet. The ASL alphabet has hand signs for each letter, which in English represents a basic speech sound. The image below demonstrates how to sign each letter of the ASL alphabet.
Fig. 2 - The ASL alphabet has 26 letters.
ASL Numbers
ASL also has distinct signs that represent numerical quantities. The image below illustrates the signs for single-digit numbers. To make numbers that are more than single-digit, signers sign all the numbers that make up the word one at a time.
The way one signs the numbers requires more than just making hand motions. For example, when signing single-digit numbers 1 through 5, one signs with the palm facing backward. However, the palm should be facing out when signing a double-digit number like 35. When signing double-digit numbers with two of the same digits (like 33 or 55), one must sign with the palm down and bounce the sign from their non-dominant side to the dominant side.
Fig. 2 - ASL has signs for the numbers 0 to 9.
ASL Signs
Sign languages also have hand signs to represent concepts in the same way that spoken languages have words. Some of the signs are made up of combinations of the letters that spell it, such as the sign for "I love you," which is a combination of the letters i, l, and y. Other signs mimic what they represent, such as the sign for cat, which requires a hand motion that looks like one is teasing whiskers. ASL has approximately 10,000 different signs for words.
Fig. 3 - The ASL sign for "I love you."
There is not a sign in ASL for every word in American English, which has approximately 200,000 words. When a sign does not exist for a word, such as a proper noun, ASL speakers can fingerspell it, which means spelling the word with the individual signs for the letters pictured above. Sometimes ASL speakers choose to describe the word they mean, using signs that do exist.
Element of ASL Signing
Since ASL is a visual language, signers convey meaning with many visual elements, not just the shape of their hands. The five elements below all help convey meaning in ASL:
Hand shape
Hand motion
Orientation of the palm
Location of the sign
Facial expression
The location and formation of the sign can have significant impacts on meaning. For instance, to sign the word father, one touches the thumb to the forehead, and to sign the word mother, one touches the thumb to the chin. This is the same hand motion but in a different location.
Whether or not the signer is using their dominant hand also impacts the meaning of the sign. Some signs require one hand, some require two hands and symmetrical movement, and some require two hands and non-symmetrical movement. In the last case, the signer will move their dominant hand and not move their non-dominant hand.
Signers also change their facial expressions or the speed of their movement to create emphasis or indicate the intensity of a situation. For example, the sign for beautiful is an exaggerated version of the sign for pretty.
ASL Sentence Structure
ASL follows grammatical rules like sentence structure the same way American English does, but the syntactical rules in ASL are unique. In ASL, sentences typically follow the order below:
Subject + Verb + Object
Unlike American English, ASL does not have verb conjugations for many verbs, such as the verb to be. Instead, they combine signs for various words to indicate the tense. For instance, in English, one would say, "I was hungry." In ASL, one would sign this sentence: "Me before hungry."
The lack of verb conjugations also impacts sentence structure. For instance, consider the differences between the following sentences.
American English: I went to the grocery store yesterday.
ASL: Yesterday me go finish grocery store.
ASL speakers also communicate verb tense through the placement of their hands and the movement of their bodies. For instance, hand signs are done close to the body to indicate the present tense. When discussing the future tense, the farther one signs the word from their body, the farther in the future they are referring to. The nuances in body language and hand position that convey meaning like this demonstrate the remarkable complexity of visual language systems.
ASL - Key takeaways
- ASL stands for American Sign Language.
- ASL has roots in French sign language because there were many French teachers in early American deaf schools.
- The ASL alphabet has 26 letters.
- ASL has about 10,000 signs that represent words.
- ASL sentence structure generally follows the form of "Time + Subject + Verb + Object."
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