This introduction to ideas about sign languages was prepared for Stanford University's Linguistics 1 course in November 2008. It emphasizes the 4 myths, shows some authentic ASL vlogs and websites that use ASL as one of the modes of communication. (Links have not been verified again.)

1. Sign Language:
At least 4 myths, a few true facts,
and fun stuff from the web
Nancy Frishberg, Ph.D.
nancyf@fishbird.com
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 1

2. Always start with a joke
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 2

3. Goals for Today
• Let’s share assumptions and questions about
sign language
• Let’s correct some misunderstandings and
decide how to reconcile some incompatible
ideas
• Let’s agree on how to decide whether sign
language fits in the scheme of human
language behavior
• Let’s learn a few fun facts about signing
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 3

4. My contact with deafness
• Hard of Hearing mother
• Toddler friend also “Hard of Hearing”
• Junior High School friend had deaf
grandparents
– We spelled; I learned a dozen signs
• Grad school entry (in linguistics)
coincided with Bellugi’s first NIH grant
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 4

5. Your experiences with
Deafness? Signing?
• School? • Informal contact?
• Scouts? • Formal instruction?
• Sesame Street? • Language Files
• Other TV? Movies? readings?
This is where you get to ask stupid questions
-- but, there are no stupid questions --
and reveal your assumptions and preconceptions
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 5

6. Some of the student questions
• Genetics of deafness? • When did signing start?
• Differences between • How does sign express
ASL and other sign ideas like “sarcasm”?
languages • Shouldn’t there be one
• Expressive capacity? sign language –
• How does ASL create universal?
new words • Regional differences
• Is ASL grammar • “Music” equivalent?
equivalent to English
grammar
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 6

7. A Couple of Examples of
Fluent Signing
• Jane Norman’s blog and vlog
http://thedeaflens.com/?cat=24
• Hatrak Sisters Enterprises
http://www.hatraksisters.com/
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 7

8. 4 Myths - 2x2
• Signing is Pantomime
• Signing is Universal
• Signing is a coded form of speech
• Signing is fingerspelling
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 8

9. Myth! Signing is Pantomime
• Is pantomime conventional? standardized?
– Or can it change from one person to another?
From one occasion to another?
– How about signing?
• Does pantomime fit the temporal
requirements or habits of a human language?
• How culturally bound is pantomime? How
about signing?
• Does pantomime imply “concrete” or
“simple”? How about signing?
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 9

10. Myth! Signing is Universal
• If signing were a universal language, then
– You would understand what we’ve seen on these
vlogs and websites without transcripts or
interpretation
– You would not need any help understanding what
any deaf person signs
– People from around the world would be able to
communicate with each other successfully and
effortlessly in gesture
– There would not be many sign languages, nor
regional variation within each sign language
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 10

11. Signing is
Myth!
a coded form of speech
• If signs are coded speech, then there is
a 1:1 relationship between signs and
spoken language
– At what level would this coding happen?
• Sounds? Cf. Cued speech
• Words? Parts of words? Cf. SEE, etc.
• Spelling? (see next slide)
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 11

12. Myth! Signing is fingerspelling
Fingerspelling is a method of representing (English)
words using a series of manual gestures that
correspond to the alphabet
• No difference between capital and lowercase, limited
use of punctuation
– i.e., it’s not writing
• One-handed vs. two-handed spelling
– Quick aside on history of ASL and BSL, Rochester Method
• How does it function in the stream of signs?
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 12

13. Signing is
• A mode of producing and perceiving specific
primary human languages
– ASL ≠ BSL; ASL ≠ LSF
– Different sign languages are not mutually
intelligible to native signers
– Not transparent to non-signers, but possible more
obviously iconic than (most) spoken languages
• Capable of all expression available to other
modes of human language
– Meets the duality of patterning criterion for human
languages
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 13

14. Modalities of Production
Speech Signing
One articulator Two articulators, plus face/body
Invisible to speaker Generally visible to signer
Invisible to addressee Visible to addressee
Asymmetric Mirror-image symmetric
Breathing, vocalization, pitch, Gesture area, size of space,
timbre, pausing, silence rhythmic structures, pausing,
silence
Other? Other?
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 14

15. Modalities of Perception
Speech Signing
Ears - auditory Eyes - visual (& tactile?)
Omni-directional Subscribed visual angle
Speech concentrated in certain Foveal vs. peripheral vision;
frequencies of human hearing cones and rods
Distance limits? Barriers? Distance limits? Barriers?
Noise? Darkness? Noise? Darkness?
Speaker’s voice competes with Signer and addressee can
addressee’s voice overlap without apparent conflict
Other? Other?
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 15

16. Questions
• From the reading
• From our discussion so far
• If time permits, we’ll continue to …
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 16

17. 2 Articulators + Face
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 17

18. One- & Two-handed signs
Teuber, et al. (1980) computer tally
of 1628 non-compounds
1-handed signs 38% N = 585
2-handed signs 62% N = 1230
Drawn from Stokoe, Casterline & Croneberg’s
Dictionary of American Sign Language (1965).
Not based on usage frequency, but on dictionary entries.
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 18

19. Constraints on 2-handed signs
Two hands have the
same shape?
Yes No
Type 1 Type 4
Two Yes
hands
both Type 2 Type 3
moving? No
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 19

20. Type 1
• Two hands same
shape
• Both hands both
move
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 20

21. Type 2
• Two hands same
shape
• One hand moves
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 21

22. Type 3
• Two hands different
shapes
• One hand moves
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 22

23. Type 4
• Two hands different ?
shapes
• Both hands move
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 23

24. Constraints on 2-handed signs
Two hands have the
same shape?
Yes No
Symmetry *
(ill-formed in
Yes Condition
Two ASL)
32%
hands 1%
both Symmetry Dominance
moving? No (shape) &
Condition
Dominance 19%
(relations)
11%
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 24

25. (at least) 5 Functions of the
Face in ASL
1. Affective
• speaker attitude toward utterance
2. Intensifier; other adverbials
• RECENTLY
• THHH, tongue flap
3. Lexical
• LATE vs NOT YET; PAH!
4. Sentential intonation markings
• Q, REL…
5. Backchannel
• one nostril twitch vs. two nostril twitch
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 25

26. Beyond Marlee Matlin
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 26

27. Beyond Marlee Matlin
• Marketing materials from companies
who know they have culturally Deaf
customers
– http://www.goamerica.com/10digit/ (25 Sept 08)
– http://www.deafmd.org/
• Deaf Folklore turns into mainstream ad
“Bob’s House” (Pepsi Ad, SuperBowl08)
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrq6cUoE5A
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 27

28. Research about New
Technologies & Signing
• Recognizing ASL for dictionary lookup
– http://www.thoughtware.tv/videos/show/2870
• Signs webcast from home
– http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~ekeating/Publications/
ASLVirtSpace.pdf
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 28

29. Mobile ASL (U Washington)
• What is required to carry ASL
conversations over US cell phones?
– SW: Appropriate frame rate, compression
– Machine vision: Skin detection, activity
detection
– HW: Camera on same surface as screen
http://mobileasl.cs.washington.edu/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaE1PvJwI8E
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 29

30. Online “Dictionaries” of ASL
http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/bookpage/
GDASLbookpage.html
(this is where I took the 2-handed examples from)
http://www.lifeprint.com/index.htm
(this is the one that Language Files uses)
http://www.handspeak.com/tour/index.php
(yet another dictionary that shows examples from ASL and a few
other sign languages)
Bibliography of Sign Language
http://www.sign-lang.uni-hamburg.de/BibWeb/
12 November 2008 Linguistics 1: Frishberg 30