ASL Grammar - Is this correct?

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
February 1, 2006

Adam, Stuart, Cherie, Ingvild, Stefan - everyone!
Maybe someone could start their own web pages, to share with the  
world, their ASL sentences with good grammar? smile...I am 4 to 6  
months behind on posting documents for people so this would make it  
go faster...We could use some ASL document web sites that list all  
the pure ASL sentences available written in SignWriting...a little  
like what I started on this web page:

ASL Sentences
http://www.signwriting.org/lessons/grammar/asl01.html

but I can see I will never have time to really do a lot on it  
myself...what's more, I would prefer that others would do it! I would  
rather work on Movement Writing in general...and leave the languages  
to the language users....

Once we start learning the new SignText (I am preparing a lesson  
now), there is a way to save sentences there, so this will make the  
job easier for any new sites on ASL sentences...

And obviously the same could be done for other signed languages  
too...good for the language for people to make the jump from single  
signs to sentences...

Val ;-)

----------------------------



On Jan 30, 2006, at 12:22 PM, Adam Frost wrote:

> Thank you Ingvild for the excellent example. This is exactly what I  
> was talking about when there are other ways (usually considered to  
> be less formal) to ask that same question, "What is your name?"  
> Signing NAME YOU? is also done is ASL with the eyebrows up. And  
> because in all reality it is a yes/no question "Do you have a  
> name?" or better yet "Is there a name for you?", it still doesn't  
> truly break any ASL grammer rules. ;-) I don't know about in NTS,  
> but in ASL when a native user is asked this, they will give a short  
> nod to mean yes (it is so short that it can be missed easily) and  
> then will give their name.
> The reason the sentence Val had written was wrong was because of  
> the signing WHAT while having the eyebrows up making a whole  
> different meaning.
> Thanks you again, Ingvild. (And I bet that wasn't even your  
> intentions. :-P)
> Adam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Ingvild Roald" <iroald at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Date: 01/30/06 11:52 AM
> To: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
> Subject: RE: [sw-l] ASL Grammar - Is this correct?
>
> The deaf persons who gave me this response are the ones who teach  
> NTS at the
> university college - and I was reading my writing to them, so they  
> got the
> eybrows from there. They say that it is just this one 'wh-'  
> quesstion, whis
> would be glossed *name you?*, that should have the brows up. All  
> other such
> questions, like *name he?* (who is that? what's his name?) should  
> have the
> brows down. -Which means that I would just be consiered as one who  
> followed
> the gramatical rules a bit too rigorously, and could not be  
> considered a
> native signer, even if it was 'perfect'
>
> Ingvild
>
> ps: as for the lessons, I just gave a comment ot you in another  
> message. I
> feel very tired just now, am off my good medications in order to be  
> ill
> enough for the doctor to prescribe them to me, so I am behind in  
> things.
> Besides, I had to move office *and* move almost everything in my  
> appartment
> because they were changing all the windows anfd creating quite a  
> mess. Will
> be back.
>
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