And yes, I know that ASL is American , and therefore has to work well with English. I know that ASL is different from the SL of other countries where English is not spoken. I am asking if the grammar rules are very different from English.
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Yes, there are a few differences but for the most part, it’s the same. One example, is that when you hear the phrase “Hard of hearing” you think “Oh, they can’t hear very well” but in the Deaf community, it means “Oh, they can hear very well.” it’s small things like that.
See if you can find the local deaf community near where you live. It’s fascinating!! 😀 I took two semesters of ASL in college and my teachers were all deaf. It was really interesting.
ASL is completely different from spoken English. Formation of words is different, order of words is different, the whole approach to the world is different, as a matter of fact.
In spoken English, one can use adverbs like ‘very’ but I think in ASL (we just had a lesson in it today in a workshop on material development), the size and speed of the sign might vary.
Sentences aren’t constructed the same way as spoken English.
For example, in English you would say “Yesterday, I drove my car all day.” In ASL, it would be something like “All day drove (in the) past.”
There are gestures, facial expressions, and shortcuts that are not specific to spoken grammar.
Here’s a great site with information on grammar and deaf culture; I’ve been using it to learn ASL:
http://www.lifeprint.com
And reference sites for different topics:
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/topics.htm
Yes. ASL is very bueatiful. FYI, there are other types of US sign languages that are very different from ASL; signed exact English (SEE) is mainly used to teach reading.—-Anyway, ASL has a grammer more similar to Spanish than English. I say this because you put nouns before adjectives and articles like “a”, “the”, and “an” don’t exist. For example the sentence, “I read a really thick book all day yesterday.” would translate to, “Yesterday, all day, read book thick.”
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Beyond that, adverbs exist but aren’t really spoken. You wouldn’t say you read a “really” thick book. You’d just really emphasize the word “thick” with by moving your hands slightly or forcefully as well as adding facial expression, fast or slow speed, big or small movement and maybe even sound with your lips.
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So much of the meaning in this language is about HOW you emphasize words. And although you can translate anything, many hearing expressions don’t translate well to SL and vise versa. This includes stuff like bible verses and idioms like “cut off the lights “; meaning “turn the lights off” not “cut the lights off the ceiling”. It’s a hearing vs deaf culture thing.
Yes, it’s a language in its own, separated from English.
It has vocab and grammar distinctive.
E.g.: YESTERDAY YOU GO PARTY ALONE WHY?
Why did you go to the party alone yesterday?
Being a visual language, generally (but not always) you first place the action in time and place and then you describe the “scene”. Also question generally go at the end of the sentence. In that aspect ASL is more similar to Japanese than English (but just in that point ;D).
Although, grammar is more complex that just knowing these tips, and the best way of learning it, is being around Deaf who speak it fluently (It’s their language).