Video ID: “ASL Grammar, Why is classroom taught ASL different than real life ASL? Theoretical ASL vs Common ASL”
Garrett, white male with dark polo shirt stands in front of a white background. Garrett: Theoretical ASL and common ASL have differences. Theoretical ASL is a type of ASL what is taught. Common ASL is a type of ASL used by communities. Both have differences. In this vlog, the points I will include are…
English Markers
Word Order
Question Structure
Letter Signs
Rhetorical Question
Adjective Structure
I have seen that the internet and classes have spread some misinformation regarding ASL grammar. I would like to clarify some things. What may have caused with this misinformation? It might go back to the 1970s when they recognized that ASL wasn’t English and distinguished them apart. It meant anything that was similar to English would be cut off. This was when some ASL grammar became unclear. I will elaborate on this.
1. English Markers
ID: “English Markers: Keep them or not?”
Garrett: English markers are English word functions like “be”, “of”, “to”, etc. Theoretical ASL cuts English markers out or replaces them with other signs. Sometimes this causes some sentences to be vague or odd. Common ASL is when signing includes 3D structure and English markers for clarity. Here is an example.
ID: Two Garretts stand in a comparison of Theoretical ASL vs Common ASL with “English Marker: Be” to sign the line, “They like to be friendly.” Garrett of Theoretical ASL: They like become friendly. Garrett of Common ASL: They like be friendly.
ID: Solo Garrett is back standing. Garrett: Theoretical ASL removes “be”, an English marker, and replaces it with another sign. This doesn’t really fit the meaning. Common ASL uses English markers only for clarity and emphasis. Compared to English, common ASL has less English markers.
2. Word Order
ID: “Word Order: What is ASL’s sentence structure”
Garrett: Word order: In theoretical ASL it is taught that word order is topic first, then comments, which is known as OSV (Object + Subject + Verb). Common ASL does the opposite, by having the object at the end called SVO. Here is an example.
ID: “People watch the game.” “S” Subject: People, “V” Verb: watch, “O” Object: game. “Common ASL: SVO “People watch game.” “Theoretical ASL: OSV “Game people watch.”
ID: Two Garretts stand in a comparison of “OSV” theoretical ASL vs “SVO” Common ASL in word order to sign the line, “People watch the game. I throw the ball.” Garrett of Theoretical ASL: Game people watch. Ball I throw. Garrett of Common ASL: People watch game. I throw ball.
ID: Solo Garrett is back standing. Garrett: See the difference? Theoretical ASL emphasizes OSV. If ASL was told in a paragraph in full of OSV, it would look strange. Common ASL isn’t limited to SVO. It can be either SVO and OSV as it depends on what is the focal point.
3. Question Structure
ID: “Question Structure: How to ask questions in ASL?”
Garrett: Question structure: Theoretical ASL says that ASL has to be distinguished from English. There are two types of question structure, yes/no and WH questions. Now, let’s focus on yes/no questions. Theoretical ASL claims that yes/no questions must be used with eyebrow movements without spelling an English word. Often this cause some questions unclear which can make it look like it’s not a question. In contrast, common ASL uses a manual question sign. Here is an example.
ID: Two Garretts stand in a comparison of Theoretical ASL vs Common ASL of Yes/No Question to sign the line, “Do I like art.” Garrett of Theoretical ASL: I like art Garrett of Common ASL: ? I like art
ID: Solo Garrett is back standing. Garrett: See the difference? Common ASL uses the manual question sign. Also, FYI, common ASL users do spell English markers. Now, moving from yes/no questions. Let’s focus on the WH question part. Theoretical ASL is taught that WH questions usually have WH put at the end of a sentence while common ASL does the opposite by having WH put at the beginning. Here is an example.
ID: Two Garretts stand in a comparison of Theoretical ASL vs Common ASL of WH Question to sign the line, “what is your name.” Garrett of Theoretical ASL: your name what Garrett of Common ASL: what your name
ID: Solo Garrett is back standing. Garrett: See the difference? This doesn’t mean that common ASL’s WH placement is limited at the beginning of a sentence, but it can be at the end. It is only for when puzzled, or to draw out some information.
4. Letter Signs
ID: Letter Signs: Where does ASL stand on letter signs?”
Garrett: Theoretical ASL says that English must be eliminated, including reducing letter signs. Really, letter signs have the benefit of recognizing differences between signs in categories such as group, list, type, etc. Here are some examples.
Sometimes theoretical ASL would remove letters from signs which can cause signs look the same. For example, resource becomes thing. Plant becomes grow. Kitchen becomes cook. Language becomes sentence. Now, here is a comparison between with and without letter signs.
ID: Two Garretts stand in a comparison of Theoretical ASL: without letter signs vs Common ASL: with letter signs to sign the line, “Improve language by editing grammar in sentences.” Garrett of Theoretical ASL: (without letter signs) Improve language by editing grammar in sentences. Garrett of Common ASL: (with letter signs) Improve language by editing grammar in sentences.
ID: Solo Garrett is back standing. Garrett: Ironically, theoretical ASL is fine with spelling words while reducing letter signs. Actually, the words themselves have more letters. I find when letter signs change to be more visual and unique, like the sign for people, that it can look good.
5. Rhetorical Questions
ID: “Rhetorical Questions: Is it overused?”
Garrett: I notice that theoretical ASL overuses rhetorical questions, as I call WH clarification like using “what”, “where”, “when”. Here is an example.
ID: Two Garretts stand in a comparison of Theoretical ASL: with rhetorical questions vs Common ASL: without rhetorical questions to sign the line, “My sign name is Garrett. I am from Louisiana. I teach ASL.”
Garrett of Theoretical ASL: My sign name what Garrett. I am from where Louisiana. I teach what ASL. Garrett of Common ASL: My sign name Garrett. I from Louisiana. I teach ASL.
ID: Solo Garrett is back standing.
Garrett: Common ASL doesn’t use WH clarification to replace the word “is” or some English markers. WH clarification is good for explanation and making announcements. That’s it.
6. Adjective Structure
ID: “Adjective Structure: Do adjective have to be after a noun?”
Garrett: Adjective structure, Theoretical ASL insists that adjectives have to be after a noun. In contrast, common ASL has adjectives come before a noun. Here is an example.
ID: Two Garretts stand in a comparison of Theoretical ASL (adjective after noun) vs Common ASL (adjective before noun) to sign the line, “Nice students like a good teacher.” Garrett of Theoretical ASL: Students nice like teacher good. Garrett of Common ASL: Nice students like good teacher.
ID: Solo Garrett is back standing. Garrett: Common ASL can have adjectives after a noun only if it is for elaboration, not all times.
Closure ID: “Even though ASL has some similarities with English, ASL still has its own grammar. Where does ASL stand?”
Garrett: In short, theoretical ASL and common ASL have differences. Comparing English and common ASL, their sentence structures have many similarities. Making ASL completely opposite to English causes some ASL grammar to be vague or odd. Common ASL includes signs including 3D structure and English markers for clarity. Common ASL has less English markers compared to English. English and common ASL both are still different languages.