Since you are probably fluent in written/spoken English, this information may be slightly remedial. For those of you who never really liked English Grammar or any types of English classes, hopefully this section will provide you a basic primer of American English.

Parts of Speech

English has 8 Parts of Speech: Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adverbs, Adjectives, Conjunctions, Prepositions, and Interjections. (If you want to enjoy a fun "blast from the past", click on the above Parts of Speech to watch the "School House Rock" Saturday morning cartoon explanations of English Grammar!)

These are the main features of English that help to categorize how, when, and where words are used to make "grammatically correct" English utterances—spoken or written.

Grammar

The whole system and structure of a language, usually consisting of syntax (the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences) and morphology (the study of the forms of words, including inflections), and sometimes phonology (sound and sound patterns, and semantics (sense, reference, implication, logical form, and word meanings and word relations). [Google definitions]

In most cases, English grammar is the stuff you were always criticized about while growing up—by teachers, by adults, and by those who were "Grammar Police". (If you never were, maybe you were the one doling out helpful "English advice" to the woefully uneducated??) At the same time, you also recognized that written English had many more rules (and exceptions) than spoken English. In some ways, intonation and emphasis could provide sub-text and additional layers of meaning on top of the actual words being spoken—even the opposite of what the words meant!

But grammar rules for creating basic and complex English sentences should be familiar to most of you. Adjectives should occur BEFORE nouns, ex. "red car", "blue roof", "tall man", "young child". When they are switched around, it doesn't **feel** right! "car red", "roof blue", "man tall", "child young". For those of you fluent in other languages, it might feel closer to the grammar expectations of Spanish!

Nouns must be stated first, before pronouns are introduced. Pronouns cannot be used by themselves, otherwise the listener usually has no idea to whom you're referring.

Ex. "He said they would go there and get it." ??? HUH?

(Unless this was a continuation of a prior conversation, the listener would wonder - Who is he? Or they? And where are they going? What are they getting (it)? But out of the blue...with no context, no mention of the antecedent (noun to which the pronoun refers), and the listener is lost.)

There are many other grammatical rules about how words are connected to phrases, phrases to sentences...and these rules can vary widely from region to region, location to location in America, depending on the users and their linguistic background, culture, and influence.

Ex. A large group of Germans settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. German-speaking immigrants influenced other English-speaking Cincinnatians as they became more bilingual over time. Thus, a cultural regional phrase formed (which is also similar to Pennsylvania Dutch!) where one asks for clarification with the question/utterance: "Please?". If you misheard, misunderstood, or thought you misheard/misunderstood the other person, instead of asking: "Excuse me, please repeat yourself." or "What did you say?" or "I beg your pardon."... Cincinnatians have learned to ask "Please?" of the original speaker. Bavarian German also asks "bitte" for this same function (as "please" and "excuse me"), but it usually translates into English as "please"! CityBeat.com - "That's Soooo Cincinnati"

You are already familiar with the need for punctuation, capital letters, formatting, etc. These and other grammatical rules related to writing English will not be covered here.

Read these first to prep!

1. Handspeak.com - Linguistics in Sign Language (a basic Primer)

2. Handspeak.com - Sign Language: What Is and What Is Not

Parts of Speech

Similar to English, ASL also has nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. ASL also has Classifiers, a category of grammar that is not present in most spoken languages, since they're based on handshape. (Most spoken languages don't have a full, meaningful group of handshape-based gestures!)

ASL Parameters

Every sign in ASL can be broken down into 4 (sometimes 5) different parameters, or characteristics. These are:

1. Handshape (HS)

   • Using the ASL Fingerspelling alphabet and numbers, the corresponding Handshapes (HS) are used to identify and label signs. Ex. FINISH - the HS used is the #5, 2-Handed (2H). WORK - the HS = letter S (2H).

2. Palm Orientation (PO)

   • The direction that the palm is facing can be a defining characteristic.

3. Location (Loc)

   • The location in your signing space or in relation to other body parts/other hand can be documented to help differentiate signs.

4. Movement (Mvmt)

   • How the Dominant (D) and Non-Dominant (ND) hands move, or don't move can be identified for every sign.

5. *Non-Manual Signal (NMS) - occasionally applies to particularly exaggerated, emotional, or emphasized concepts

Example Concept: HOME

HS: Flat-O

PO: Down

Loc: Start - side of chin, End - below ear

Mvmt: Tap side of chin, arc up to below ear

NMS: N/A

Example Concept: LOVE

HS: S (2H)

PO: To signer

Loc: Chest

Mvmt: Arms cross with S HSs near opposite shoulders

NMS: Smile, happiness, contentedness

ASL Grammar

ASL Grammar is dynamic and flexible, though certain features are a must. Simple sentences can be a single sign and a facial expression. Or they can follow Subject-Verb-Object sign order (similar to what feels like "normal English", subtly tricking you into thinking ASL is "just like English"...but it's not!).

Simple Sentence Example #1:

English: My name is Bob.

ASL: MY NAME B-O-B.

Simple Sentence Example #2:

English: I like coffee.

ASL: I LIKE COFFEE.

*In both of these examples, it's easy to see why a new learner of ASL (or someone learning it as a foreign/2nd/other language) might easily mistake ASL sentence structure as being the exact same as English sentence structure. But while the sentences are simplistic and the S-V-O (Subj, Verb, Obj) order is similar, for more involved/complex sentences, S-V-O order will not work!

More complex ASL sentences may start with time signs (to establish the frame of reference for all involved in the conversation), conditional clauses/phrases, topics, and then comments or additional clauses. In these cases, the scaffolding of simultaneous signed/non-manual elements creates a richness and compactness of certain concepts that for the beginner, such subtleties will be way above their heads!

Complex Sentence Example #1:

English: Two weeks ago I forgot my phone at school so I returned today to search for it.

ASL: WRONG HAPPEN, 2-WEEKS-AGO SCHOOL-left ME RECKLESS WHY? MY PHONE LEAVE-to-left LOST! #DO-#DO? TODAY Index-left ME #BACK SEARCH (2H)*++ 'nod'.

*This is a more complex sample translations that contains 2 time references, a "set up" independent clause, and then a "result" independent clause connected by the conjunction "so". Other signers might probably sign the content and information differently. Translation is both an art and a science!

Since ASL has just begun to be easily archivable via film and videorecording within the past 50-60 years, the ability to apply comparative linguistics to signed languages has increased exponentially.

Modern spoken languages usually have written forms, which allow for ease in parsing, comparing, and analyzing. ASL (and other visual-gestural languages) have been limited by film length/quality, and, until recently, memory/storage space. Thanks to increases in technology, being able to analyze frame-by-frame ASL production by fluent ASL users is wide-spread.

(For the sake of the examples below, a "glossed" version of ASL will be written in all capital letters. These concepts are the generic/agreed-upon meanings of the signs. Those meanings can change over time, or from replacement with other "politically-correct" or sensitized sign choices.

Simple Sentence comparisons

English: Bob is my teacher.

ASL: MY TEACHER NAME B-O-B.

*Establishing the topic of TEACHER and then NAME guides the watcher in ASL to the predicted Fingerspelling of the name. Starting with a Fingerspelled word in ASL can be considered poor form, since there's no prep sign or topic to provide context for the viewer. The Fingerspelled word could be the name of a person, place, book, movie, a number, etc. Slightly switching the order in which signs are produced establishes context and ease of overall prediction throughout the utterance. Additionally, the signer might point to a location (to the right or left) in the signing space and establish the person/place/item there. Once established, pointing back (referencing) to that place immediately means "that person/place/item" all over again. In effect, placing is the statement of the noun, and referencing back acts as a pronoun (called "pronominalization" in ASL Linguistics).

English: This ASL class is difficult!

ASL: CLASS A-S-L ME FEEL HARD!

*Again, the topic of CLASS is signed first to then introduce the Fingerspelling of "ASL". Though the English sentence includes the verb to be "is", it makes more sense to sign the meaning and intention. The speaker/writer intends to express an opinion and/or feeling about the class. In many cases, ASL presents information from an expressive/emotional/perceptive standpoint (since this experience is universal and easily communicated with supporting body language and facial expressions). English is a language that focuses on logic, thought, and the mental processing of information (allowing adjectives and adverbs to pull the weight of emotional/perceptive impact) - ex. "I'm furious!", "We violently protested!", "She weeped broken-heartedly.". (The signer could have similarly placed the ASL Class to his/her/their left or right sides of their signing space.)

Complex Sentence Comparison

English: Five years ago I began working here as a part-time employee, but quickly earned promotion after promotion until I got to manager!

ASL: HAPPEN 5-YEARS-AGO HERE, ME WORK PART+TIME. KNOW-THAT, IMPACT FAST PROMOTE++ PAH MANAGER NOW! WOW!

*In this example of a complex sentence, one glossed translation is given (though very simplified for you). Time frame is signed first. Then the location (HERE), the subject (ME), and the verb (WORK). An adjective (PART+TIME) is added as part of the first clause. Since it's a complex English sentence, breaking it down into several manageable chunks is easier for the signer and the viewer to take in and process. The next clause has a Conversational Opener (KNOW-THAT), used to hook and keep the viewer's attention. And the verb (IMPACT) with the adverb (FAST) is idiomatic in ASL to indicate some event occurred quickly. Next, the promotion is signed repetitively, higher and higher, until (PAH!) an interjection/ASL idiom is signed to signify the culmination of the promotions and the position (MANAGER) is signed, along with the adverb (NOW) to change the time reference to the present. And finally, the signer's opinion/interjection is signed (WOW!) to close out the retelling and provide a final emotion—awe and amazement.

This section barely scratches the surface of Comparative ASL-English Linguistics, especially for those of you who may one day aspire to work as professional ASL-English Interpreters. There are plenty of online resources, videos, and courses you can take that go more in-depth into the linguistics of both languages, BEFORE you consider taking a Comparative Analysis course/training.