ABC/Number Stories in ASL

Creative stories in ASL that utilize specific handshapes (Classifiers), whether they be letters or numbers, to constrain the possible sign choices of the "storyteller". Fluency and skill in ASL are required—a depth of vocabulary, a breadth of visual "puns", iconic/gestural content, body language, surrogation (taking on the characteristics and style of people, animals, objects), and humor are typically embedded within ABC/Number Stories.

Typical Rules include:

• A range of letters and/or #s without repeating or skipping (though sometimes going forward through the range, then back again, is a creative iteration on just starting at A and ending at Z, or 1-9)

• Supporting body language, facial expressions, and surrogation/depiction/characterization (acting "like" someone or something)

• Creating a clear story (even if it's far-fetched, unbelievable, or breaks real-world rules!).

At Schools for the Deaf, upperclass students passed down ASL ABC/Number Stories to younger students. Some stories were frozen, retaining the exact same handshapes, rhythm, ABC/# order, characterization, and storyline. Other stories might be riffs off of "famous" stories that had been told and passed down since time immemorial. And still others might just be silly or juvenile attempts to entertain and push the boundaries of linguistic rules and possibilities.

Note that even stories constrained by a single handshape are possible in ASL, depending on the masterful creativity of the storyteller. Those storytellers who were adept at fashioning entertaining and witty confabulations in ASL were honored and esteemed within their classes and schools!

Even at Deaf Clubs, certain members were known for their tall tales and amazing ASL ABC/# Stories, being asked again and again to entertain the membership with old tales, new creations, and fun pokes at themselves or others in the community.

Try your hand at creating an ASL ABC/# Story (pick a letter handshape or a number!) and try to string together a sentence or two.

Ex. Index-Finger:

• Upright = person standing or moving, "I/me"

• Horizontal = pointing/gesturing at someone in the distance/signing space

• Down = indicating the floor, the ground, the legs/feet

• Specific pointing = To head/other body parts

• 2 Hands = describing movement of each leg (walking gingerly/carefully/timidly)

Alternatively, you can think about all the signs you might know that use the Index finger/Classifier:

• 1 (or D)

• PERSON

• I, YOU, S/HE/IT, WE, THEY

• EYES/Body Parts (point to them)

• THINK

• HERE

• over-THERE

• LEGS (2H)

• MOUSE

• LONG

• BLACK

• PAIN/HURT (2H)

• SHOW

• "cut throat"/RISKY/DANGEROUS

• HEAR

• SAY/TELL-to-____

• HEARING

• DEAF

• "pick your nose"

• etc.

Then, can you make a story out of these signs? Or even create a few related sentences? Try! (And use the stories below for some inspiration.)

Similar to ASL Letter/Number Stories, ASL Poetry is a genre unto itself. Specific Letters/Numbers/Handshapes are used to not only provide the structure of the poem, but to embody physical, emotional, and spiritual expressions of the ASL Poet/Author. Facial expressions, rhythm, body movements/leaning, surrogation (taking on the characteristics of different personas/objects/animals/ideas), and other non-manual/signed features are produced simultaneously with the letters/numbers/handshapes to scaffold and build a multi-dimensional story and imagery.

There are simplistic ASL Poems (on the surface) that, upon examination, host a wealth of linguistic and symbolic features comparable—and sometimes superior to!—spoken language poetry!

One of the "Grandfathers" of ASL Poetry, Clayton Valli, based his MA Thesis and PhD Dissertation on analyzing and archiving ASL Poets and their corpus of intergenerational poems. He then documented his own work and published/produced several videotapes with a variety of different Deaf Poets of all ages and races and genders. Some of Clayton Valli's Collected Works are hosted by DawnSign Press on Vimeo for a fee. Online web searches can also come up with free versions.

ASL Jokes are different from hearing/spoken language jokes. Humor lies in the ironic, the unexpected, and the Deaf (visual/signed) experience of the joke-teller. Spoken language jokes may use puns, play on word pronunciations, multiple-meanings, or sounds/onomatopoeia. Sign Language humor can play with handshape(s), sign productions/movements, and multiple-meanings of signs/concepts.

An additional layer of ASL jokes can be the ultimate winner/survivor of the Deaf character in the joke. Or sometimes the Deaf character succeeds/wins/pulls to the forefront because of his/her/their deafness and inability to hear (but ability to depend upon hands, eyes, or other non-verbal means of communication).

A famous example of a Deaf/ASL Joke is the Motel Story (which recently had a revival in a famous Superbowl advertisement several years ago!). In this joke, a Deaf newlywed couple stops for the night at a motel. They check in but the wife signs to her husband that she needs some things from the convenience store down the road, IMMEDIATELY. So he leaves without really paying much attention, just rushing to return as quickly as possible!

He gets to the store, makes his purchases, then speedily returns to his awaiting bride. Upon arrival back to the motel, he has completely forgotten which room he took her to! After a few minutes of confusion, puzzlement, and frustration, he suddenly hits upon a brilliant idea. He lays on the car horn and beeps again and again until lights turn on in most of the motel windows. The ONE window that stays dark, THAT'S his beautiful, Deaf Bride!!! (*HAHAH*!)

While this seems, from a hearing perspective, quite an off-putting story: "I can't believe he'd wake up EVERYONE in the motel just to find the room where his wife couldn't hear him!", there's a twisted logic and wittiness to the Deaf husband's innovative solution! Not only is this funny to a Deaf viewer, it paints the Deaf couple in a positive light, effectively leveraging their typically-maligned "disability" for their own benefit—Deaf Gain! It's a lived-experience tale that highlights the cunning and genius of Deaf people and their problem-solving ability in the face of daily oppression, obstruction, and barriers that the majority of people will never have to confront.