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Unit 1 ASL Grammar Rules

This document outlines 20 grammar rules of American Sign Language (ASL), including that there are 5 parameters to ASL signs, specifics on fingerspelling letters and numbers, differences between signing nouns and verbs, how to ask questions, using referent points, which hand is dominant, and regional variations in signs.

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868 views1 page

Unit 1 ASL Grammar Rules

This document outlines 20 grammar rules of American Sign Language (ASL), including that there are 5 parameters to ASL signs, specifics on fingerspelling letters and numbers, differences between signing nouns and verbs, how to ask questions, using referent points, which hand is dominant, and regional variations in signs.

Uploaded by

AlyssaChavez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ASL Grammar Rules

Unit 1
1. There are 5 parameters to ASL: handshape, location, movement, palm orientation and
non-manual signals which represent your facial expressions.
2. When fingerspelling make sure to sound out the letters do not spell them out.
3. When fingerspelling double letters drag them from center - out
4. Do not bounce your hand while fingerspelling
5. Wh words, including how, tend to go at the end of the sentence when signing in ASL.
6. Phone numbers, age, addresses the numbers are always signed palm out.
7. Nouns are signed twice or more
8. Verbs are signed once.
9. Yes/no questions have raised eyebrows
10. Wh questions have downward eyebrows
11. Rhetorical questions have raised eyebrows
12. You may not ask a Rhetorical question in a question already sentence.
13. When “who has….” Starts off in an English sentence, it is also sign first.
14. When the word “that” is in a sentence you must always sign who or what first then
point to where “that” is. A signer points to a place in the signing space to establish a
referent point for a person or thing.
15. If an English sentence has the English word “in” or “at” then it will be changed to
become the sign “where” as a rhetorical question.
16. Dominant hand is the hand that moves.
17. Non-dominant hand stays stable.
18. Fingerspell if you don’t know the sign.
19. “OR” is always fingerspelled.
20. Not all signs will be signed the same. There may be more than one way to sign the same
sign. It also depends on the region and age of the signer.

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