Punctuation marks in the ASL alphabet...?

D

Dshamilja

New Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone,
I was wondering if there are punctuation marks in the ASL alphabet. Specifically, are there apostrophes? And what about the "space" in between words? Sorry if that's a really dumb question... And thanks for considering it anyway.
Best wishes,
Dshamilja.
 
There are apostrophes, but they're mainly used when fingerspelling things that need an apostrophe. There's also an apostrophe s ('s). You don't use it when talking about what somebody owns (i.e. you don't use it for "Sarah's pen"). It's used for stuff like brand names (i.e. I'm going to Macy's to buy a dress).

You don't sign spaces, just like you don't say in English something like "My space mom space lives space in space a space nice space house." You just sign the words. A lot of "punctuation" is achieved through non-manual markers (facial expressions, pauses, intensity of sign) the same way that the "punctuation" in spoken English is achieved through tone of voice and inflection. You wouldn't say something like "Are you deaf or hearing question mark." It would be conveyed from the way you altered the pitch and the way your sentence was arranged grammatically (in the case of English, Verb-Subject-Object as opposed to the standard Subject-Verb-Object).
 
I assume the OP is referring to fingerspelling. To indicate a space between words, such as someone's first and last name, you fingerspell the first word, pause a moment, then fingerspell the next word. There are other techniques like moving the hand slightly forward on the last letter to visually indicate that it's the end of the word, or pausing and shifting the hand slightly to the right to indicate that it's another word.

As for punctuation in ASL discourse, purplewowies is correct about the use of non-manual markers and body language.
 
I would think for apostrophes, in ASL, you would indicate the subject, then the possessive.

Like "I went to Sara's house in English" would be "past, Sara, her house I go." Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm learning ASL too.
 
Thanks for your replies!
Yep, I was referring to fingerspelling. It never even occurred to me that there might be punctuation marks in "actual" sign language. So sorry for not making that clear...
I looked up how to make the "apostrophe s" sign, but now I'm wondering: can you do the same thing for other letters? For example when fingerspelling contractions like "I'm", "you're"...?
Thanks again! :)
Best wishes,
Dshamilja.
 
Dshamilja said:
Thanks for your replies!
Yep, I was referring to fingerspelling. It never even occurred to me that there might be punctuation marks in "actual" sign language. So sorry for not making that clear...
I looked up how to make the "apostrophe s" sign, but now I'm wondering: can you do the same thing for other letters? For example when fingerspelling contractions like "I'm", "you're"...?
Thanks again! :)
Best wishes,
Dshamilja.
Click to expand...

Are these questions because you are using ASL to teach English grammar?
 
Dshamilja said:
Thanks for your replies!
Yep, I was referring to fingerspelling. It never even occurred to me that there might be punctuation marks in "actual" sign language. So sorry for not making that clear...
I looked up how to make the "apostrophe s" sign, but now I'm wondering: can you do the same thing for other letters? For example when fingerspelling contractions like "I'm", "you're"...?
Thanks again! :)
Best wishes,
Dshamilja.
Click to expand...

I don't think there are, but I might be wrong.
 
No, there's no reason for these questions except my own personal interest. I'm just generally curious about languages (English isn't my first language, so maybe that's why I have all these bizarre questions). Thanks for taking the time to reply.
 
Well I'm is a contraction of I am...and the verb "to be" (of which "am" is a form) does not exist in ASL. (Nor does it in Russian, btw). So thinking of the meaning, to sign "I am happy" you would just sign the equivalent of "I happy"

Although the spelled words of ASL use fingerspelling of English words, the rest of ASL is not based on English. So the other structures and such do not translate. You cannot translate slang expressions well either, just like any other language-crossing. I am sure there are expressions in your first language that get lost the same way. If you used the English phrase, "you are pulling my leg" translated into Spanish, for example, they would think you are strange and protest that they have not even touched your leg. (The Spanish equivalent phrase translates to "you are taking my hair", btw)

The big "problem" making this distinction between ASL and English is that ALS users typically understand, read, and write English, many puns and slang along with it. There are places where the defining line gets a little blurry.
 
Back
Top