Adverbial Morphemes in Tactile ASL - Gallaudet University
Adverbial Morphemes in Tactile ASL - Gallaudet University
Adverbial Morphemes in Tactile ASL - Gallaudet University
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PDE – Steven D. Coll<strong>in</strong>s<br />
Intellectual Context and Literature Review<br />
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
receivers cannot see the non-manual wh-questions marker, <strong>in</strong>stead they rely on the wh-sign to<br />
<strong>in</strong>dicate that the sentence is a wh-question. Without a wh-sign, it would be easy to<br />
misunderstand the sentence, because the sentence is ungrammatical. As grammatical markers<br />
are not observed by Deaf-Bl<strong>in</strong>d people, this “dialect community” has a restricted set of whconstruction.<br />
In standard <strong>ASL</strong>, a signer looks directly to the receiver while ask<strong>in</strong>g a wh-question, and<br />
thus, the receiver knows the question is specifically for them. In the <strong>Tactile</strong> <strong>ASL</strong> data, several<br />
wh-questions were preceded by the sign YOU directed toward the receiver. However, YOU was<br />
not the subject or the object of the sentence, e.g., YOU WHAT PLANE WHAT “What k<strong>in</strong>d of<br />
plane was it?” In these cases, it appears that the sign YOU was a substitute for the signer’s eyegaze.<br />
The sign YOU gets the receiver’s attention, and <strong>in</strong>forms them someth<strong>in</strong>g will be directed<br />
toward them.<br />
Yes/No questions <strong>in</strong> standard <strong>ASL</strong> occur with a non-manual syntactic marker that<br />
<strong>in</strong>cludes a brow raise and head tilt. In standard <strong>ASL</strong>, yes/no questions can optionally occur with<br />
a manual sign glossed as QUESTION. All of the examples of yes/no questions <strong>in</strong> the tactile<br />
<strong>ASL</strong> data occurred with the sign QUESTION. Thus, it appears that while the sign QUESTION<br />
is optional <strong>in</strong> standard <strong>ASL</strong>, <strong>in</strong> <strong>Tactile</strong> <strong>ASL</strong>, it is act<strong>in</strong>g as a substitute for the q-marker and its<br />
use has become obligatory.<br />
Back-channel feedback was the last area <strong>in</strong>vestigated by the Coll<strong>in</strong>s and Petronio 1998<br />
study. The use of back-channel feedback <strong>in</strong> all languages allows receivers to provide feedback to<br />
the speaker/signer, e.g., they can <strong>in</strong>dicate if they understand, agree, disagree, doubt, or are<br />
puzzled. In standard <strong>ASL</strong>, back-channel feedback is often given non-manually with a head nod<br />
or a shake; with eyebrows ris<strong>in</strong>g or lower<strong>in</strong>g; and with nose wr<strong>in</strong>kles. The data was exam<strong>in</strong>ed to<br />
determ<strong>in</strong>e how Deaf-Bl<strong>in</strong>d receivers were provid<strong>in</strong>g back-channel feedback to the Deaf-Bl<strong>in</strong>d<br />
signer. An unexpected unique tactile system was found. This system <strong>in</strong>cluded a one-f<strong>in</strong>ger tap,<br />
a four f<strong>in</strong>ger tap, squeezes and tactile nods <strong>in</strong> which the receiver tapped, squeezed or nodded on<br />
the back of the signer’s hand. For <strong>in</strong>stance, the one f<strong>in</strong>ger tap was used to show “I understand”.<br />
Subtle differences of mean<strong>in</strong>g were expressed by vary<strong>in</strong>g the speed or number of repetitions of<br />
the tap. A squeeze was used to ask for repetition. Further study is needed to better describe this<br />
unique means of provid<strong>in</strong>g feedback. This back-channel<strong>in</strong>g system is a clear example of a<br />
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