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A Representation of Selected Nonmanual Signals in American Sign L - Part17 PDF
A Representation of Selected Nonmanual Signals in American Sign L - Part17 PDF
sign’s production may involve one, several, or all of the five parameters of ASL. For
example, the sign for “who?” is expressed using a bent L handshape positioned with the
thumb touching the chin and the palm facing the nondominant side. During the sign
production, the index finger alternately bends and straightens in a hooking motion. All the
while, the brows are furrowed, indicating a WH question (Figure 2).
Figure 2: The ASL sign for "who?" (American Sign Language resource site -‐ Lifeprint.com, 2010)
Some signs employ several variations of each parameter over the course of a single
sign production. Thus many signs have a sequence of handshapes, locations, orientations,
ASL’s nonmanual signals (Dively, 2001). These are not ancillary expressions that
accompany syntax as in spoken languages, (Takeuchi & Nagao, 1993), but are essential
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