SASL Executive Board
2015 – 2018
President
Samuel J. Supalla
University of Arizona
[email protected]
Vice President
Deirdre Schlehofer
Rochester Institute of Technology
[email protected]
Recording Secretary /
Newsletter Editor
Andrew P. J. Byrne
Framingham State University
[email protected]
Treasurer
Harvey Nathanson
Austin Community College
[email protected]
SASL Journal
Editor-in-Chief
Jody H. Cripps
Clemson University
[email protected]
Members-at-Large
Russell Rosen
CUNY – Staten Island
[email protected]
Gabriel Arellano
Georgetown University
[email protected]
Ron Fenicle
Montgomery College
[email protected]
The Power of ASL
By Andrew P. J. Byrne
Unriddling the Riddles in American Sign Language
While considering which topic to write about for this
editorial, I decided to search through SASL's database of ASL
literature (under development) and stumbled upon a total of
four original riddles published in video format. I realized that
my knowledge of riddles is quite limited. For this reason, I
decided to sift through all the available material and was
astonished by the fact that riddles are one of the least
discussed and studied subjects in the field of ASL literature. In
this editorial, I will briefly explain what makes this a riddle and
the functions of riddles. More importantly, I will also discuss
two ASL riddles in detail.
Found in all cultures of the world, riddles are strongly
tied to folklore (Kaivola-Bregenhoj, 2018). Definitions of the
riddle range from simple to detailed. The simplest definition is
the question-and-answer form, which is distinguishable by its
brevity (Finnegan, 2012). Patai and Bar-Itzhak (2013) provide
a more detailed definition. The riddle is “a gnomic, playful
genre, consisting of a witty question and a suitable solution.
Riddling games involve two parties – one that poses the
question [the riddler], and the other that solves it [the riddlee]”
(p. 447). Sometimes, the riddler purposefully misleads the
riddlee because the “right” answer is totally unexpected, which
“either brings delight, amusement and gratification at
discovering the right answer, or humiliation and vexation at
being led astray” (Kaivola-Bregenhoj, 2018, p. 1).
Riddles have functions or values which vary from one
culture to another. One of the most commonly shared functions
of riddles is amusement. A riddlee “derives some pleasure, for
instance, in being able to solve the puzzle set by the [riddler].
Even in bafflement there is a certain amount of amused
delight” (Okpewho, 1992, p. 245). Another function is the
sharpening of the mind and the thought processes of the
participants. Riddles act as a device to “sharpen the wits of
children and test the intellect of both old and young” (Akinyemi,
2015, pp. 5 – 6). Research has shown that “riddles play an
important role in not only imparting knowledge but also in
improving one’s memory and reasoning ability” (Wa-Gachanja
& Kebaya, 2013, p. 298).
The titles of the riddles in ASL are Birds Hopping on the
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(Continue on the next page)
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Winter 2018 – Issue 12