Line in ASL Poetry
Valli
a path, the contour of the path may be described. For example, the M in MUCH is an arc, the M
in OPPOSITE has a straight contour, and the M in PHILADELPHIA has a 7 contour. For the
purposes of discussing the nature of a line in ASL poetry, this study has been narrowed to these
particular features: movement details, hand configuration, and nonmanual signals.
Citation forms, prose and poetry in ASL
Sign language researchers and teachers often make reference to the so-called 'citation form'
of a sign or group of signs. The citation form is roughly analogous to the 'standard" form of a
spoken language word, in contrast to a dialectal or stylistic variant. Transcription of a citation form
of a sign is a straight-forward process. Citation forms are most frequently elicited in response to,
'what is the sign for _________?'. But citation forms are often quite different from those occurring
in prose. Prose is what is 'uttered' naturally during discourse. ASL prose is the medium through
which deaf people communicate daily with ease. Two contrasting examples of the sentence, ' I
want to go to the store', in ASL citation forms, and from ASL. prose, are shown in Figures 1 and
2, along with the basic segmental notation. Notice again, that I am only examining movement
details, hand configuration, and nonmanual signals; many other details would also differ in the two
forms. In describing ASL it is often necessary to write down what each hand is doing, so in the
following notations the top line is the 'strong' hand (right for righthanded signers; left for
lefthanders) and the bottom line is the 'weak' hand (left or righthanders; right for lefthanders).
Figure 1 Citation Forms in ASL
SASLJ, Vol. 2, No. 2 – Fall/Winter 2018
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