Essay On American Sign Language

American Sign Language, or ASL, is just like every other language in the world. It has its own roots, grammar, and pronunciations. While some words in ASL are derived from the English language, it is not a mimed form of English. With its own distinct grammar and punctuations, American Sign Language is a complete and complex language, like many around the world. Can this language help more than it is intended for? American Sign Language has no set origin. It is said to have originated from Old French Sign Language because it shares so many of the same signs and vocabulary terms. A French deaf man named Laurent Clerc “...was one of the first teachers of the Deaf in the U.S. in the nineteenth century,” (Nakamura 2008). One origin cannot be pinpointed
Though many languages have their own slang and dialects that can be considered sub languages, sign language has over 300 different literal languages, such as American, French, British, and Native American. This occurs mostly because of the local spoken languages. Take, for example, the signs for colors. In ASL the signs make use of the fingerspelled English alphabet. Pink is signed using the letter p in fingerspelling and while pointing the index finger up, the middle finger is brushed twice on the chin going from up to down. In French, the color pink is rose and is signed in LSF (Langue des Signes Française) using the letter r and stroking the adjacent cheek from back to front in two small circles. While some words in different languages can be the same (and mean the same as well), such as no in English and Spanish, the same is for sign language. This mostly occurs with signs that don’t make use of the fingerspelled alphabet. The sign for bird is the same in ASL and LSF, the index and middle finger open and close, similar to a bird’s beak, while the back of the hand is against the