Detail View: Deaf Studies, Culture, and History Archives: Relationships between transcription systems and sign language analysis

ds_0049_transcription_cap_01.mp4

ds_0049_transcription_cap_01.mp4

Relationships between transcription systems and sign language analysis

Liddell, Scott K., 1946-

American Sign Language Morphology

American Sign Language Grammar

American Sign Language Phonetics

In this presentation, Dr. Scott Liddell describes the differences between two ASL transcription systems-- the popular Stokoe notation system (1960) and the phonetic segmental system. The Stokoe system has been in use by many researchers but there are difficulties in describing the morphology of signs and noting how signs are changed or formed. There are three parts to a sign in Stokoe's system: location, handshape, and movement. It doesn't have the flexibility to recognize signs that do not fit this model. The advantages of using the phonetic segmental system is that it has the ability to note the changes in the formation of a sign in a compound sign, numbers and fingerspelled letters are recognized as signs due to movement-hold patterns, inflectional processes, verb agreement, and other grammatical features. He closes the presentation by suggesting there will be future models of sign structure to consider in analyzing ASL in more depth which is important for validating the legitimacy of ASL as a language.

National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Rochester Institute of Technology - RIT Libraries - RIT Archive Collections

1988

2018

moving image

mp4

VHS

56 minutes

American Sign Language

English

RITDSA.0049

Sculptures in the Air: An Accessible Online Video Repository of the American Sign Language (ASL) Poetry and Literature Collections

ASL Lecture Series DVDs

2018-2019 CLIR Grant-ASL Poetry and Literature

https://albert.rit.edu/record=b3955822

https://archivesspace.rit.edu/repositories/2/resources/837

New York - Rochester

Henrietta Campus

RIT Libraries makes materials from its collections available for educational and research purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. It is your responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright holder to publish or reproduce images in print or electronic form.

CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International

AND SUSAN WILL INTRODUCE HIM, BUT FIRST I JUST WANT TO EXPLAIN A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE LECTURE SERIES AND ABOUT THE DISCUSSION THAT FOLLOWS. AND WHILE I'M TALKING, I'M GOING TO PASS AROUND THIS BUNCH OF PAPERS, AND IF YOU WANT NOTES... [INDISTINCT] I'VE BEEN A LITTLE REMISS. I HAVE NOT YET SENT OUT THE NOTES FROM THE LAST LECTURE. THEY WILL BE COMING TO YOU NEXT WEEK. AND IF YOU WANT SOME OF THOSE NOTES AND DID NOT MAKE A REQUEST LAST TIME OR DID NOT ATTEND THE LECTURE, YOU MIGHT WANT TO MAKE A SPECIAL NOTE ON THIS LIST ALSO REQUESTING THE NOTES FROM CAROL PATTON'S TALK. AS MOST OF YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN PUTTING THIS ASL LECTURE SERIES ON SO THAT WE CAN BRING TO YOU CURRENT THINKING AND RESEARCH ON AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE. AND WE WANT PEOPLE TO COME AWAY WITH NEW IDEAS, ASK QUESTIONS OF THE RESEARCHERS, AND BASICALLY CONTINUE ON IN THEIR-- I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF EXCITEMENT ABOUT AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE, AND WE WANT PEOPLE TO CONTINUE FEELING EXCITED AND CURIOUS AND REALLY UNDERSTANDING THE FULL IMPLICATIONS OF THIS LANGUAGE. THE COORDINATORS OF THIS SERIES ARE KEITH CAGLE, WHO'S SITTING HERE IN THE BLUE SWEATER, AND SUSAN FISCHER, WHO'S HERE IN HER RUSTY RED BLOUSE, AND I, IN BLACK. AND AARON BRACE IS INTERPRETING FOR ME. SUSAN WILL EXPLAIN ALL THE REVERSE INTERPRETING AND SO ON. WE'VE SET IT UP SO THAT EVERYONE CAN BENEFIT FROM INTERPRETERS, BOTH HEARING AND DEAF MEMBERS OF THE AUDIENCE. LET'S SEE, WHAT ELSE? I HAVE EXTRA BROCHURES IF YOU WANT THEM. THIS IS GOING TO BE BASICALLY TWO LECTURES TODAY. THE FIRST WILL BE GIVEN IN ENGLISH, AND THE SECOND IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE. AND WE'RE TRYING THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR. SO WHEN WE SEND OUT THE EVALUATION FORMS, BE HONEST ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK OF THAT. IT WAS A SUGGESTION--ACTUALLY, MANY PEOPLE LAST YEAR SUGGESTED THAT, AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE DOING IT THIS YEAR. AFTER THE SECOND LECTURE, STARTING ABOUT 3:15 PROBABLY, WE'RE GOING TO BE GOING TO ROOM 3120. AND IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS, STICK WITH ME OR SUSAN OR KEITH, AND THERE WILL BE TEA AND COFFEE AND COOKIES AND A DISCUSSION WITH SCOTT, WHICH CAN BE JUST SORT OF RELAXED. I THINK IT'LL BE FAR RANGING AND RELAXED AND DOESN'T HAVE TO BE VERY SERIOUS. SO COME ALONG AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT HIS IDEAS OR ANY OTHER QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE. SUSAN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO INTRODUCE SCOTT? OK. - DO I HAVE A CHOICE? NO, YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. YOU WANT TO INTERPRET FOR ME? OK. REALLY? OH, OK. IT IS MY VERY GREAT PLEASURE TO INTRODUCE SCOTT LIDDELL TO YOU. SCOTT, MEG, SCOTT. SCOTT COMES HERE IMMEDIATELY FROM GALLAUDET COLLEGE, WHICH I FOUND OUT AT LUNCH TODAY, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE HE'S LIVED ON THE EAST COAST. I HOPE HE ENJOYS IT AND WILL CONTINUE DOING SO, SO THAT HE WILL BE CLOSE TO WHERE WE ARE. SCOTT GOT HIS PhD IN LINGUISTICS FROM UC SAN DIEGO WHERE HE DID VERY IMPORTANT AND GROUNDBREAKING WORK ON AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE SYNTAX, WORKED ON RELATIVE CLAUSES AND ON GENERALLY NON-MANUAL MARKERS FOR SYNTAX. IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, HOWEVER, HE HAS BEEN CONCENTRATING ON ASL PHONOLOGY, THE SUBLEXICAL STRUCTURE OF ASL, AND HAS DEVELOPED AN IMPORTANT NEW TOOL FOR LINGUISTS, RESEARCHERS, AND, I HOPE, SIGN LANGUAGE USERS THAT CAN GIVE US INSIGHTS INTO ASL THAT MAYBE OTHER SYSTEMS CANNOT. AND IT'S PRECISELY ABOUT THAT THAT HE'S GOING TO TALK TO US TODAY, AMONG OTHER THINGS. SO PLEASE WELCOME SCOTT. [APPLAUSE] THANK YOU. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY MONTHS AGO IT WAS THAT SUSAN CALLED ME, SAID TODAY SHE'S LIKE ME TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING HERE. AND WE TALKED FOR A WHILE ABOUT WHAT AND EVENTUALLY SETTLED ON THIS TOPIC, WHICH IS WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEMS AND ANALYSIS AND/OR THEORY? AND SO SINCE THAT'S A TOPIC I'VE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH FOR ABOUT THE LAST 5 YEARS, IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD ONE TO TALK ABOUT. IT'S NOT AN EASY ONE, BUT IT'S KIND OF FUN. AND ESPECIALLY THESE DAYS, IT'S REAL EXCITING. SO WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO IS TALK ABOUT THE WAY TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEMS HAVE EVOLVED, WHAT KIND OF TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEM I'M USING RIGHT NOW, AND MAYBE GET SOME FEEDBACK FROM YOU OR BOUNCE SOME IDEAS OFF YOU ABOUT AS TO HOW THAT AFFECTS THE WAY YOU ANALYZE SIGNS. FIRST, LET ME JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHY ANYBODY WOULD WANT TO ANALYZE AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE. THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE IN LINGUISTICS WHO WILL ANALYZE ANY LANGUAGE JUST BECAUSE IT'S AN INTERESTING THING TO DO, IT'S A REAL CHALLENGE, AND IT BUILDS UP A STOREHOUSE OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD. BUT IN THE CASE OF AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE, IT'S HAD SOME MORE PRACTICAL BENEFITS. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN I FIRST STARTED WORKING ON AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE, WHICH WAS ABOUT 1974, PEOPLE WERE WAITING FOR AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO COME FROM SOMEBODY THAT AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE WAS REALLY A LANGUAGE. I REMEMBER PEOPLE WOULD BE WRITING LETTERS TO THE LAB, SAYING, "WHEN IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT GOING TO BE MADE THAT AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE REALLY IS A LANGUAGE?" AND FORTUNATELY, WE'VE COME PAST THOSE DAYS, BUT THERE'S BEEN A REAL NICE EFFECT FROM THAT, AND THAT IS THE DEMONSTRATION BY LINGUISTS THAT AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS-- HAS THE STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES. AS A DEMONSTRATION, THE DEAF PEOPLE WHO KNOW AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE ALREADY HAVE A LANGUAGE AND THAT IF THEY LEARN ENGLISH, THAT'S A SECOND LANGUAGE IN ADDITION TO THE FIRST LANGUAGE. SO IT CAUSES EDUCATORS TO RETHINK THEIR IDEAS ABOUT WHAT DEAF PEOPLE KNOW AND THE USE OF LANGUAGE IN THE CLASSROOM AND SO ON. ANOTHER REASON PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN SIGN LANGUAGE IS THEY WANT TO KNOW WHAT ARE THE UNIVERSALS ABOUT SIGN LANGUAGE. AND... AS LONG AS ONLY SPOKEN LANGUAGES WERE STUDIED, UNIVERSALS WERE UNIVERSALS OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES, BUT AS SOON AS SIGN LANGUAGES WERE BROUGHT INTO THE PICTURE, ONE OF THE GOALS IS TO BE ABLE TO SEPARATE OUT WHAT THINGS ARE UNIVERSAL TO LANGUAGE AS OPPOSED TO BYPRODUCTS OF USING THE VOCAL TRACK OR BYPRODUCTS OF USING THE HANDS AND BODY TO PRODUCE A LANGUAGE. SO ANYWAY, THIS EFFORT AT DESCRIBING SIGNS HAS LED TO THE PROBLEM OF, HOW DO YOU WRITE THEM DOWN? YOU CAN'T TAKE PICTURES OF ALL OF THEM. WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT A SIGN, YOU CAN'T JUST HOLD IT UP AND SAY, "THIS ONE." THERE HAS TO BE SOME WAY OF WRITING THAT DOWN. AND THE FIRST PERSON TO DO THAT WAS BILL STOKOE IN A BOOK HE PUBLISHED IN 1960 CALLED "SIGN LANGUAGE STRUCTURE." AND IN THAT BOOK, HE DEVELOPED A NOTATION SYSTEM, AND REALLY IT'S MORE THAN A NOTATION SYSTEM, IT'S A THEORY OF SIGN STRUCTURE. AND IN THAT SYSTEM, HE TALKS ABOUT ALL SIGNS HAVING 3 PARTS. AND HE CALLED THEM TAB, DEZ, AND SIG. AND INTERPRETED INTO ENGLISH, THAT MEANS LOCATION, HANDSHAPE, AND MOVEMENT. OK, SO HE DIVIDED EVERY SIGN INTO A LOCATION, A HANDSHAPE, AND A MOVEMENT AND WITH NO SEGMENTAL STRUCTURE. AND WHAT I MEAN BY SEGMENTAL STRUCTURE ARE IN SPOKEN LANGUAGES, WORDS ARE PUT TOGETHER THROUGH COMBINATIONS OF CONSONANTS AND VOWELS, AND EACH INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT OR VOWEL IS A SEGMENT. AND YOU PUT 3 SEGMENTS TOGETHER LIKE C-A-T, IN ENGLISH, THOSE 3 SEGMENTS IN THAT ORDER PRODUCE THE ENGLISH WORD CAT. AND BILL STOKOE'S MODEL OF SIGN STRUCTURE DID NOT HAVE ANY SEGMENTS IN IT. IT HAD 3 PARTS, BUT THE PARTS WERE NOT SEGMENTALLY ORGANIZED. THEY WERE ORGANIZED SIMULTANEOUSLY SO THAT EVERY SIGN HAD SIMPLY A BUNDLE OF 3 PARTS. THAT'S ONE ON THE HANDOUT. I GUESS I CAN ALSO PUT IT ON THE OVERHEAD. FIND OUT HOW TO TURN IT ON. OK, SO... EACH SIGN HAS A TAB, WHICH IS A LOCATION, A DEZ, WHICH IS A HANDSHAPE, AND A SIG, WHICH IS A MOVEMENT. AND I TRANSLATED THAT INTO THE BOX ON THE RIGHT HERE TO SHOW THAT ANOTHER WAY OF WRITING THAT IS JUST TO PUT ALL THAT STUFF IN A BOX AND SAY EVERY SIGN HAS LOCATION, HANDSHAPE, AND MOVEMENT. AND THE FACT THAT THEY'RE WRITTEN ONE AFTER THE OTHER HERE IS OF NO IMPORTANCE AT ALL. IT'S JUST A CONVENTION OF WRITING ONE FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD, BUT THERE'S NO ORDERING THERE. OK, SO... LET'S GO WRITE STRAIGHT TO NUMBER TWO ON THE HANDOUT, THEN, WHERE I'VE TRANSCRIBED THE SIGN "GOOD" IN 2A. AND THAT U-SHAPED SYMBOL IS STOKOE'S SYMBOL FOR THE CHIN, SO WHAT HE SAYS IS THE LOCATION FOR THAT SIGN IS THE CHIN. THIS PART THAT I'LL UNDERLINE HERE... WHOOPS. I WON'T UNDERLINE BECAUSE NOTHING'S COMING OUT OF THE PEN. I'LL POINT TO IT, RIGHT THERE. THIS PART IS A "B" HAND WITH THE PALM FACING TOWARD THE BOTTOM. AND THEN THIS LAST SYMBOL RIGHT UP HERE MEANS MOVE AWAY FROM THE BODY. SO IF YOU PUT THAT ALL TOGETHER, YOU GET CHIN AS THE LOCATION, HAND ALL THE WAY DOWN, INCLUDING THE ELBOW, AS THE THING THAT IS GOING TO ACT, AND THEN MOVING AWAY FROM THE CHIN, YOU GET THE SIGN "GOOD." SO THAT'S HOW WE TRANSCRIBE THE SIGN "GOOD." OK, AND IT CONSISTED OF THOSE 3 PARTS. AND THE CHIN DOESN'T COME FIRST AND THE HAND COME LAST. ALL THOSE 3 PARTS ARE ORGANIZED TOGETHER. - HOW DO YOU KNOW WHICH WAY THE HAND IS FACING? THE ONLY THING THAT HE DESIGNATED AS PART OF HIS SYSTEM IS THIS SYMBOL RIGHT THERE THAT LOOKS LIKE A "T." PUTS THE PALM TOWARDS THE CHIN. BUT IT DOES NOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THIS OR THAT. IN THAT SYSTEM, IT COULD BE EITHER ONE OF THOSE OR ANYTHING... BUT BASICALLY WHAT IT DOES DISTINGUISH IS BETWEEN THAT AND THAT. SO ANYWAY, THAT'S A REAL QUICK DESCRIPTION OF HOW HIS SYSTEM DESCRIBED SIGNS. HE HAD A SPECIFIC LIST OF LOCATIONS, SAID THESE ARE THE LOCATIONS AT WHICH A SIGN CAN BE MADE, A SPECIFIC LIST OF HANDSHAPES, THESE ARE THE HANDSHAPES THAT CAN BE USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF A SIGN, AND A SPECIFIC LIST OF MOVEMENTS. AND ALL SIGNS THEN IN THAT SYSTEM ARE A COMBINATION OF ONE ITEM ON THAT LIST OF LOCATIONS, AN ITEM FROM THE HANDSHAPE, ITEM FROM THE MOVEMENT. THAT'S NOT EXACTLY TRUE, BUT I MEAN, THAT'S WHAT THE THEORY SAYS. THERE ARE SOME EXCEPTIONAL WAYS THAT THAT'S ACTUALLY DONE IN PRACTICE. SO ANYWAY, THAT IS THE BASIS FOR HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS. AND WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO IS GO THROUGH SOME-- BASICALLY 3 ISSUES AND TALK ABOUT HOW THOSE ISSUES CAN BE DEALT WITH USING STOKOE'S MODEL OF SIGN STRUCTURE, THEN INTRODUCE A SEGMENTAL MODEL OF SIGN STRUCTURE AND TALK ABOUT THE SAME ISSUES THAT ARE DEALT WITH IN THAT IN A PHONETIC SYSTEM DESCRIPTION. AND FINALLY INTRODUCE A MORE PHONEMIC DESCRIPTION SYSTEM, TALK ABOUT HOW THE SAME 3 ISSUES ARE DEALT WITH IN THAT SYSTEM OF TRANSCRIPTION. AND YOU GET VERY DIFFERENT RESULTS DEPENDING ON HOW YOU TRANSCRIBE THE SIGNS. OK, THE 3 ISSUES THAT I'VE DECIDED TO TALK ABOUT ARE, FIRST OF ALL, WHAT IS A SIGN? IT'S A FAIRLY BASIC ISSUE. IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A SIGN LANGUAGE, YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TELL SIGNS FROM NON-SIGNS. WHAT SORT OF PROCESS PRODUCES COMPOUND SIGNS? WHEREAS ASL MAKES COMPOUND SIGNS LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, WE'LL GET TO IT ON NUMBER TWO ON THE HANDOUT, BUT YOU HAVE THE SIGN "GOOD" LIKE THIS, THE SIGN "NIGHT," AND THE COMPOUND "GOOD NIGHT." AND ONE ISSUE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS WHAT SORT OF PROCESS PRODUCES COMPOUNDS FROM THOSE SEPARATE SIGNS. AND THE THIRD ISSUE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS, MAY NOT EVEN SEEM LIKE AN ISSUE, BUT IT WILL BECOME AN ISSUE I THINK AS WE GO ALONG, AND THAT IS WHAT SORT OF PROCESS PRODUCES THIS SIGN-- 300? OK, YOU MAY NOT HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT A QUESTION LIKE THAT BEFORE, BUT THAT'S THE KIND OF THING THAT I ENJOY. SO THAT'S WHY I BROUGHT IT HERE TODAY. SO THOSE ARE THE 3 ISSUES-- WHAT IS A SIGN, HOW ARE COMPOUNDS FORMED, AND WHERE DOES 300 COME FROM. OK. FIRST LET ME SAY SOME THINGS IN GENERAL ABOUT STOKOE'S SYSTEM OF SIGN REPRESENTATION. IT WAS PUBLISHED IN 1960, DEVELOPED SOMETHING PRIOR TO THAT. AND FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS HAD BASICALLY UNIVERSAL ACCEPTANCE. I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY THAT IT WAS ADOPTED ALL OVER THE WORLD. PEOPLE INTERESTED IN SIGN LANGUAGE, THEY MIGHT HAVE TO MODIFY IT. THEY MIGHT HAVE TO ADD NEW SYMBOLS AND SO ON, BUT THE BASIC CONCEPTION OF SIGNS BEING ORGANIZED THAT WAY WAS NOT DISPUTED. AND... WHAT'S INTERESTING TO ME IS THAT IN SPITE OF THAT, IN SPITE OF THE FACT OF HOW UNIVERSALLY IT WAS ACCEPTED, WHEN YOU LOOKED AT PEOPLE'S RESEARCH WHO WERE WORKING ON, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, PROBLEMS IN MORPHOLOGY OR PROBLEMS IN PHONOLOGY, AND YOU LOOKED AT THAT RESEARCH AND SEE TO WHAT EXTENT THE NOTATION SYSTEM WAS MADE USE OF, YOU FIND THAT IT WAS ALMOST TOTALLY IGNORED. IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO FIND ANY OF THAT NOTATION IN PAPERS DEALING, FOR EXAMPLE, WITH ASL MORPHOLOGY. AND THE REASON--I'LL GET TO A REASON, BUT IT SEEMED TO ME THAT THE REASON IS THAT ALTHOUGH IT WAS EASY TO FIND THOSE 3 PARTS FOR EACH SIGNS, THE SYSTEM WAS NOT PARTICULARLY HELPFUL AT DESCRIBING GRAMMATICAL PROCESSES-- THE WAY SIGNS CHANGE, THE WAY SIGNS GET FORMED, AND SO ON. IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK AT KLIMA AND BELLUGI'S BOOK ON THE SIGNS OF LANGUAGE, WHICH HAS EXTENSIVE DESCRIPTIONS OF COMPOUNDING, ALL KINDS OF INFLECTIONAL PROCESSES, VERB AGREEMENT AND SO ON, I'VE LOOKED THROUGH THE ENTIRE BOOK TRYING TO FIND A SINGLE STOKOE NOTATION, AND I DON'T BELIEVE--UNLESS I MISSED SOMETHING, I DON'T BELIEVE THERE IS EVEN A SINGLE SIGN NOTATED IN THIS NOTATION SYSTEM IN THE WHOLE BOOK. AND SO, YOU KNOW, ON THE ONE HAND, IT WAS VERY EASY TO LEARN AND EASY TO DESCRIBE SIGNS USING THIS SYSTEM, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN IT GOT DOWN TO DESCRIBING GRAMMATICAL PROCESSES, THE SYSTEM DIDN'T LEND ITSELF TO BEING ABLE TO DESCRIBE THOSE KIND OF PROCESSES. OK, SO LET'S GET DOWN TO THOSE 3 QUESTIONS. THE FIRST ONE, WHAT IS A SIGN? WELL, IN THE STOKOE MODEL, A SIGN IS ANYTHING THAT HAS THOSE 3 PARTS. IF SOMETHING IS GONNA BE A SIGN, IT HAS TO CONSIST OF ONE OF THOSE MOVEMENTS, ONE OF THOSE HANDSHAPES, AND ONE OF THOSE LOCATIONS ON THOSE LISTS. OK. SO... THERE ARE LOTS OF THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO CALL SIGNS, AND I THINK MOST EVERYBODY WOULD LIKE TO CALL SIGNS, THAT COULDN'T BE CALLED SIGNS IN STOKOE'S SYSTEM. FOR EXAMPLE, THE NUMBER 3. IF SOMEBODY SAYS, "HOW OLD IS"-- OR, "HOW MANY THINGS ARE THERE?" THE ANSWER IS 3, AND I DO THAT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION 3, THEN FOLLOWING THE STOKOE SYSTEM OF NOTATION, I DID NOT PRODUCE A SIGN. AND THE REASON I DID NOT PRODUCE A SIGN IS BECAUSE THERE WAS NO MOVEMENT. OK, THERE WAS A HANDSHAPE, WHICH IS ONE OF HIS HANDSHAPES, AND THE HANDSHAPE WAS OUT OF PLACE, BUT IT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. AND THE FACT THAT IT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING MADE IT BE TREATED AS A NON SIGN. OK, SO BASICALLY THE SIGNS ONE THROUGH NINE, SINCE THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING ALL THE WAY UP TO NINE, WERE NOT SIGNS. AND THEN ASL INCORPORATED A SIGN 10 BECAUSE IT DOES SOMETHING. SO 10 IS A SIGN BECAUSE IT DOES SOMETHING, 11 IS A SIGN BECAUSE IT DOES SOMETHING, 12 IS A SIGN BECAUSE IT DOES SOMETHING. AND YOU HAVE A SIMILAR SITUATION WITH FINGERSPELLING. "A" THROUGH "I" WERE NOT SIGNS BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. JUST A SECOND. "J" WAS A SIGN BECAUSE IT MOVES. "K" THROUGH "Y" WERE NOT SIGNS, BUT "Z" WAS A SIGN BECAUSE IT MOVED. OK. NOW LET ME TAKE YOUR QUESTION. - CURIOUS, THE WAY SOME PEOPLE SIGN 6, 7, 8, AND 9, THEY MOVE THEIR FINGERS. NOW THAT WOULD BE A SIGN. IF IT MOVED, IT WOULD BE A SIGN. IF IT DIDN'T MOVE, IT WOULDN'T BE A SIGN. AND THAT IS ACCORDING TO STOKOE'S CONCEPTION OF WHAT A SIGN IS. ACCORDING TO COMMON SENSE, EVERYONE WOULD AGREE THAT ALL THOSE ARE SIGNS, BUT THE SYSTEM IMPOSED THAT RESTRICTION AND SAID IF IT DOESN'T MOVE, IT'S NOT A SIGN. OK? SO THERE WERE THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO CALL SIGNS, LIKE THE MANUAL ALPHABET. I LIKE TO CALL EVERY ONE OF THOSE A SIGN. I LIKE TO CALL "A" A SIGN, "B" A SIGN, "C" A SIGN, "D." AND ALL THE NUMBERS. I LIKE TO CALL ALL OF THOSE SIGNS, TOO, IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT THEY DON'T MOVE. OK. BUT THE SYSTEM SAYS, NO, YOU CAN'T DO THAT, IT DOESN'T MOVE. OK. THE NEXT QUESTION IS THE QUESTION OF COMPOUNDS, AND THAT'S WHAT YOU'VE SEEN AS NUMBER TWO ON THE HANDOUT OR NUMBER TWO ON THE OVERHEAD. I'VE TRANSCRIBED--WE'VE GONE THROUGH THE TRANSCRIPTION OF "GOOD." THE TRANSCRIPTION OF "NIGHT" SHOWS TWO "B" HANDS. THERE'S THE FIRST "B" HAND, SECOND "B" HAND, AND THEN THAT "X" THERE MEANS CONTACT. WE HAVE TWO "B" HANDS AND THEN A CONTACT MAKES THE SIGN "NIGHT" IN THE SYSTEM OF NOTATION. OK? NOW, LET ME MAKE THE TWO SIGNS SEPARATELY FOR YOU AND THEN THE COMPOUND AND SEE IF ALL OF STOKOE'S PARTS ARE STILL THERE. OK, SO THE SIGN "GOOD" LOOKS LIKE THIS, THE SIGN "NIGHT" LIKE THAT. NOW "GOOD NIGHT" LOOKS LIKE THAT. AND ALL THE PARTS ARE STILL THERE. THERE'S STILL A "B" HAND AT THE CHIN THAT MOVES AWAY. THERE'S STILL ANOTHER "B" HAND THERE THAT THIS OTHER HAND MOVES TOWARDS AND MAKES CONTACT. ALL THE PARTS ARE STILL THERE IN THIS SYSTEM. SO IN STOKOE'S DESCRIPTION OF HOW COMPOUNDS ARE FORMED, IT'S A LOT LIKE THE WAY ENGLISH COMPOUNDS ARE FORMED. YOU JUST PUT TWO WORDS TOGETHER AND PRONOUNCE THEM AS ONE. AND BUT ALL OF STOKOE'S PARTS ARE STILL THERE, SO THERE'S NOTHING MISSING. SO IT COMES OUT LOOKING LIKE THE WAY ENGLISH COMPOUNDS ARE FORMED, WHERE YOU HAVE ONE WORD AND ANOTHER WORD AND JUST PUT THEM TOGETHER. THAT FORMS AN ENGLISH COMPOUND. BUT IF YOU LOOK FOR THE SIGN "GOOD"-- LET ME SIGN "GOOD NIGHT," AND WHEN I DO THAT, YOU TRY TO FIND THE SIGN "GOOD." I DON'T THINK ANY OF YOU SAW THE SIGN "GOOD" IN THERE. - YOUR WRIST MOVED. - THE WAY YOUR HAND MOVED, YOUR WRIST MOVED... WHEN YOU SIGNED "GOOD NIGHT." OK, BUT I DIDN'T DO THIS. BUT I DIDN'T DO THIS. GOOD NIGHT. I WENT STRAIGHT FROM THE CHIN TO THE OTHER HAND. OK, BUT THE NOTATION SYSTEM, HERE'S STOKOE'S TRANSCRIPTION OF THE COMPOUND "GOOD NIGHT" OVER HERE. YOU HAVE TO WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING BECAUSE IT'S ALL THERE. THE "B" HAND IS STILL THERE, THE CHIN IS STILL THERE, ALL THE PARTS ARE STILL THERE. SO YOU HAVE TO WRITE IT DOWN AS IF THOSE TWO PARTS WERE JUST THE SAME BUT SIDE BY SIDE. BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT A COMPOUND AS OPPOSED TO THE INDIVIDUAL SIGNS, YOU NOTICE THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE SIGNS. AND, AGAIN, LET ME TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT KLIMA AND BELLUGI'S WORK ON COMPOUNDS BECAUSE THEY DID A LOT OF WORK ON COMPOUNDING, AND THEY NOTICED ALL THOSE KIND OF CHANGES I JUST SHOWED YOU IN A SIGN LIKE "GOOD NIGHT." BUT SINCE THEY HAD ADOPTED STOKOE'S NOTATION SYSTEM, THERE WAS NO WAY TO DESCRIBE THOSE DIFFERENCES USING THE NOTATION SYSTEM. SO BASICALLY WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY, WITHOUT USING ANY NOTATION AT ALL, WAS SAY, WELL, THESE SIGNS CHANGE, THEY SHORTEN, THEY GET SMOOTHER, AND DESCRIBE IT IN TERMS LIKE THAT, BUT UNABLE USING THAT NOTATION SYSTEM TO TALK ABOUT ANY DIFFERENCE IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMPOUND AS OPPOSED TO THE STRUCTURE OF THE SIGNS AS THEY EXIST OUTSIDE OF THAT COMPOUND. OK, THE... SO ANYWAY, IN STOKOE'S SYSTEM, COMPOUNDING IS SIMPLY PUTTING TWO SIGNS TOGETHER. AND THAT'S THE WAY THE TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEM TREATS IT, AND IT'S THE WAY THE TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEM HAS TO TREAT IT. OK. THE THIRD PROBLEM IS-- THE THIRD QUESTION IS 300. AND THAT ONE... IS NOT EASY TO DEAL WITH IN STOKOE'S SYSTEM BECAUSE AS YOU SEE IN THE NOTE I PUT UNDER 3A HERE, 3 WASN'T EVEN A SIGN IN STOKOE'S SYSTEM. SO PRESUMABLY, 300 COMES FROM THE SIGN 3 AND SOMETHING ELSE, BUT WHEN YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A SIGN 3, IT'S HARD TO TALK ABOUT HOW YOU PRODUCE THE SIGN "300" WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO PRODUCE IT FROM. SO IT'S PROBLEMATIC DEALING WITH THIS KIND OF A SYSTEM NOTATION WHEN, BY DEFINITION, ONE OF THE PARTS YOU'RE TRYING TO MAKE A SIGN OUT OF IS NOT EVEN A SIGN. SO I'LL DEAL WITH 300 AS I GET INTO THESE OTHER SYSTEMS. OK, WHICH IS WHAT IT'S TIME TO DO NOW. LET ME TALK BRIEFLY NOW ABOUT A SEGMENTAL SYSTEM OF SIGN NOTATION. THIS STARTED IN--THE IDEA THAT SIGNS WERE SEGMENTED IS SOMETHING I FIRST TALKED ABOUT IN '82 AT A LINGUISTIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA MEETING-- AMERICA MEETING. AND THAT IS THE IDEA THAT SIGNS CAN BE BROKEN UP INTO SEGMENTS JUST THE SAME WAY THAT SPOKEN WORDS CAN BE BROKEN UP INTO SEGMENTS. AND THE BASIC IDEA IS THAT THE SEGMENTATION IS DONE ON THE BASIS OF THE WAY THE HAND MOVES OR DOES NOT MOVE. SO THE TWO BASIC UNITS, THE TWO BASIC KINDS OF SEGMENTS THAT SIGNS ARE BROKEN INTO ARE MOVEMENTS AND WHOLES. SO GOING BACK AND TALKING ABOUT A SIGN LIKE... SOMETHING UP THERE? NO. LIKE A SIGN LIKE "THINK." THE SIGN "THINK" FIRST MOVES TOWARDS THE FOREHEAD, AND THEN ONCE IT GETS TO THE FOREHEAD IT STOPS. AND THE MOVING PART I CALL A MOVEMENT, THE STOPPING PART I CALL A WHOLE. SO THE SIGN "THINK" THEN CONSISTS A MOVEMENT AND A WHOLE. OK, SIMILAR TO THE SIGN "NO" CONSISTS OF A MOVEMENT FOLLOWED BY A WHOLE. AND INITIALLY, THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT, WELL, IF IT DIDN'T STOP, IT WOULD GO RIGHT THROUGH THE SKULL. OF COURSE IT HAS TO STOP. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SEGMENTATION. IT HAS TO STOP BECAUSE THERE'S A BARRIER. BUT YOU CAN MAKE SIGNS WITHOUT TOUCHING THE BODY. IN FACT, YOU CAN MAKE THE SIGN "NO" WITHOUT TOUCHING THE BODY. AND WHEN YOU DO THAT, IT MOVES AND IT STOPS, JUST LIKE THIS--NO. SO EVEN IF IT DOESN'T TOUCH THE BODY, IT STILL MOVES, AND THEN IT HOLDS. SO THE IDEA IS THAT SIGNS MOVE AND STOP BECAUSE THAT'S PART OF THEIR STRUCTURE, AND THAT THOSE SEQUENCED THINGS, THOSE SEGMENTS, ARE WHAT BUILD SIGNS. AHEM. SO SOME MORE EXAMPLES. A SIGN LIKE "POWER" IS HOLD, MOVEMENT, HOLD. HOLD INITIALLY HERE, THEN A MOVEMENT, AND THEN A HOLD. A SIGN LIKE "TIE" IS MOVEMENT, HOLD, MOVEMENT, HOLD. SO IT MOVES, HOLDS, MOVES, HOLDS. CAN I GET A LITTLE MORE OF A PAUSE BETWEEN YOUR DESCRIPTION AND YOUR DEMONSTRATION? OK. SO THE SIGN "TIE" MOVES... HOLDS... MOVES, HOLDS. OK? AND AN EVEN LONGER SIGN IN TERMS OF SEGMENTS IS THE SIGN "JUMP," WHICH IS HOLD, MOVEMENT, HOLD, MOVEMENT, HOLD. SO THERE'S A HOLD HERE, THEN A MOVEMENT, HOLD, MOVEMENT, HOLD. OK? AND NOW, THE BIG DIFFERENCE NOW BETWEEN STOKOE'S DESCRIPTION AND THIS PHONETIC, SEGMENTAL MODEL OF SIGN STRUCTURE IS THAT EACH SEGMENT CONSISTS OF PARTS LIKE STOKOE WAS TALKING ABOUT. EACH SEGMENT HAS A HANDSHAPE, EACH SEGMENT HAS A LOCATION, EACH SEGMENT HAS SOME KIND OF MOVEMENT OR HOLD. EACH SEGMENT ORIENTS THE HAND IN A PARTICULAR WAY. SO IT'S NOT LIKE BRAND NEW PARTS WERE CREATED, IT'S MORE OF A REORGANIZATION OF THE PARTS THAT STOKOE DEVELOPED IN TALKING ABOUT STRUCTURE OF SIGN. BUT THAT PARTICULAR... WHEN IT FIRST INTRODUCED THE IDEA OF SEGMENTS, THE SEGMENTS WERE ALL ONE BUNDLE OF FEATURES, AND THAT IDEA SIMPLY WON'T WORK. OK, AND LET ME EXPLAIN WITH A QUICK EXAMPLE WHY THAT WON'T WORK. AND AGAIN, I'LL USE ANOTHER COMPOUND TO TALK ABOUT WHY THAT IDEA WON'T WORK. THE SIGN "SLEEP," IF YOU'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE SIGN "SLEEP," I WOULD DESCRIBE IT AS A MOVEMENT HOLD, LIKE THIS. OK. FIRST THE HAND MOVES, THEN IT HOLDS. NOW, THE HANDSHAPE THAT IT BEGINS WITH LOOKS LIKE THIS. AND THE HANDSHAPE THAT IT ENDS WITH LOOKS LIKE THAT. SO IF YOU'RE SAYING THAT ALL THOSE FEATURES BELONGED IN EITHER ONE SEGMENT OR THE OTHER, THEN YOU'D HAVE TO SAY THAT THAT HANDSHAPE BELONGED IN THE FIRST SEGMENT, THAT HANDSHAPE BELONGED IN THE SECOND SEGMENT. OK? NOW, THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THAT IS THAT THIS SIGN BECOMES PART OF A COMPOUND IN "OVERSLEEP." THAT. AND THAT HOLD, THE FINAL HOLD, IN "SLEEP," DISAPPEARS. IT DOES NOT DO THIS. OK, THE HOLD DISAPPEARS. BUT THAT HANDSHAPE AND THAT LOCATION AND THAT CONFIGURATION DON'T DISAPPEAR. THEY'RE STILL PART OF THAT COMPOUND. THE HAND STILL COMES TO THAT CONFIGURATION AT THAT PLACE IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO HOLD THERE. SO THIS REQUIRED A CHANGE IN THE WAY OF DESCRIBING THE SIGNS, BECAUSE IT'S--YOU CAN'T DELETE A SEGMENT AND HAVE PART OF IT STAY THERE. IF YOU'RE GONNA DELETE SOMETHING, IT'S GONE. OK, WELL, WHAT THIS REQUIRED WAS THE BORROWING FROM SPOKEN LANGUAGE THE THEORY OF AUTO SEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY. AND LET ME GO INTO EXAMPLE 4 HERE, WHICH IS AN EXAMPLE FROM A SPOKEN LANGUAGE. THIS IS "TIE," TO TALK ABOUT A SIMILAR KIND OF PHENOMENON AND HOW THAT IS TREATED IN AUTO SEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY. [CLEARS THROAT] OK, "TIE" HAS 5 TONES-- LOW, MID, HIGH, RISING, AND FALLING. OK, IF THERE ARE NO MARKS ON THE WORD, THEN IT'S A MID TONE. SO THIS IS MID TONE, HIGH TONE, MID TONE. AND THAT'S THE WAY YOU ASK THE QUESTION, ARE YOU GOING OR NOT? YOU'D SAY BYE RUH YOUNG. BYE YOUNG. SO BYE IS A MID TONE, RUH, HIGH TONE, YOUNG MID TONE AGAIN. BYE RUH YOUNG. OK? NOW WHAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT THIS IS YOU CAN ELIMINATE THAT WORD "OR." IN RAPID CONVERSATION, THE WORD "OR" CAN BE TOTALLY LOST. AND WHAT YOU SAY INSTEAD IS BYE YOUNG. OK, AND THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THAT EXAMPLE IS THIS--EVEN THOUGH THE WORD "OR" IS LOST, THE RISING TONE ISN'T. SO INSTEAD OF SAYING WITH MID TONE ON BOTH, BYE YOUNG, YOU SAY BYE YOUNG. THE VOICE INFLECTION RISES DURING THIS WORD, EVEN THOUGH NORMALLY IT'S PRODUCED WITH A MID TONE. SO WHAT'S HAPPENED IS THE WORD, THE SEGMENTAL PART OF THE WORD, IS GONE, COMPLETELY GONE, BUT THE TONE ISN'T. THE TONE STAYS BEHIND. AND SO THE IDEA IS THAT YOU HAVE SEGMENTS, AND THEN YOU HAVE THINGS THAT ATTACH TO SEGMENTS. AND EVEN THOUGH YOU DELETE THE SEGMENT, THE THINGS THAT WERE ATTACHED TO THAT SEGMENT STAY BEHIND. OK, SO IN THIS CASE, YOU DELETE THE TWO SEGMENTS HERE, BUT THE THING THAT WAS ATTACHED TO THOSE SEGMENTS STAYS BEHIND. AND THAT'S A SIMILAR SITUATION TO WHAT HAPPENS IN OVERSLEEP. YOU DELETE THE WHOLE SEGMENT, BUT THE HANDSHAPE, THE LOCATION, THE PLACEMENT OF THE HAND IS NOT DELETED. THAT STAYS BEHIND EVEN IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT THE SEGMENT WAS DELETED. SO IF YOU LOOK AT EXAMPLE NUMBER 5, THAT GIVES YOU AN EXAMPLE OF THESE ARE THE SEGMENTS IN THE SIGN "GOOD," HOLD, MOVEMENT, HOLD. AND THEN ALL THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE HANDSHAPE, WHERE THE HAND IS, HOW IT'S ORIENTED, AND SO, IS IN A SEPARATE BUNDLE OF FEATURES. SO THIS IS WHERE THE HAND IS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SIGN, THE HANDSHAPE WHERE IT IS, HOW IT'S ORIENTED AT THE END OF THE SIGN. AND ANOTHER SET OF BUNDLES FOR FACIAL EXPRESSIONS. IF YOU HAVE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FACIAL EXPRESSION OR NON-MANUAL SIGNALS AT THE BEGINNING OF A SIGN VS. AT THE END OF A SIGN, THOSE FEATURES WOULD GO DOWN THERE. OK, THAT'S A REAL QUICK INTRODUCTION TO THAT. IT MAY BE SOMETHING WE CAN TALK ABOUT LATER IF IT'S STILL NOT CLEAR. OK, LET'S GET TO THOSE 3 PROBLEMS. SO NOW WHAT ABOUT, WHAT IS A SIGN? CAN YOU INCLUDE NUMBERS NOW? THE ANSWER IS YES, YOU CAN INCLUDE NUMBERS BECAUSE IT'S JUST A HOLD WITH A SET OF FEATURES LIKE HANDSHAPE, ORIENTATION, LOCATION. SO IT FITS THE MODEL. THE MODEL SAYS, YEAH, IT'S ALL RIGHT TO HAVE THAT SET OF FEATURES TO BE A SIGN. WHAT ABOUT FINGERSPELLING OR LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET WHICH DO NOT MOVE? NO PROBLEM. AGAIN, THEY'RE JUST A HOLD SEGMENT, A SINGLE HOLD SEGMENT, WITH A PARTICULAR HANDSHAPE AT A PARTICULAR LOCATION. AND SO IT ALLOWS MORE THINGS TO BE INCLUDED INTO WHAT IS A SIGN. ARE THERE STILL PROBLEMATICAL THINGS? YES. A PROBLEMATICAL SIGN WOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE-- THERE'S A SIGN WAYNE SMITH SHOWED ME IN TAIWAN SIGN LANGUAGE WHICH IF I REMEMBER RIGHT MEANS WATERMELON. AND THE SIGN IS MADE SOMETHING LIKE THIS... WHERE THE HANDS DON'T DO ANYTHING AT ALL, BUT THE HEAD IS PERFORMING SOME ACTION WITH RESPECT TO THE HANDS. - THE OLD FRENCH SIGN FOR COMPARE. YEAH, I REMEMBER THAT. YEAH. AND THE QUESTION IS, IF IT'S A SIGN, HOW DO YOU WRITE IT DOWN? WHAT IS IT... WHAT IS ITS STRUCTURE? WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF THAT SIGN IF YOU'RE GONNA CALL IT A SIGN? AND IT'S KIND OF PROBLEMATIC IN THIS KIND OF A MODEL BECAUSE THE HANDS ARE DOING A SINGLE HOLD, AND YET YOU DON'T WANT TO SAY THERE ISN'T ANY MOTION THERE BECAUSE THERE CLEARLY IS MOTION OF THE HEAD IN THAT SIGN. THERE'S NO REAL EASY WAY TO TALK ABOUT HOW YOU ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT THE HEAD IS DOING SOMETHING IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT THE HANDS AREN'T DOING ANYTHING. SO IN THIS PARTICULAR VIEW, THERE'S STILL PROBLEM AREAS IN TERMS OF WHAT CAN BE INCLUDED AS A LEGITIMATE SIGN AND WHAT THINGS YOU ARE JUST NOT ABLE TO TRANSCRIBE. OK, I THINK IT'S TIME FOR THE NEXT ONE HERE. OK, THE NEXT QUESTION IS, WHAT SORT OF PROCESS PRODUCES A COMPOUND? OK, AND HERE THE NOTATION SYSTEM MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT SORT OF PROCESS PRODUCES A COMPOUND BECAUSE AS YOU CAN SEE FROM NUMBER 7 HERE, THE SIGN "GOOD" HAS 3 SEGMENTS, HOLD, MOVEMENT, HOLD. AND WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE HAPPENS IS IN THE COMPOUNDING PROCESS IS THAT SEGMENTS ARE LOST. SO THIS MOVEMENT AND THAT HOLD ARE SIMPLY LOST IN THE COMPOUND FORMATION PROCESS. THE INITIAL HOLD IS KEPT, BUT THOSE OTHER SEGMENTS ARE LOST. AND ONE OF THE REPETITIONS OF NIGHT IS LOST. AND SO WHAT THE RESULT IS, YOU BEGIN THE SIGN WITH THE INITIAL HOLD WITH "GOOD," AND THEN YOU DO THE MOVEMENT HOLD OF "NIGHT," AND THAT MAKES THE COMPOUND. SO THE WAY THE ANALYSIS GOES IS TREMENDOUSLY AFFECTED BY THE KIND OF NOTATION SYSTEM THAT YOU'RE USING. AND IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, IT SHOWS THAT IT'S NOT SIMPLY PUTTING TWO SIGNS TOGETHER THE WAY IT HAS TO BE TREATED IN STOKOE'S MODEL. THERE ARE SOME CHANGES THAT OCCUR TO THOSE SIGNS, SOME SEGMENTAL CHANGES, AND YOU CAN DESCRIBE THOSE SEGMENTAL CHANGES IN TERMS OF DELETIONS. OK, SO THAT'S A FAIRLY MAJOR DIFFERENCE THERE IN THE ANALYSIS, DEPENDING ON WHETHER YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A SIMULTANEOUS REPRESENTATION OR A SEGMENTAL REPRESENTATION. THE THIRD QUESTION WAS, WHAT ABOUT THE SIGN "300"? AND THAT ONE'S STILL A KILLER FOR THIS PHONETIC SYSTEM BECAUSE PRESUMABLY THE SIGN "300" IS SOMETHING THAT'S BUILT FROM THE SIGN "3." THE "A" THERE JUST REPRESENTS ALL THE SET OF FEATURES THAT PUTS THE HAND IN THAT PLACE WITH THAT CONFIGURATION. AND IT'S JUST A SHORT HAND FOR SAYING A 3 HAND SHAPE AT THAT LOCATION, PALM FACING OUT, BASE OF THE HAND FACING DOWN. I JUST USE A SYMBOL "A," COULD HAVE USED ANY OTHER SYMBOL, BUT IT'S JUST AN ABBREVIATION. OK, THE PROBLEM IS, 300... HAS A HOLD, MOVEMENT, HOLD... BUT THAT SET OF FEATURES THAT PRODUCES THIS IS VERY MUCH LIKE THE SET OF FEATURES THAT PRODUCES THIS. THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE FINGERS ARE BENT AND THE THUMB IS BENT. BUT YOU CAN'T JUST SIMPLY HAVE SOME SET OF FEATURES "B" FOR ALL OF THESE BECAUSE OTHERWISE, 500 WOULD LIKE LOOK LIKE THIS. IF THE "B" WAS THE SAME, 500 WOULD LOOK LIKE THAT. BUT 500 DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THAT, 500 LOOKS LIKE THAT. SO THAT ALL THE FEATURES THAT GO INTO MAKING UP THIS HUNDRED HERE HAVE TO BE DIFFERENT FOR 100, FOR 200, FOR 300, FOR 400, AND FOR 500. THERE'S A DIFFERENCE IN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE BECAUSE THE FINAL HANDSHAPE IS DIFFERENT. THE FINAL HANDSHAPE IN 100 IS THIS ONE. THE FINAL HANDSHAPE IN 200 IS THAT, 300, 400, 500. SO SINCE ALL THOSE FINAL HANDSHAPES ARE DIFFERENT, THAT MEANS YOU NEED 5 DIFFERENT THINGS HERE TO MAKE HUNDRED OUT OF 100, 200, 300, 400, 500. AND THAT'S KIND OF A MESSY WAY TO TREAT THIS PROCESS. OK, SO WHAT HAS HAPPENED IS NOW A FURTHER CHANGE IN THIS MODEL HAS TAKEN PLACE AND... WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ALL THOSE FEATURES THAT USED TO BE IN ONE BUNDLE, AND I'LL PUT MY--I'LL JUST TALK ABOUT THEM RIGHT HERE. ALL THOSE FEATURES THAT USED TO BE IN ONE BUNDLE ARE NOW IN SEPARATE BUNDLES. SO EVERYTHING THAT USED TO-- HERE IS-- THESE ARE TWO FINGERS EXTENDED. THIS SAYS THAT THE TWO FINGERS ARE STRAIGHT. THE THUMB IS OPPOSED, THE THUMB IS STRAIGHT. WHOOPS, THIS IS A MISTAKE, AND THAT SHOULD SAY EXTENDED. THE BASE OF THE HAND IS AT THIS PLACE, THE BACK OF THE HAND IS FACING TOWARDS THE BODY, THE BASE OF THE HAND IS FACING DOWN. SO BASICALLY ALL THESE FEATURES NOW IN SEPARATE TIERS, AND THEN YOU SAY, ALL RIGHT, NOW IF THAT SEPARATION IS MADE, HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE 300? AND NOW THE ANSWER IS CONSISTENT. IT'S THE SAME THING FOR 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, AND THAT IS WHAT IT SAYS IS THERE'S A MOVEMENT AND HOLD. ON THIS TIER, ON THE LEVEL THAT DESCRIBES THE SHAPE OF THE FINGERS, THE FINGERS HAVE TO BE BENT. AND ON THIS TIER THAT DESCRIBES THE SHAPE OF THE THUMB, THE THUMB HAS TO BE BENT. AND SO ALTOGETHER, JUST INTERPRETING THIS DIAGRAM FOR YOU, IT SAYS THE SIGN BEGINS WITH THIS SET OF FEATURES ON THE LEFT. IF THERE'S NOTHING AFTER IT, IT STAYS THAT WAY THROUGHOUT THE SIGN. SO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE TWO FINGERS EXTENDED DOES NOT CHANGE. THERE ARE TWO FINGERS EXTENDED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE SIGN. THE FACT THAT THE THUMB IS OPPOSED TO THOSE FINGERS AS OPPOSED TO BACK HERE DOES NOT CHANGE THROUGHOUT THE SIGN. THE FACT THAT THE HAND IS ORIENTED IN A CERTAIN WAY DOES NOT CHANGE THROUGHOUT THE SIGN. SO ALL THOSE THINGS STAY THE SAME EXCEPT FOR THESE FEATURES THAT CHANGE THE CONFIGURATION OF THE FINGERS AND THE CONFIGURATION OF THE THUMB. SO BY TAKING THOSE SAME FEATURES AND REORGANIZING THEM, THEN WHAT HAPPENS IS WHAT 'CAUSES THE SIGN "300"-- WHAT PRODUCES THE SIGN "300" THEN BECOMES A SIMPLE QUESTION, AND THAT IS IT'S A SUFFIX. THIS IS JUST A SUFFIX. ASL's NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE SUFFIXES OTHER THAN THIS ONE, BUT THE ANSWER TURNS OUT TO BE IT'S A SUFFIX USING THIS PARTICULAR MODEL OF SIGN STRUCTURE. OK. IN STOKOE'S MODEL, YOU'D HAVE TO SAY IT'S A MOVEMENT CHANGE BECAUSE THE HANDSHAPE IS THERE, THE LOCATION IS THERE. WHAT HAPPENS IS YOU CHANGE THE MOVEMENT. BUT WHEN YOU PUT IT INTO A SEGMENTAL MODEL, YOU GET A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ANALYSIS OF WHAT KIND OF GRAMMATICAL PROCESS IT IS. HERE IN THIS PROCESS, YOU SAY THERE IS THIS THING RIGHT HERE IS A SUFFIX, AND A SUFFIX IS ON TO NUMBERS-- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. SO THE POINT I'M TRYING TO GET AT IS HERE IT MAKES A FAIRLY MAJOR DIFFERENCE IN TERMS OF THE ANALYSIS, DEPENDING ON HOW IT IS YOU TRANSCRIBE A SIGN AND HOW YOU THINK SIGNS ARE STRUCTURED. OK, SO I'VE JUST TAKEN THESE 3 EXAMPLES. THERE ARE LOTS MORE EXAMPLES WE COULD TALK ABOUT LATER IF YOU WANT TO, BUT THOSE 3 EXAMPLES TAKEN FOR A START SHOW THAT IT MAKES A REAL BIG DIFFERENCE IN ANALYSIS, DEPENDING ON HOW IT IS THAT YOU THINK A SIGN IS STRUCTURED, WHETHER YOU THINK IT'S STRUCTURED IN TERMS OF A SIMULTANEOUS UNIT OR WHETHER YOU THINK IT'S STRUCTURED IN TERMS OF SEGMENTS. SO FOR JUST A REAL QUICK SUMMARY HERE, THE STOKOE MODEL OF SIGN IS SOME SIMULTANEOUS BUNDLE OF FEATURES AND THE SEGMENTAL MODEL IS SOME COMBINATIONS OF HOLDS AND MOVEMENTS. AND DEPENDING ON WHICH SEGMENTAL MODEL, IT'S EITHER A SINGLE SEGMENT, A SEGMENT BROKEN INTO A COUPLE OF PARTS, OR A SEGMENT BROKEN INTO A WHOLE BUNCH OF PARTS. WHICHEVER ONE OF THOSE YOU PICK HAS A LARGE OUTCOME IN TERMS OF THE WAY YOUR ANALYSIS FINALLY ENDS UP IN TERMS OF WHAT KIND OF GRAMMATICAL PROCESS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT. OK, ALL THIS HAS COME BASICALLY DURING THE LAST 5 YEARS OR SO, AND IT'S BEEN REAL INTERESTING AND EXCITING TIMES WORKING ON THIS, AND IT'S HARDLY OVER. I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY THAT THERE'S NOT A CONSENSUS IN TERMS OF THE WAY SIGNS OUGHT TO BE TREATED. AND I EXPECT OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS, THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF OTHER KINDS OF MODELS AND A LOT OF DIFFERENT PROPOSALS ABOUT EXACTLY HOW SIGNS REALLY SHOULD BE STRUCTURED. BUT THIS WILL AT LEAST GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE KIND OF THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE WORKING ON SIGN STRUCTURE AND REPRESENTATION OF SIGNS, AND THAT IT'S NOT JUST A NOTATIONAL ISSUE, THAT THESE THINGS REALLY DO BEAR ON THE WAY PROBLEMS GET ANALYZED. SO WHY DON'T WE STOP HERE AND SEE WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS YOU HAVE. - OK, I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING ABOUT WHAT A SIGN IS. I'D BE CURIOUS ABOUT THE PHENOMENON OF GESTURE. SOMETIMES I HAVE A HARD TIME DECIDING THE EXACT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GESTURE AND A SIGN. SOME OF THE STUDENTS HAVE ASKED ME THAT, WANT TO KNOW. I'M NOT SURE, YOU KNOW, HOW TO EXPLAIN THAT TO PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY FROM THE HEARING WORLD. - THAT IS A LOADED QUESTION, PARTICULARLY WHEN YOU SAID THAT THERE'S ONLY A GESTURE. ALL SIGNS ARE GESTURES IN THAT THEY'RE PRODUCED BY MOVING YOUR HANDS AND BODY IN CERTAIN WAYS. BUT WHEN SOMEBODY SAYS-- WHEN THEY SAY, BUT THAT'S ONLY A GESTURE-- - HOW COULD YOU SEPARATE THOSE TWO, PERHAPS, INTO TWO CLASSIFICATIONS? - WHEN SOMEBODY SAYS THAT'S ONLY A GESTURE, WHAT THEY'RE SAYING IS THAT IT'S NOT A SIGN. AND IN THE CASE OF SPOKEN LANGUAGES, THAT'S A FAIRLY EASY DISTINCTION TO MAKE BECAUSE WHEN YOU MOVE YOUR ARMS AND BODY, NOBODY WOULD EVER ACCUSE YOU OF SPEAKING. BUT IN THE CASE OF A SIGN LANGUAGE, THE DIVISION BETWEEN GESTURE AND SIGN IS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. AND I CAN'T TELL YOU EXACTLY-- I WISH I KNEW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION. IT'S SOMETHING THAT COMES UP OFTEN WITH THE STUDENTS AT GALLAUDET. - I THINK PERHAPS WE COULD ANSWER THAT IN TERMS OF SIGN LANGUAGE IS SOMETHING TAKEN FROM THE SIGN LANGUAGE THE DEAF PEOPLE USE AND A GESTURE MIGHT BE TAKEN FROM A BROADER POPULATION. GESTURES, YOU FREQUENTLY SEE FROM SPOKEN LANGUAGES USED IN COMBINATION WITH SPOKEN LANGUAGES. - THAT WILL WORK IN A LOT OF CASES. IN OTHER WORDS, SIMPLY MAKING A DIVISION THAT WAY WILL WORK IN LOTS AND LOTS OF CASES, BUT THERE ARE HARD CASES IN THE CASE OF ASL WHERE THINGS THAT DEAF PEOPLE DO, YOU'RE NOT SURE IF YOU WANT TO CALL IT A SIGN OR NOT. IT'S SOMETHING I DON'T DO VERY WELL, BUT IN RESPONSE--IF SOMEONE ASKS A QUESTION AND THE RESPONSE IS YES, I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. AND YOU WANT TO JUST USE YOUR FACE TO ANSWER YES. - YES, WITH EXPRESSION. - AND THERE'S A LITTLE TWITCH RIGHT HERE ALONGSIDE THE NOSE, I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU DECIDE IF THAT'S A SIGN OR A GESTURE. IT'S NEVER USED AS PART OF ANY SENTENCES THAT I KNOW OF. IT'S ONLY USED AS A RESPONSE. BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT DEAF PEOPLE DO IN REGULAR ASL CONVERSATIONS. SO IT'S A TOUGH QUESTION AND I ADMIT I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT ONE. YEAH? - ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THAT IS IN JAPANESE SIGN LANGUAGE, THEY HAVE BORROWED HEARING PEOPLE'S GESTURE FOR MARKING THE GEISHA. AND SO IN THE HEARING WORLD, THAT'S THE GESTURE. BUT I THINK YOU'D HAVE TO SAY THAT IN JAPANESE SIGN LANGUAGE, IT'S A SIGN. SO THAT GOES AGAINST... COULD I RAISE UP ANOTHER QUESTION? COULD YOU TALK JUST A LITTLE BIT-- WE DON'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF TIME-- ABOUT THE KINDS OF GENERALIZATIONS YOU CAN MAKE ABOUT GRAMMATICAL PROCESSES IN YOUR SYSTEM THAT YOU CAN'T MAKE IN OTHER KINDS OF TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS. - WHEW. LET ME TRY TO DO THIS IN A COUPLE OF MINUTES. IT'S NOT EASY. BUT I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING AT. THE... THE TYPICAL THING THAT HAPPENS WITH GRAMMATICAL PROCESSES, ESPECIALLY WITH RESPECT TO VERBS-- LET ME GIVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT HAPPENS AND THEN TALK ABOUT THE WAY A SEGMENTAL TREATMENT OF THAT WOULD LOOK. SIGNS LIKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WEIGHT AND THIS FORM OF WAIT. OR LOOK AND THIS FORM OR LOOK. THE... BASICALLY WHAT HAPPENS IS ALL THIS INFORMATION FROM HERE ON DOWN STAYS THE SAME, SAME HANDSHAPE, SAME LOCATIONS INVOLVED, SAME ORIENTATIONS, ALL THOSE THINGS STAY THE SAME. WHAT HAPPENS IS THIS PART UP HERE, THE MOVEMENT PART IS DIFFERENT. OK, SO GRAMMATICALLY WHAT HAPPENS IS SOMETHING THAT IN SPOKEN LANGUAGE IS ALMOST UNHEARD OF. I MEAN, THERE MAY BE SOME EXAMPLES OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE, BUT IF THERE ARE, IT'S EXTREMELY RARE. AND THAT IS, TO TAKE THIS SEGMENTAL INFORMATION AND REPLACE IT WITH NEW SEGMENTAL INFORMATION. YOU KEEP THE THINGS THAT'S NOT PART OF THE SEGMENT, THAT'S NOT DIRECTLY PART OF THE SEGMENT. TAKE THE ACTUAL SEGMENTS, REPLACE THEM. IN OTHER WORDS, INSTEAD OF HAVING A STRAIGHT OUTWARD MOVEMENT, YOU CAN HAVE A CIRCULAR MOVEMENT LIKE THIS. AND SO, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE STAYS THE SAME-- THE HANDSHAPE STAYS THE SAME, THE LOCATION STAYS THE SAME. ALL THOSE THINGS HERE STAY THE SAME. WHAT HAPPENS ARE THE SEGMENTS ARE REPLACED. AND BASICALLY WHAT THAT IS IS A REAL UNUSUAL SORT OF GRAMMATICAL PROCESS THAT TAKES THE ORIGINAL SEGMENTS AND REPLACES THEM WITH ANOTHER SET OF SEGMENTS. SO THAT'S A VERY UNUSUAL KIND OF GRAMMATICAL PROCESS FOR A SPOKEN LANGUAGE, BUT IT SEEMS TO BE ONE OF THE MAJOR WAYS THAT PARTICULARLY ASL VERBS ARE INFLECTED. THERE ARE PARTICULAR MOVEMENT PATTERNS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH INFLECTION, AND THOSE WOULD BE-- WHAT THE INFLECTION WOULD DO WOULD BE TAKE WHAT THE VERB CAME WITH, THOSE SEGMENTS, AND REMOVE THEM, ADD IN WHATEVER THE CORRECT SEGMENTS ARE FOR THAT PARTICULAR INFLECTION. SO IT'S A VERY UNUSUAL SORT OF PROCESS, BUT THAT'S THE WAY IT HAS TO COME OUT OF THIS ANALYSIS. - THE SUBJECT OF WHAT IS A SIGN, IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S STILL FOCUSED PRETTY MUCH ON HANDS AND SHAPES AND MOVEMENTS OF HAND. THE PROBLEM OF THE THAI WATERMELON OR [INDISTINCT]. IT SEEMS TO ME IT EXISTS IN OTHER PLACES IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE LIKE KIND OF A RELATIVE MOTION. IF SOMEBODY'S GOT POLES GOING BY, THE POLES ARE GONNA STOP COMING BY AND THE PERSON MIGHT STILL BE LOOKING FOR A SIGN. IS THAT A REALLY SMALL PROBLEM? - WELL, I'M NOT SURE IT'S A PROBLEM ANYMORE, AND LET ME TELL YOU WHY. THE REASON IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM IN THE MODEL IN WHICH ALL OF THESE WERE A SINGLE BUNDLE WAS THAT YOU HAVE TO REPEAT EVERYTHING ALL OVER AGAIN IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT THE HANDS WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING. BUT NOW WITH ALL OF THESE THINGS SEPARATE, ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS NON-MANUALLY PUT THE NON-MANUAL FEATURES DOWN HERE, AND THOSE ARE ENOUGH TO ACCOUNT FOR A MOVEMENT. SO HAVING ALL OF THOSE FEATURES SEPARATE AND NOT HAVING A MOVEMENT DEPENDING ON TWO SETS OF HANDSHAPES AND TWO SETS OF LOCATIONS OR WHATEVER, NOW HAVING A MOVEMENT SIMPLY DEPENDENT ON TWO ANYTHING, GETTING FROM "A" TO "B" ANYWAY, WHETHER IT'S NON-MANUALLY OR MANUALLY, THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A PROBLEM ANYMORE. SO I'M GLAD--I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT. I WAS READY TO DO THAT, BUT IT SLIPPED. I DON'T THINK THAT'S REALLY A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM ANYMORE BECAUSE NOW WHAT DEFINES A MOVEMENT IN THE SYSTEM IS HAVING TWO SETS OF FEATURES ATTACHED TO IT. OK. IN THIS CASE, THERE ARE TWO FEATURES HERE THAT ATTACH TO THAT MOVEMENT, TWO FEATURES THERE THAT ATTACH TO THAT MOVEMENT. SO IT'S A MOVEMENT. IF THERE'S ONLY ONE OF EVERYTHING ATTACHING TO SOMETHING, THEN IT'S A WHOLE. AND THE PROBLEM IS, THAT THING, IT SEEMED LIKE IT OUGHT TO BE A MOVEMENT, RIGHT? AND IT CAN BE NOW, NOT BECAUSE THERE ARE TWO SETS OF HANDSHAPE FEATURES INVOLVED, BUT TWO SETS OF NON-MANUAL FEATURES INVOLVED. YEAH, THANK YOU. YEAH? - I THINK YOUR ANALYSIS OF 300 IS NEAT. I'M JUST CURIOUS ABOUT YOUR CHOICE OF SUFFIX. I ASSUME YOU'D CALL FOURTH, THIRD, WHEN YOU TRANSCRIBE THAT ALSO SIMILARLY. [INDISTINCT] - LET ME THINK ABOUT THOSE. THERE ARE... NOT NECESSARILY. NOT NECESSARILY. WE'RE GETTING INTO A WHOLE OTHER THING, BUT LET ME--THERE IS A CLASS OF SIGNS THAT'S SIMPLY REPLACE HANDSHAPE, LIKE ONE WEEK, TWO WEEKS, 3 WEEKS, 4 WEEKS, 5 WEEKS, WHERE IT'S NOT BUILT FROM THE SIGN "ONE," IT'S BUILT FROM THE SIGN "WEEK." AND YOU PUT THE CORRECT HANDSHAPE IN THAT SIGN. AND THIS MIGHT BE ONE OF THOSE-- FOURTH, FIFTH, WHERE IT IS AN ESTABLISHED THING MEANING PLACE-- FIRST PLACE, SECOND PLACE, THIRD--OR FIRST, SECOND, THIRD. AND WHAT YOU DO IS YOU DON'T TAKE THE SIGN "ONE" AND CHANGE IT. WHAT YOU DO IS YOU TAKE THAT CONFIGURATION AND PUT A HANDSHAPE INTO IT. AND SO MY GUESS IS THAT ON PARTICULAR EXAMPLE, IT'S THE KIND OF THING THAT YOU PUT A HANDSHAPE INTO RATHER THAN THAT YOU BUILT FROM A NUMBER. OK. I MEAN, THERE ARE A WHOLE BUNCH OF THOSE. THIS YEAR MY STUDENTS ARE TELLING ME THAT FIRST PLACE IS FIRST PLACE, SECOND PLACE, THIRD PLACE NOW. TWO YEARS AGO THEY WERE TELLING ME IT'S FIRST PLACE, SECOND PLACE, THIRD PLACE. SO THAT'S ONE THAT SEEMS TO BE CHANGING, BUT THE POINT IS THAT THAT IS NOT, FROM MY OPINION, THAT'S NOT BUILT FROM THE SIGN "ONE." IT'S BUILT FROM A MOVEMENT FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER IN A CERTAIN CONFIGURATION. WHAT YOU DO IS YOU PUT IN THE RIGHT HANDSHAPE. SO I THINK FOR YOUR PARTICULAR EXAMPLE, THAT'S ONE WHERE EVERYTHING IS THERE EXCEPT THE HANDSHAPE AND YOU SIMPLY ADD THE HANDSHAPE INTO THAT SIGN. - I THINK WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO STOP HERE AND HAVE A SORT OF CHANGING OF THE GUARDS. [LAUGHTER] BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH. [APPLAUSE]

"This project is supported by a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation."