Fingerspelling in American Sign Language

1. Fingerspelling in American Sign Language Carol A. Padden University of California, San Diego October 2009

2. Questions • How is fingerspelling used in ASL? • Is fingerspelling English? • How should we teach fingerspelling in ASL classes? • What should interpreters know about fingerspelling? Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

3. Fingerspelling is older than ASL • Fingerspelling first appeared in a book believed to be the first book on deaf education • Published by Juan Pablo Bonet, a hearing tutor of deaf children in Spain • In 1620 Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

4. Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

5. From Spain to the US • Jacob Pereire, an oral teacher from Spain brought the one-handed alphabet to Paris where Abbe de l’Epee adopted it for use in his school • Laurent Clerc brought fingerspelling with him to the US, and used it in the first school for deaf children, founded 1817 • Fingerspelling spread to other schools for the deaf • Fingerspelling was carved on a crypt at the South Carolina School for the Deaf • in 1861 Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

6. Tombstone of Newton P. Walker, Superintendent of the South Carolina 
School for the Deaf and the Blind, 1861 Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

7. ‘Heaven’ Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

8. Fingerspelling is not always English • Compare: • A place where you buy nails, hammer, garden objects? • H-A-R-D-W-A-R-E STORE • Computers require software and… • HARD + W-A-R-E • Pick up a person • A pickup truck • A good workout • Did it work out okay? Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

9. ASL uses fingerspelling more extensively than other sign languages • Compared to other sign languages, ASL uses fingerspelling alot! • We fingerspell city names, names of Presidents, brand names, company names, automobile makes and many other words. • Other sign languages translate these names into signs Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

10. Fingerspelling is mostly nouns • Some adjectives and prepositions • Very few verbs • Examples of fingerspelled nouns: • flour, pizza, campus, sports, passport, cab, sidewalk, studio, base, ballet, safety, tunnel, facility, lodge, inch, yard Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

11. Examples of fingerspelled adjectives: • manual, okay, invisible, diplomatic, jobless, remote, academic, gorgeous, busy, punk, muscular, wide, dark, overnight • Examples of fingerspelled verbs: • do, allow, chunking, tiptoe, proofread, try, would, be, miss, own, is, retire, was, being • Often the same fingerspelled verb is used many times • do, would, was Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

12. We use fingerspelling even if we already have a sign • Some fingerspelled words are used even though there are signs for them: • C-A-R • L-O-V-E (noun only?) • L-I-F-E • R-E-N-T (“monthly rent”) • Compare: • RENT vs. R-E-N-T • FREE vs. F-R-E-E Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

13. Fingerspelling is used by deaf people of all ages and backgrounds • Even signers with high school education use fingerspelling • The difference is which words they fingerspell, not in the amount of fingerspelling • Older deaf people fingerspell different words than younger deaf people, making their fingerspelling more noticeable (e.g. week, glad, man) • Men and women are similar in how much they fingerspell. Maybe men fingerspell different words than women. (e.g. MY S-O-N) Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

14. ASL has fingerspelled/sign compounds • Softball • But: snowball, paintball, eyeball? • deadline, timeline • But: the New York skyline? • the water is falling • But: Niagara Falls, waterfall? • Blackboard • But: blackmail, blacklist, blackball? • Blackberry • But: BlackBerry? • rolling down the hill • But: bread rolls, payroll? • Paycheck • But: payroll? Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

15. ASL abbreviations are not always the same as English abbreviations • M-I-N-N, M-D, M-I-C-H, M-O • But Maine? • V-W, M-B, B-M-W • H-P, M-A-C Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

16. Fingerspelling cannot be separated from ASL • Long history of fingerspelling in schools for the deaf in U.S. • Many deaf leaders supported fingerspelling as defense against oralism • ASL tends to use fingerspelling for new vocabulary Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

17. New fingerspelled words are always being added in ASL • How should fingerspelling be taught in ASL classes? • Can be a separate lesson • Or can be integrated as a part of ASL vocabulary • How should fingerspelling be taught to interpreting students? • Are sign/fingerspelling compounds too difficult for new interpreting students? • What about fingerspelling for interpreted performances on stage? Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009

18. Resources • Groode, Joyce. Fingerspelling: Expressive & receptive fluency. San Diego, CA: DawnSignPress • Mendoza, Liz. ABC-123: Fingerspelling and numbers in American sign language. Alexandria, VA: RID Press • Padden, C. (2006).  Learning fingerspelling twice: Young signing children's acquisition of fingerspelling. (Marschark M., Schick B., Spencer P., Eds.). Advances in Sign Language Development by Deaf Children. • Padden, C. & Clark, D. (2003).  How the alphabet came to be used in a sign language. Sign Language Studies. 4(1), 10-33. • Padden, C., & Brentari, D. (2001).  A lexicon with multiple origins: Native and foreign vocabulary in American Sign Language. (Brentari, D., Ed.). Foreign Vocabulary in Sign Languages: A Cross-Linguistic Investigation of Word Formation. • Padden articles can be found at http://communication.ucsd.edu/cpadden Carol A. Padden - ASLTA/October 2009