ASL Classifiers Spoken languages like English are linear they are expressed one word after the other. ASL, – however, is a spatial language and is expressed in the space around you. ASL classifiers create depth as well as add clarify, movement, and details to conversations, explanations, poetry, and songs. The handshapes and movements of classifiers can represent people, animals, objects, etc., and show movements, shapes, actions, and locations. They can show a person walking, an animal chewing, someone driving, a car driving through the mountains virtually anything! – In a sentence a classifier is very similar to a pronoun. You cannot use a classifier in a sentence until you explain what the classifier represents. They are not standalone words. You need to establish the noun before you can apply the classifier. An example of a classifier would be showing a person walking. You first have to establish this person as a referent in context and point to the referent, and then you can take the index finger of your dominant hand (the CL:1 classifier) and move it around your signing space. It show what the person is doing, moving, inflecting, faster/slower, with non-manual markers to show the person’s feeling, etc. It is important that you learn these classifiers and become familiar with the classifiers. Instrument classifiers (ICL) how a person handles / manipulates an object – Element classifiers (ECL) show movements of such as air, – “elements” water/liquid, rain, fire, and light. Locative classifiers (LCL) tell the location of an object and/or its movement – Semantics classifiers (SCL) show where the person is located, where they move, – and/or how they moved (with facial expressions) Body classifiers (BCL) show how a person move her/his arms, shoulders, or head. – BCLs are always used with role Body Part classifiers (BPCL) fingerspell the body part and use BPCL to describe the – injuries
ASL Classifiers Spoken languages like English are linear – they are expressed one word after the other. ASL, however, is a spatial language and is expressed in the space around you. ASL classifiers create depth as well as add clarify, movement, and details to conversations, explanations, poetry, and songs. The handshapes and movements of classifiers can represent people, animals, objects, etc., and show movements, shapes, actions, and locations. They can show a person walking, an animal chewing, someone driving, a car driving through the mountains – virtually anything! In a sentence a classifier is very similar to a pronoun. You cannot use a classifier in a sentence until you explain what the classifier represents. They are not standalone words. You need to establish the noun before you can apply the classifier. An example of a classifier would be showing a person walking. You first have to establish this person as a referent in context and point to the referent, and then you can take the index finger of your dominant hand (the CL:1 classifier) and move it around your signing space. It show what the person is doing, moving, inflecting, faster/slower, with non-manual markers to show the person’s feeling, etc. It is important that you learn these classifiers and become familiar with the classifiers. Instrument classifiers (ICL) – how a person handles / manipulates an object Element classifiers (ECL) – show movements of “elements” such as air, water/liquid, rain, fire, and light. Locative classifiers (LCL) – tell the location of an object and/or its movement Semantics classifiers (SCL) – show where the person is located, where they move, and/or how they moved (with facial expressions) Body classifiers (BCL) – show how a person move her/his arms, shoulders, or head. BCLs are always used with role Body Part classifiers (BPCL) – fingerspell the body part and use BPCL to describe the injuries
asl_classifiers.docx