Part 1 Glossary
Guide to the comprehensive glossary for Part 1 course
The numbers at the end of each defined term refer to the Course number and video time-stamp for when the word was first mentioned. For example, 1.1.1 TC: 0:42 means that the word was first mentioned in Part 1 course, section 1.1, 42 seconds into the video.
Jump to: A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
A
Abstract symbolism | the ability of a language to express abstract ideas | 1.1.4 TC: 0:32
Arbitrariness | the absence of a natural connection between a word’s meaning and its form | 1.1.4 TC: 2:12
Archaeological approach | methodology to find evidence of proto-grammar and early lexicon, thus filling gaps in history in order to understand the full story on how language evolves across time | 1.8.5 TC: 2:02
ASLphabet | writing system for ASL; modified and streamlined version of SignFont; used in educational settings with Deaf children | 1.6.9c Glimpses, 1.9.6a Glimpse
Asymmetrical hands | sign configuration with one hand stationary while the other hand moves, the handshapes in this case would be more likely to be asymmetrical | 1.6.5a Homework part 3
B
Barnard, Frederick August Porter | pioneering ASL linguist; observed and reported on emergence and evolution of the sign PRESIDENT in ASL | 1.8.2 segment 4 TC 9:24
Bebian, Roch-Ambroise| French educator during the early 19th century who created a written notation for sign language (mimographie) | 1.6.1 segment 2 TC: 5:24
Black ASL | dialect of ASL that developed as a result of racial segregation among schools for the deaf | 1.5.1 TC: 6:23
C
Cadence | manipulating the sign flow pattern into a distinctive pace, thus permitting a signer to distinguish between prose and poetic stylistics | 1.9.1 segment 2 TC: 4:20
Casterline, Dorothy | Deaf colleague of William Stokoe and Carl Croneberg; co-author of DASL| 1.6.3 TC: 0:17
Chereology | study of the visual components of sign formation; includes handshape (dez), location (tab), and movement (sig) | 1.6.1 TC: 2:56; 3.2.1 TC: 6:03
Chereology, chereme | synonyms of phonology and phoneme for describing articulation in sign language; these two terms first coined by Stokoe in 1960 for his seminal publication on sign language structure | 1.6.4, 1.6.8
Citation form | carefully-articulated variant of a sign used as the ideal form aside from the actual usage | 1.8.2 segment 2 TC: 3:18
Classifier | designated morpheme to provide description of size, shape, or other properties of a noun entity; expressed as handshape in a classifier predicate | 1.6.8 TC: 1:18
Clerc, Laurent | A former pupil of the Paris School who came to America with Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet to establish the American School for the Deaf; first Deaf teacher in America | 1.3.2 TC: 3:51
Co-articulation | overlap in the production of two or more features | 1.9.1 TC: 2:41; 2.2.3 TC: 1:33
Coda | Children of Deaf adults (or Deaf-parented children), over the age of 18 | 1.9.6b Glimpse
Cogswell, Alice| inspiration for the founding of the American School for the Deaf; first student of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet | 1.1.1 TC: 0:49
Colloquial form | variant of a sign captured from the actual usage; often undergoing compression as result of fluidity in the sign stream | 1.8.2 segment 2 TC: 3:06
Compression | process of shortening or reducing a sign form | 1.8.2 TC: 0:51
Conventionalization | occurs when a community accepts a new form and uses it continuously as part of the standard lexicon | 1.8.2 TC: 0:35
Corpus, corpora (plural) | sample of written, spoken or signed language materials to be used as data for studying linguistic structure or discourse | 1.5.3 TC: 1:36
Cued speech | visual-aural bi-modal code designed to supplement articulatory features of speech visually with hand signals around the mouth | 1.9.5 TC: 0:27, 1.9.5a Glimpse
Creole | developed from a pidgin language when the following generation of children contribute more formal morphology and expand the lexicon | 1.4.2 segment 3 TC: 6:41
Cross-linguistic difference(s) | identifying difference(s) in rules while comparing different spoken or signed languages; leading to recognition that signed languages each have their own chereology | 1.6.9
Cross-linguistic typology | comparing types of languages to understand which elements or rules are shared and which are unique; this helps to understand what aspects of the language come from innate grammar and which come from language-specific environmental factors | 1.8.5 TC: 0:31
Cross-referencing | making a relation between texts through the process of using a known language to decipher parallel texts in an unknown language or dialect | 1.5.3, segment 2 TC: 3:46
D
Dark period in ASL history | void in the history of ASL making it difficult to trace the evolution of ASL grammar and lexicon to the time it emerged as well as explain why its lexicon varies around the country| 1.5.3
DASL | Dictionary of American Sign Language on linguistic principles; utilizing the notation system devised by Stokoe for recording signs, lexicographic team led by Stokoe; project funded by NSF; published in 1965 | 1.6.3
Depiction | trying to mimic an image of an object or sign in order to establish a gesture or sign | 1.8.2 TC: 0:25
Diacritics | a mark on, under, or through a written symbol which affects the way the symbol is produced (ex: adding additional information regarding hand orientation to the dez) | 1.6.3 segment 3 TC: 4:40
E
Echo effect | involving use of repetition and handedness to enhance rhyme and cadence, thus affecting switch from prose to poetic signing | 1.9.2 TC: 2:29, TC: 4:17
l’Epée, Abbé de | French educator who established the Parisian Deaf School in 1760 | 1.3.2 TC: 0:09
Epistemology | study of the how knowledge is transmitted and shared within a community | 1.10.1 TC: 0:36, TC: 1:32
Etymology | study of the history of word or sign forms, including how or from where the form originated | 1.8.2 TC: 1:23
F
Fingerspelling | use of the manual alphabet to spell a word | 1.1.1 TC: 5:58
The French Method | Pedagogy which originated in France in the 1760’s involving visual techniques to communicate with Deaf children on various subjects | 1.3.2. TC: 0:50
Folk etymology | seeking word origins which do not involve scientific criteria based on historical reference for etymological claims | 1.8.2 segment 3 TC: 8:17
G
Gallaudet, Edward Miner | Son of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet; first administrator of Gallaudet University (then, National Deaf-Mute College) | 1.3.2 TC: 4:56
Gallaudet , Thomas Hopkins| cofounded the first school for the Deaf in America with Laurent Clerc, whom he brought from France | 1.1.1 TC: 0:42
Gloss | written referent for a signed form | 1.1.1 TC: 6:46; 1.1.3 TC: 0:37
Glossing conventions | the rules associated with gloss transcription of sign language utterances | 1.1.3 TC: 1:00
Gradual disassociation | slow progression of losing original connection among gestural or linguistic components | 1.8.2 segment 4 TC: 11:05
Grammar | a formal system including a language’s structural rules for the composition of words, phrases, and sentences | 1.1.2 TC: 0:21
Grammatical productivity | reorganizing units to produce new sentences or utterances | 1.1.2 TC: 1:01
Grammaticalization | process of building up the grammar within a language with new features and rules | 1.3.4 segment 3 TC: 5:48
H
Hand orientation | The angle of one’s palm while holding or moving the hand | 1.2.1 TC: 6:10
Handedness | significant parameter in sign language involving dynamic interface of two hands and their movement; essential for manipulating the sign flow pattern | 1.9.2 TC: 1:57
Heritage language | reckoning the vitality of the natural process for human learning and innovation, putting prescriptive agendas aside and focusing on the connection between the history of people and the sustainability of their language | 1.3.4 TC: 1:50; 1.10.2 segments 1 & 2
HSLDB | Historical Sign Language Database | 1.5.2; 1.5.3
Hockett, Charles | Linguistic anthropologist who set up sets of criteria for what constitutes animal communication, music, and human language | 1.9.2 segment 2 TC 5:20
Humanistic research | studying aspects of human culture, using comparative method rather than experimental method; involving several academic disciplines for example, history, anthropology and/or literature | 1.9.1
I
Infrastructure | coordinating network of resources needed to support widespread use of sign language | 1.4.2 TC 0:37
Initialization | contributing to variation or change by incorporating into a sign an alphabetic handshape signaling the initial letter of the English gloss matched in meaning | 1.6.8 TC: 1:04
Innovation constraints| science behind creative art by a sign artist who tweaks sign language while maintaining its integrity; meanwhile audience would detect and appreciate such patterns of wit and humor | 1.9.1 TC: 3:00
Interdisciplinary approach | utilizing methods from different disciplines for solving challenges in research or teaching; useful for a generalist as well as for a specialist | 1.10.1 TC: 2:26
Internal reconstruction | process that a language undergoes when restructuring, which can happen naturally and repeatedly over time | 1.8.5 TC: 0:31
Internalizing rules | ability in young and adult signers to learn or reanalyze limitations in sign language parameters; allowing one to perform search through dictionaries like DASL or ASL-PHABET | 1.9.6 TC: 3:53
IPA | International Phonetic Alphabet, used to represent speech sounds | 1.1.1 TC: 9:54
J
Jabberwocky | unique poem written by Lewis Carroll, later translated into ASL by Eric Malzkuhn who figured out ways to create nonsense signs comparable to nonsense words in the poem | 1.9.4 TC: 1:02
K
Keller, Helen | renowned DeafBlind author and activist; first DeafBlind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904 | 1.2.2 TC: 3:40
Koda | kids of Deaf adults, under the age of 18 | 1.9.6
L
Language neglect | disregard for furthering one's proficiency in the native language; contributing to fragmentation in the community sharing this language | 1.4.2 segment 2 TC 3:48
Lentz, Ella | ASL poet; prominent for harnessing cadence and rhyme in sign language | 1.9.2 TC: 0:27
Lexical change | historical or sociolinguistic phenomena involving the way a sign is articulated, thus affecting its status as a word | 1.5.1 TC: 0:15
Lexical variation | alteration of sign articulation involving additions, deletions, substitutions, or modifications of features | 1.5.1 TC: 0:15
Lexicography | study of the lexicon; compiling a dictionary that requires lexicographic rules for grouping and cataloguing signs | 1.6.1
Lexicon | the vocabulary of a language | 1.1.4 TC: 1:20
Literary Society | promotes development of literary and oratory skills among signers | 1.4.2 TC 1:37
M
Malzkuhn, Eric | Sign language artist; famous for being the first one to translate Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky poem into ASL; Language Arts teacher of Ella Lentz | 1.9.2 TC: 0:27
Metalanguage | awareness (or introspection) of how a language works; enabling dialogue with others about the shared language | 1.4.2 segment 2 TC 3:48
Metaphor | referring to the meaning that a sign or word undertook as a natural consequence of the process of change with semantic disassociation from the original literal meaning | 1.8.3 TC: 2:21
Milan Conference | international conference held in Milan, Italy in 1880 which resulted in a ban on sign language use in schools | 1.4.2 TC: 2:58
Mimographie |notation system for sign language that emphasizes movement to analyze the different components of signs; invented by Bebian, a French educator | 1.6.1 segment 2 TC: 5:24
Mindset of signer | reflecting individual preference for tweaking parameters of sign language, resulting with particular performance stylistics | 1.9.5
Morphology | study of units of meaning and how they are combined | 15.2 Segment 2 TC: 0:06
N
Name sign rules | referring to systematic patterns for inventing and using signs as names for individual members of the community | 1.9.6 TC: 2:32
National Theater of the Deaf | professional theater with deaf and hearing cast performing in ASL | 1.9.4 segment 2 TC: 4:11
Neuroscience | study of how the brain works and how this shapes the human mind| 1.10.1 TC: 2:24
O
Opacity | relation between a word, sign, or morpheme and its meaning which lacks any apparent iconicity | 1.8.1 TC: 2:08
Opaque morphology | type of morphology where morphemes no longer have the original meaning | 1.8.3 TC: 3:05
Optimality | explaining the motive for full efficiency of a system, contributing to the evolution toward ideal language | 1.8.4
Orientation | The angle of one’s palm while holding or moving the hand | 1.2.1 TC: 6:10
Orthography | conventions for arranging symbols in a notation system | 1.6.5 segment 3 TC: 4:04
P
Parameter | fundamental element in an articulatory system; Stokoe proposed three primary parameters: location, handshape and movement; he considered other parameters as supplementary (i.e., handedness, orientation for the hand(s) and facial expression) | 1.6.3
Percussion | amplification of sign intonation with stressed movement for example, striking one hand against the other hand; extending the amplified intonation effect to the whole sign string; enabling further amplification of intonation by synchronizing multiple signers to produce same sign flow | 1.9.3 TC: 1:42, 1.9.4
Pidgin | simple communication system that develops between individuals or groups who do not share a common language. Pidgin languages typically lack standard lexicon and morphology | 1.3.4 segment 3 TC: 6:31
Phonocentrism | belief that anything regarding language should be used auditorily; audism is another term which shares this meaning | 1.4.2 segment 4 TC: 9:58
Phonology | the study of a language’s sound system, relying on formal analysis of selectional and combinatorial rules | 1.1.1 TC: 8:56
Poetic signing | generating a novel signing flow by switching prosodic setting to allow strings of signs to be produced in a rhythmic pace | 1.9.1 segment 2 TC: 3:40
Polyglot | a person who knows and uses multiple languages or symbolic systems | 1.1.1 TC: 3:35
Polyglottism | polyglottism is equivalent to multilingualism, but the term Polyglottism is also used for explaining ability to comprehend individual symbolic forms from various modes but sharing the same concept | 1.1.1 TC: 3:35
Prose | setting up a conventional prosodic setting for articulating strings of signs as sentences for everyday discourse; Such strings of signs would be produced at a normal pace| 1.9.1 TC: 3:19
Prosody | study of the patterns of stress and rhythm used in language production | 1.9.3 TC: 0:42; 2.2.1 TC: 0:30
R
Reanalysis | occurs when subsequent transmission triggers lexical or grammatical change, independently of ongoing trends in other places | 1.5.1 TC: 0:51
Research strands | various approaches in research, each based on specialized expertise in a discipline (field of study); providing perspectives for investigating or explaining a topic of interest | 1.10.1 TC 3:48
Reduction | occurs when a complex movement is simplified so that a sign is easier to produce | 1.5.1 TC: 0:34
Rhyme | critical poetic technique contributing to synthesis of echo effects, thus affecting prosodic cadence | 1.9.2
Rosetta Stone |breakthrough in deciphering mysterious language material; gain from opening a window into lost history | 1.5.2 Segment 2 TC: 0:06
S
Scaffold | referring to use of ASL sentence frame for grammatical coherence while tweaking individual sign forms | 1.9.4 segment 2 TC: 2:07
Sign language arts | contrasting the conventional use of sign language with creative use of internal parameters although the scope of creativity is restricted by grammatical constraints | 1.9.2 segment 2
Sign language structure, learning & change | 1.10.3 segment 4
Sign Music | utilizing experimental ASL stylistics to express music visually, rather than based on sound | 1.9.5 TC: 1:57
Sign Masters | selected individuals noted for their sign language proficiency | 1.4.2 TC: 2:14
Slot and Filler Template | diagrammatic framework for sign articulation with slots as placeholders to be filled with linguistic features| 1.6.2 TC 3:40
Social mobility | geographic or socioeconomic movement of a community affecting social interaction or status among members | 1.5.1 TC: 8:31
Sociolinguistic variation | encompasses the various ways individuals and groups produce signs; can be based on geographic area, gender, social class, heritage, and education | 1.5.1 TC: 1:30
Status of sign language | regarding the challenge of considering the place of sign language in society, including in education | 1.10.1 TC: 3:05
Stokoe, William C.| American researcher who created a written notation for sign language (Stokoe notation) in the 1960s | 1.6.1 TC: 1:44
Structure, learning and change | basic breakdown of the science for studying language emergence and evolution | 1.8.5
Stylistic convention | compiling systematic ways of altering features by a particular sign master, leading to a distinct style of oratorical or theatrical presentation | 1.9.1 TC: 3:19, 1.9.5
Symbolic unit | any part of a language that carries meaning and can be combined with other units to form longer morphemic units | 1.1.2 TC: 0:47
Symbolic variety | making connections to concepts across various modes of communication (i.e., gloss, sign, and written text) | 1.1.1 TC: 4:29
Synergy | understanding natural process of historical, cognitive, and linguistic dynamics on the emergence and evolution of sign language | 1.10.2 segment 3
Syntax | the system governing how words are combined and arranged into a phrase, clause, or complex structure; also, how autosegmentals and morphemes can be arranged across tiers to inflect sentences | 1.1.4 TC: 1:25; 1.2.3 TC: 0:41; 2.2.1 TC: 0:08
T
Transparency of sign form | direct connection between a sign form and its meaning; this term often used interchangeably with iconicity | 1.8.2 segment 2 TC: 4:22
Typology | study of language types | 1.8.5 TC: 0:31
U
Universal grammar | based on the theory that humans are endowed with innate notions for grammatical rules, thus explaining how common properties would be found across human languages | 1.9.1 TC: 0:38
V
Veditz, George | Deaf teacher and former president of National Association of the Deaf (NAD) during the 1910s; Deaf orator who presented “Preservation of the Sign Language” on film in 1913 | 1.3.3 TC: 0:20
W
Word play | overlap in the production of two or more features | 1.9.1 TC: 2:33