As you noticed in the previous lesson, there is a marked difference in the syntax between Sign Language and English. This is most notable when you look at how questions are formulated.
Look at the examples below - take special note of the differences between the what you would normally hear in spoken English (A) and how a deaf person would sign the same question (B).
A: Who is going to town with me?
B: Me going town with who?
A: What is your name?
B: Your name what?
A: What is the time now?
B: Time now what?
A: Where does your family stay?
B: Your family stay where?
A: Where is the manager?
B: Manager where?
A: Which book?
B: Book which?
A: Which one is mine?
B: Mine one which?
A: Why did you hit the boy?
B: You hit boy why?
A: When are we meeting?
B: We will meet when?
A: Whom does this book belong to?
B: Book belong whom?
A: How can I help you?
B: I help you how?
As you can see, the 'wh' word ends up at the end of the question in SASL, while in standard English, it is used to start the question. If you review the lesson three, you will see that this shuffling is also prevalent in non-question sentences.
A: I pack my clothes in a bag.
B: My clothes I pack bag.
A: We watch a movie.
B: Movie we watch.
A: The boy laughs at the old man while he sleeps.
B: Old man sleep boy laugh.
Language Skills: Sign Language Sentence Syntax
There is a marked difference between South African Sign Language (SASL) sentence structure and spoken/written English syntax.
In spoken English, the most simple sentences are constructed in the following manner (subject) (verb) for example: The dog (subject) walks (verb). Most sentences include an object as well e.g. I (subject) hit (verb) the ball (object).
In SASL, the basic syntax structure is that of (topic) (comment). By signing the topic under discussion first, the framework within which the conversation is taking place is established e.g. The dog (topic) barks (comment).
Other examples:
Eng: I have two cats named Billy and Bob
SL: Cats (topic) two have (comment), name #Billy and #Bob (additional comments) - (#) is used to indicate when a word is finger spelled in written SL discussions.
Eng: I like to swim.
SL: Swim (topic) I like (comment)
In the above examples, the topic under discussion was at the end of the sentence. But don't be fooled into thinking that all you need to do is swap things around. It is important to always know what the topic is of the sentence (whether it is at the beginning of the sentence or the end is immaterial) before you sign. Take a look at the following sentence:
Eng: My mother is a teacher.
The topic under discussion is 'my mother' therefore the translation into SL syntax would look as follows:
SL: Mother (topic) teacher (comment)
Converting standard English sentences into Sign Language Structure
Let's tease apart a standard English sentence and see whether we can convert it into Sign Language syntax. In the following sentence, identify the topic: The truck is used to deliver the goods. Did you find it? The topic is 'the goods'. The topic of the sentence is placed first, so our Sign Language sentence will start with Goods ...
Notice that in Sign Language structure, the articles (a, an, the) are ommitted.
Next in line is the verb - the action that is taking place. In our example sentence above, the verb is 'deliver'. Therefore our Sign Language sentence now looks like this: Goods deliver ...
Now for the final section - the subject of the example sentence is 'The truck'. What is being done with the truck? It is being used (adverb) to deliver the goods.
Lets take a closer look at the syntax of the sentence in English:
The truck (subject) is used (adverb) to deliver (verb) the goods (topic).
The syntax in sign language would be:
Goods (topic) deliver (verb) use (adverb) truck (subject).
So our final sign language sentence looks like this: Goods deliver use truck.
Here's an example of a compound sentence: The car stops at the robot, waiting for the green light.
Each part of the compound sentence is treated as a seperate one:
The car (subject) stops (verb) at the robot (topic), waiting (verb) for the green light (comment).
In sign language it looks like this:
Robot (topic) stop (verb) car (subject), wait (verb) green light (comment).
Self-test:
Change the following standard English sentences into Sign Language structure:
- When are you going?
- Who's talking on the phone?
- Wow, look at this car.
- The cricket stadium is five minutes walk from the mall.
The answers:
- You (topic) going (verb) when (question)?
- Phone (topic) talk (verb) who (question)?
- Car (topic) look (verb) wow (adjective).
- Mall (topic) walk (verb) five minutes (adverbial phrase) stadium (subject) cricket (adjective).