10 Facts about ASL

Tuesday, April 7th 2015. | Linguistic


Let me show you the interesting Facts about ASL if you want to know more about American Sign Language. The deaf communities in United States use this American Sign Language to communicate with others. It will be easier for them to transform the ideas and information with ASL. Many parts of Anglophone Canada also use ASL. Get more interesting facts about ASL below:

Facts about ASL 1: the dialects of ASL and ASL based creole

There are many countries in the world which apply the usage of ASL and ASL based creoles. Those include the people who live some parts of Southeast Asia and West Africa. ASL serves as lingua franca for it often serves as the second language in the world.

Facts about ASL 2: FSL

FSL and ASL are always associated together. Many people believe that ASL is a Creole language. Talking about the history, ASL was originated from ASD or American School for the Deaf located in Hartford, Connecticut in the beginning of 19th century.

ASL Image

ASL Image

Facts about ASL 3: the usage of ASL

After it was used in ASD, the usage of ASL increased from time to time. Many schools for the deaf use this ASL as well as the deaf community organization.

Facts about ASL 4: the number of ASL speaker

It is not easy to count the number of the ASL speakers. But we may estimate that there are around 250,000 to 500,000 people who speak using ASL. Most of them are the deaf adults and children.

ASL Facts

ASL Facts

Facts about ASL 5: the criticism

Even though ASL gives a lot of benefits to the deaf people, it always faces a lot of critics. The lack of standard writing system and the superiority of the spoken language make this ASL considered inferior.

Facts about ASL 6: the phonemic movements

The phonemic movements of ASL include the usage of torso, face and hands.

ASL Hands

ASL Hands

Facts about ASL 7: pantomime

If you think that ASL is pantomime, you are wrong. The grammar of ASL has nothing to do with the English one. Moreover, the iconicity is very important in ASL. When you want to say longer words, you need to use the finger spelling. Get facts about APA here.

Facts about ASL 8: the ASL in United States

In United States, ASL is often called as the third or fourth language.  During the court session, ASL speakers are considered as the third largest people who need an interpreter.

ASL Pic

ASL Pic

Facts about ASL 9: the educated deal people

The educated deaf people who live in West Africa use ASL to speak. Get facts about adverbs here.

Facts about ASL 10: the name

In other countries, ASL is often badged based on the name of their countries such as the Ghanaian Sign language or Nigerian Sign Language.

Facts about ASL

Facts about ASL

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