Dr. Bill Vicars Lifeprint.com

ASL Linguistics: Time and Aspect Linguistics, 5th Edition, Unit 18, Page 120 - 130

Are you able to sign about yesterday?

Can you sign about tomorrow?

ASL is not limited to "here and now."

What is that called?

Displace-ment

What is an independent lexical item?

It is a "word" or a "sign."

What is displacement?

"Able to talk about other times."

What lexical items are used for displacement?

tomorrow

yesterday

soon (versions)

two days ago

will

To "mark" something in language means what?

"mark" means to indicate

"mark" means "attach meaning"

"mark" means designate

What is an independent lexical item?

A word (or sign).

What is a unit of meaning that is (generally) smaller than a word?

morpheme

Give me an example of...

An English morpheme that marks time.

"-ed"

For example "walked" = walk in the past

"He walks" = third person present

"-s" and "-ed" are called...

tense markers

"-s" and "-ed" show what time is intended

They "mark" time.

Instead of adding a morpheme we can...

Use a different form of the verb

What is a different form of “SEE”? (in English)

SEE > SAW

What is a different form of “run”? (in English)

RUN > RAN

So, English creates displacement how?

independent lexical items

special morphemes

"-ed" and "-s" are bound morphemes

Does ASL use bound morphemes to mark tense?

Generally “no.” [That is the answer for any tests]

You will see stuff like: “very-RECENT” but the “very” (cheek-shoulder) is an adverb in this situation and part of the independent lexical item “very-RECENT” which is the tense marker for whatever your are saying happened recently.

ASL (usually) marks time via ...

independent lexical items.

For example:

NOW

TODAY

YESTERDAY

TOMORROW

MORNING

AFTERNOON

NIGHT

NOON

MIDNIGHT

UP-UNTIL-NOW

NOT-YET

FROM-NOW-ON

RECENTLY

LATER

LONG-TIME-AGO

FUTURE

...

Also numerical incorporation:

2-YEARS

3-WEEKS

4-MONTHS

5-HOURS

6-MINUTES

7 O'CLOCK

In "3-WEEK" the "3" handshape is what?

A bound morpheme

Displacement through: location and orientation

Ex: THREE-WEEK-AGO

TWO-YEAR-PAST

FOUR-YEAR-FROM-NOW

Displacement by: "TIME LINE"

front (forward) = "future"

back (behind) = "past"

you = "present"

Ex: YESTERDAY (backward)

Ex: TOMORROW (forward)

Other timeline-related signs include...

UP-TO-NOW

FROM-NOW-ON

Displacement by: "Habitual Time"

"EVERY" (?)

EVERY-MONDAY

EVERY-WEEK

EVERY-NIGHT

Note: The basic structure changes to achieve new meaning

We are NOT adding another sign.

We are keeping some parts...

and changing other parts.

Note: WILL & FINISH...

…mostly used for EMPHASIS

Example: ...

TOMORROW I/ME GO STORE

(Doesn't use "will").

If you add "WILL" it means you are emphatic!

TOMORROW I STORE, WILL!

Example:

YESTERDAY HE WALK

(not need "FINISH")

FINISH doesn't = "ed"

FINISH is generally not a “tense marker”

Consider: “Did you do your homework?”

YOU HOMEWORK YOU. Is not tense specific YOU HOMEWORK YOU? Is not tense specific. It can mean: Did/will/are you do/doing your homework?

Sure, YOU FINISH HOMEWORK YOU Sure, YOU FINISH HOMEWORK YOU? Can be considered a form of a tense marker. But also consider this interpretation: “Is your homework a thing of the past?” That is a present tense sentence.

FINISH tends to function more like a conjunction…

"When he got done eating..."

"After he got done brushing"

"Once he got done explaining..."

Topic: "Time of an Event"

Establish time at beginning of story.

You don’t need to modify each verb with "ed."

----

ASPECT =

= WAY

= HOW

= Nature of

Verbs can be inflected to show aspect.

English adds suffixes like "ing" or "ly" to verbs.

Ex: continually

ASL instead changes the structure of the verb.

Ex: STUDY-CONTINUALLY

WRITE-CONTINUALLY

SIT-CONTINUALLY

English: regularly

ASL: STUDY-REGULARLY

GO-REGULARLY

PREACH-REGULARLY

SICK-REGULARLY

English: "over and over again"

ASL: STUDY-OVER-AND-OVER-AGAIN

LOOK-AT-OVER-AND-OVER-AGAIN

English: "In a hurry"

STUDY-IN-A-HURRY

SEW-IN-A-HURRY

WRITE-IN-A-HURRY

EAT-IN-A-HURRY

ANALYZE-IN-A-HURRY

English: Activity under pressure then concluded

ASL: GIVE-BIRTH

DRIVE-CAR (pressure)

RUN

STUDY (pressure)

Typing (under pressure)

STRUGGLE (pressure)

READ (pressure)

PUSH (pressure)

PULL (pressure)

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Dr. Bill Vicars Lifeprint.com