Rosanne N. answered • 03/13/21
Learn Real-World ASL Skills from an Interpreter, One Sign at a Time!
ASL = American Sign Language - It is the primary language of many North Americans, which includes Canada, who are deaf and hard of hearing, and is used by many hearing people as well.
It is a complete, natural language that has the same linguistic properties as spoken languages, with grammar that differs from English. It is completely separate and distinct from English. It contains all the fundamental features of language, with its own rules for pronunciation, word formation, and word order. While every language has ways of signaling different functions, such as asking a question rather than making a statement, languages differ in how this is done. For example, English speakers may ask a question by raising the pitch of their voices and by adjusting word order; ASL users ask a question by raising their eyebrows, widening their eyes, and tilting their bodies forward.
There is no universal sign language. Different sign languages are used in different countries or regions. For example, British Sign Language (BSL) is a different language from ASL, and Americans who know ASL may not understand BSL. Some countries adopt features of ASL in their sign languages.
No person or committee invented ASL. The exact beginnings of ASL are not clear, but some suggest that it arose more than 200 years ago from the intermixing of local sign languages and French Sign Language (LSF, or Langue des Signes Française). Today’s ASL includes some elements of LSF plus the original local sign languages; over time, these have melded and changed into a rich, complex, and mature language. Modern ASL and modern LSF are distinct languages. While they still contain some similar signs, they can no longer be understood by each other’s users.
Hope this helps! I probably provided more information than the question asked, but just covering some of the basics of ASL stands for and is.
