CASLI ASL Linguistics 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which researcher is credited with first applying linguistic analysis to ASL and demonstrating it is a true natural language?
- Ursula Bellugi
- William Stokoe (Correct answer)
- Edward Klima
- Scott Liddell
Correct answer: William Stokoe
William Stokoe published 'Sign Language Structure' in 1960, the foundational study showing ASL has the full complexity of a natural human language.
Question 2: In ASL, 'depiction' (formerly called 'constructed action') refers to:
- The use of classifiers for objects only
- Using one's own body to embody an action, entity, or concept for visual-spatial representation (Correct answer)
- Drawing signs in the air using an index finger
- Fingerspelling words that have no ASL equivalent
Correct answer: Using one's own body to embody an action, entity, or concept for visual-spatial representation
Depiction in ASL involves the signer using their body to visually represent actions, entities, or spatial relationships, creating meaning through showing rather than labeling.
Question 3: What phonological constraint in ASL prohibits two different handshapes from being active simultaneously unless one is dominant?
- The movement constraint
- The Symmetry and Dominance Conditions (Correct answer)
- The location hierarchy
- The palm orientation rule
Correct answer: The Symmetry and Dominance Conditions
Battison's Symmetry and Dominance Conditions state that in two-handed signs, both hands must have the same handshape (symmetry) or the non-dominant hand must use an unmarked handshape (dominance).
Question 4: Reduplication in ASL most commonly marks which grammatical category?
- Negation
- Aspect (especially continuative or iterative aspect) (Correct answer)
- Possession
- Future tense
Correct answer: Aspect (especially continuative or iterative aspect)
Reduplication—repeating a sign's movement—typically marks aspectual meaning in ASL, such as indicating a habitual or ongoing action.
Question 5: The concept of 'signing space' in ASL refers to:
- The physical distance maintained between two signers
- The three-dimensional area in front of the signer's body used grammatically to establish referents and relations (Correct answer)
- The space required for large classifiers only
- The area reserved for fingerspelling near the dominant shoulder
Correct answer: The three-dimensional area in front of the signer's body used grammatically to establish referents and relations
Signing space is the grammaticalized spatial field in front of the signer where loci are assigned to referents and spatial grammar is enacted.
Question 6: Which of the following is a characteristic of ASL that distinguishes it from Signed Exact English (SEE)?
- ASL uses fingerspelling; SEE does not
- ASL is a natural language with its own grammar; SEE is a manual code designed to represent English morpheme-by-morpheme (Correct answer)
- ASL has no verb agreement; SEE does
- ASL was invented in the 20th century; SEE is older
Correct answer: ASL is a natural language with its own grammar; SEE is a manual code designed to represent English morpheme-by-morpheme
ASL is a naturally evolved language with its own distinct grammar, while SEE is an artificially constructed system created to represent English grammatical structures manually.
Question 7: In ASL discourse, 'constructed dialogue' is a technique where:
- The signer writes dialogue on paper and then signs a summary
- The signer directly voices or signs the words/thoughts of a referent, shifting perspective to represent that character (Correct answer)
- The signer uses only classifiers to narrate events
- The signer uses a neutral space to present factual information without role shift
Correct answer: The signer directly voices or signs the words/thoughts of a referent, shifting perspective to represent that character
Constructed dialogue in ASL involves the signer adopting a character's role to directly present what that character signed, said, or thought, using role shift cues.
CASLI ASL Linguistics 5
Which researcher is credited with first applying linguistic analysis to ASL and demonstrating it is a true natural language?