Understanding ASL Sentence Structure

Which language has influenced American Sign Language (ASL) by contributing about 60% of its signs?

• British Sign Language

• French Sign Language (LSF)

• Spanish Sign Language

• German Sign Language

What is the generally preferred word order for sentences in ASL, according to William Newell?

• SVO

• OSV

• SOV

• VSO

In which year did Clerc bring French Sign Language to the United States?

• 1776

• 1817

• 1901

• 1865

Which of the following is NOT a typical sentence structure found in ASL?

• SVO

• OSV

• SOV

• VOS

How does ASL allow signers to expand the expression of each sign?

• By changing the hand used

• By incorporating the signer’s mood, feelings, or attitude

• By using only one hand

• By signing faster

How does ASL incorporate information about nouns, subjects, or objects into its verbs?

• By using facial expressions only

• By using directional verbs

• By spelling out each word

• By repeating the sign

Compare the sentence structures of English and ASL. Which of the following best describes a key difference?

• English uses only SVO, while ASL uses only SVO

• English uses MSVO and other variations, while ASL can use SVO, OSV, or SOV

• Both use the same sentence structures

• ASL uses more written words than English

Given that ASL is described as "multi-dimensional," what might this imply about how meaning is conveyed in ASL compared to spoken languages?

• ASL uses only one hand to sign

• ASL can use facial expressions, body language, and space to add meaning

• ASL is less expressive than spoken languages

• ASL uses only written forms

If a signer wants to emphasize the object in an ASL sentence, which sentence structure might they use based on the information provided?

• SVO

• OSV

• VSO

• SOV

ASL is closer to the Navajo Language than the English language

• True

• False