Studying ASL Linguistics

Been reviewing linguisitic terminology such as the differences between morpheme and phoneme.

Morpheme - the meaningful parts of a word that cannot be further subdivided without losing its meaning. Ex. The word "Books" has 2 morphemes (book + s *a plural suffix*) the word book cannot be further divided without losing its meaning. Linguistic morphology studies the ways which language combines morphemes to form complex words. Phoneme- In ASL morphemes are distinguished by different handshapes, hand orientation, movement, and the location relative to the signer's body at which the morpheme is articulated. Thus, particular handshapes, orientations, movements and locations are equilvalent to phonemes. [Articulation] The units in signed languages. Ex. FORGET has 2 phonemes, the B and then the closure to the A = 2 syluables For-Get

Been reviewing these as well;

Classifiers, Determiners, Compound Signs, ASL Synatx, Metathesis,

Man if anyone ever argues whether or not ASL is a language, I'll just send them to Rusty and he'll bombard them with linguistc stuff like this above, and we must've forget to mention those researchers, Liddell, Vali, Stokoe, or god forbid Chomsky (even tho he argued that ASL wasn't a language).

I feel somewhat ready for tmw's certification exam. If I am not passing, its gotta be my weakness in lingustics, not culture, history, comprehension, or signing ability. Nope its the science of language thats stopping me dead in my tracks. I enjoy the teaching methods, psyche aspect of learning and strageties but the research in the world of word orders and tree maps of sentences sends me to sleep! Now I do enjoy schematics of ASL immesnsely and sign formations or transformation over time.

Last year I did a paper on which came first gestures or spoken language. Turns out gestures based on our physical evolution, prior to walking upright or erectus ( ha ha, dunno if I even spelled that right?) our vocal cords were located further down our throats. We would have not been able to make the sounds we do today. There was also the suggestion that once we realize speech freed up our hands to do other things is when spoke thereby in effect caused the spoken language to become the dominant language used among humans today. Nyways I do think due to gestures and body language it was part of what led to the development of communications in all forms, written, drawings, spoken, manual signing, and so forth.

Nyways I have to get ready to go out to the MET. Later aligators.