Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Fingerspelling in ASL-to-English Interpreting
- Lexicalized Fingerspelling: words that are fingerspelled but
undergo a systemic, phonological, morphological, and
semantic change
- Letter Deletion: Word with one
or more letters missing (ie: job
or back)
- Special Movement: Fingerspelling
with a movement incorporated (ie:
early and back)
- Altered palm orientation: Palm does
not face outward all the time (ie job
or what)
- Overall Shape or Individual Letters
- Some Deaf people will delete letters
in a word but keep the overall shape
of the word the same
- Don't read individual letters, see the shape of the word
- Individual letters can be seen as
individual signs making up one word.
- When a Classifier replaces a
fingerspelled word
- Classifier can sometimes replace a fingerspelled word
- Must fingerspell word first, the immediately show
classifier that will replace the word
- CL/fingerspelled word or fingerspelled word/CL
gives clarity to the meaning of the classifier
- Fingerspelled words
usually nouns so nouns
are usually classified
- When a sign replaces a fingerspelled word
- Flagging: Fingerspelled
word relpaced by signs
- Once sign has been flagged, the replaced English word is kept as
the word to use for the rest of the interpretation unless otherwise
stated by the presenter
- Interpreters who work with the same Deaf individual for a while will be
familiar with what English words should be attached to a particular
sign.
- Until that time, a Deaf consumer
may flag a sign for the specific
English word desired
- Name Signs: signed representation of
an English name and may fall under two
basic types: descriptive and arbitrary
- Descriptive Name Signs (DNS)
- Refers to a physical
characteristic used to identify
a person
- Arbitrary Name Signs (ANS)
- Follows a system of using the first
letter of a persons name placed in a
certain location in sign space
- ANS in neutral space: Name sign takes
the first letter of the English name and is
shaken slightly in front of the signer
- ANS with a single location on body: name sign takes
the first letter of the English name and places it on a
location of the body. Contact movement is repeated.
- Area used: forehead
- Area used: side of the mouth
- Area used: over the heart
- ANS with a dual location of body: fist letter of the
English name taken, the name sign touches two
locations on the body
- Area used: chin to chest
- Area used: forehead to chin
- Name sign can also be represented by a title or
relationship (ie doctor, teacher, or family member)
- Fingerspelling
accompanied by a
description
- Loan word: No standard sign equivalent in ASL for an
English word or term, a Deaf person might fingerspell the
English word then give an explaination
- Interpreter makes the decision to leave out an explanation, 2 questions must be asked
- 1. Would an average English speaker be aware of
the fingerspelled term and not need the
explanation?
- 2. Even if the answer is yes to the first question, is there too much "dead air" time in
which the interpreter is not speaking, leaving the audience wondering why the
interpreter has stopped talking?
- Other
- Fingerspelling used to convey-
- Proper Names
- People
- Places
- Movies or
Book titles
- Brand Names
- Name of city or state abbreviations
- Specific terms (ie #CHILD)
- ASL words with no lexical equivalents
- Technical English terms
- The "3 C's"
- Context
- Configuration
- Closure
- Using prediction, inference, and background
knowledge can help interpreters read finerspelling
better
- Acronyms and Abbreviations
- Problem with this is that the interpreter is often waiting
for a fingerspelled word or is unfamiliar with the
acronyms and abbreviations
- Listening to acronyms the English speaker uses, look
over handouts for acronyms, and becoming aware of
acronyms and abbreviations that are common to the
field, class, or industry in which the Deaf person is
working or involved can help improve the ability to
interpret them