ASL facial expressions/grammar - do I have to have different faces for y/n vs whq?
Do I need to have a different facial expression for wh questions than yes/no questions, or can I adopt a general look of inquisitiveness? I’m finding it very hard to do the y/n face unless I’m asking someone if they want a drink, because I almost always go with the wh face for all questions in real life.
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Ooh I used to know this.
From what I remember, they are different. With a wh- question, the eyebrows tend to get an inquisitive-furrow sort of thing (they go more down than anything), and with a y/n question the eyebrows get a raised inquisitivity (they go up).
—Does that make any sense?—
@DancingMind Yes, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. But I mean, is it actually enforced, or just something they say in the textbook? Because I think if I asked you (with talking) a yes/no question, most of the time I’d furrow my brow, not raise it because there’s an implied “expand beyond the one word answer” at the end of that sentence.
Hm… your stretching my ASL grammar memory, haha.
I don’t think it’s “mandatory” in that you must must must, because in any language, rules are able to be broken, and the main point is getting your point across, however you do it.
It’s probably be more ‘normal’ to a deaf person (err… native ASL signer?) if you followed the expected patterns, but since they’re more than fluent, I think they’d understand either way. Probably kind of like anyone who speaks with a slight non-native accent or syntax in any language.
There are guielines to ASL however, as you’ve mentioned there’s “slang” to any language so some variation on the facial expression is ok. and @DancingMind its ok to refer to deaf people as just that, Deaf people however not that when usin a lower case d it means deafness as in cant hear and uppercase D implies the culture of the Deaf community
@boxer3 thanks. Knew it was off but didn’t know why
You’re supposed to, but I honestly think anyone reading the signs wouldn’t care too much either way. As long as they read the signs, they’re going to understand you regardless of which expression you use. The only significant reason I can think of that a difference exists in the first place is because your facial expression will clue the viewer in ahead of time to what the content of your question is going to be.
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