[Catharine]

I am curious about something I see in American Sign Language interpretation. I see this most often when there is picture-in-picture interpretation on TV. I see the ASL interpreter signing away, and also emphatically mouthing something that appears to have nothing to do with what is being said. I can lipread a little (I've spent a lot of time in noisy situations with earplugs on), and I can't figure out what the interpreter is saying. What's going on?

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[Frances]

I wondered this myself and was told that the signer uses exaggerated facial expressions to add 'tone of voice' to the words. For example, the sentence 'Don't make me laugh' could be interpreted several ways without intonation, so the signer will expess its intended meaning with his or her facial expression.

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[Mavis]

ASL a language like French, Spanish, or German. It is *not* just English, signed. (There are several other languages or 'dialects' that are more closely related to English.) It has its own grammar and syntax, history, idioms, etc. So when someone is interpreting into ASL, what they are signing (and mouthing) may seem to have very little connection to what is being said by the speaker. Also, the interpreter has to 'lag' as much as 1-2 sentences behind the speaker so as to be sure to get the whole meaning. Because the syntax of ASL is different from that of English, there are times when the last part of the English sentence may be signed first, or even when a later sentence is signed before an earlier one, or two sentences are run together. Then when you mix in different idioms, what is being signed/mouthed may seem to bear little resemblence to what is actually being said.

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[Sara28349]

It's not really a big deal. Facial expressions are far more important than mouthing the words. It all depends on the person, sometimes you mouth what you're signing, sometime you don't really move your mouth at all.

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[Sara28363]

Facial expressions are part of ASL grammar. Some of what you noticed could serve a linguistic function. As you study ASL more, it becomes more clear what native signers do and what is being carried over from hearing people who learn ASL later in life.

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[Lindsay22718]

Maybe it's because ASL has a different syntax than English (kind of like in Spanish 'red sock' would be 'sock red'). I'm not terribly familiar with the grammar rules, but I know that a friend of mine that's deaf writes things out of order, because it is pretty much an entirely different language. So if my thinking is right, it might just be harder for you to read because it doesn't flow the same as English.

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[Ben There]

As an interpreter for the Deaf, there are different possibilities: *The interpreter is signing ASL (bear with me) and uses mouth morphemes to go with what is being said. These are not English. Best example: 'Finally' is signed with the mouthing of 'PAH'--without that, the sign means really means announce. Grammar is also in these--what,where, how, etc, get an 'oo' *They are signing a pidgin--a cross of English and ASL (some people use this--it is more English-like, and an ASL sign came up or changed to word to a synonym that is easier to lipread--homogenous to same. Lastly, as a note, only 30% of English can be read on the lips.

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[Christy]

I'm an american sign language interpretor in training and here's the deal: American sign language (ASL) will uses a different grammar than english does. For instance: in english you would say 'my brother went to the store to buy strawberries'. In ASL, you would say something similar to 'Store, my brother go-to. Stawberries need buy.'

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[Ashley]

They're mouthing the words. Facial and body expression is a huge part of the ASL. It adds dimension and emphasis to what is being said. Being Deaf myself, I speak ASL fluently (there are other signed languages. Complicated), and I mouth myself. It's a way to help us understand what's being said, really. If I was talking to another Deaf person who did not mouth while signing, I would have a harder time understanding them.

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