NYSTCE ASL CST (130) key terms

The study of American Sign Language as a natural human language, covering its phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and use in discourse rather than treating it as gesture or English in signs.

The building blocks of a sign: handshape, location, movement, palm orientation, and nonmanual markers. Changing one parameter can produce a different sign or a non-sign.

Two signs that differ in only one phonological parameter, such as handshape or location, yet carry different meanings. Minimal pairs demonstrate that signs are composed of contrastive units.

The configuration of the fingers and hand used to produce a sign. Handshape is one of the contrastive parameters; some handshapes are unmarked and common, others are marked and rarer.

The path, repetition, or internal motion of a sign, including direction, speed, and manner. Movement can encode lexical meaning and also grammatical distinctions such as aspect or reciprocity.

Facial expressions, head movements, mouth morphemes, eye gaze, and body shifts that accompany manual signs. They carry lexical, grammatical, and discourse meaning, including question type and conditionals.

A specific mouth movement or shape paired with a sign to add adverbial or adjectival meaning, such as intensity, size, or manner. These are meaningful units, not mere lipreading of English words.

The rules governing how signs and nonmanual markers combine into sentences in ASL, including word order tendencies, question formation, negation, and the use of space for grammatical relations.

A common ASL sentence pattern in which the topic is established first, often with raised eyebrows and a slight pause, followed by a comment that says something about it.

The use of signing space to show who does what to whom. Many ASL verbs move between locations associated with subject and object, and the direction of movement reflects grammatical roles.

The area in front of the signer's body used to locate referents, show relationships, and produce agreement and spatial grammar. Established locations allow later pronouns and verbs to refer back clearly.

Verb-like constructions in which handshapes represent categories of objects or their features and movement depicts actions or spatial relations, such as a vehicle moving along a path.

Signs that show an action, shape, or spatial arrangement rather than naming it abstractly. They include classifier constructions and are partly iconic, but their use follows ASL grammatical conventions.

A discourse technique in which a signer shifts body orientation, eye gaze, or head position to portray a different speaker or character, marking quoted or reported speech and dialogue.

The depiction of a character's actions, thoughts, or feelings through the signer's body and face, often combined with referential shift. It is a grammatical resource for narration in ASL.

The study of how meaningful units combine to form signs and sign sequences in ASL, including compounding, derivation, numeral incorporation, and inflection for aspect or number.

The process of combining two or more existing signs into a single new sign whose meaning may differ from the parts, often accompanied by reduction or assimilation of the original movements.

A morphological process in which a number handshape is fused with a sign, such as a time or age sign, producing a single unit whose form changes with the number involved.

A grammatical category expressing how an action unfolds over time, such as repeated, ongoing, or completed. In ASL, aspect is often shown through movement modification and nonmanual cues.

Changes in a sign's movement or accompanying nonmanual markers that convey manner, intensity, or frequency, such as signing an action slowly, quickly, or repeatedly to modify its meaning.

The resemblance between a sign's form and its meaning, such as a sign that visually depicts an action. Iconic signs still follow language-specific conventions and are not universally understood.

The property that the form of many signs bears no direct resemblance to their meaning, showing that ASL is a conventional symbolic system rather than a set of pantomimed gestures.

The process by which a form or combination of forms becomes a fixed, conventional vocabulary item with a stable meaning, often with phonological changes from its source forms.

The representation of English words letter by letter using handshapes of the manual alphabet. It is used for names, technical terms, and loanwords, and is distinct from ASL vocabulary.

A sign borrowed from another language or system, such as a fingerspelled word that becomes a conventional ASL sign, often shortened or modified in form and meaning.

The conventional organization of stories in ASL, including setting, character introduction, complication, and resolution, often supported by referential shift and constructed action.

The study of how ASL varies across regions, generations, ethnic communities, and social settings, including register, style shifting, and attitudes toward variation among signers.

Differences in vocabulary or pronunciation of signs across geographic areas, such as different signs for the same concept in different regions of the United States.

A variety of ASL associated with a particular region or social group, differing in vocabulary, sign production, or usage while remaining mutually intelligible with other varieties.

The level of formality or style a signer adopts for a situation, ranging from casual conversation to formal presentation, affecting sign choice, speed, and use of fingerspelling.

Shifting between ASL and English-based signing or spoken English within a conversation, often depending on the audience, setting, or communicative purpose.

A mixed form of communication that arises when Deaf and hearing people interact, combining features of ASL and English. It is not a full natural language and varies by situation.

A social group of Deaf people who share ASL, values, and traditions, and who participate in Deaf cultural events and organizations. Membership is social and cultural, not solely audiological.

The shared beliefs, norms, humor, art, and history of Deaf people, including storytelling traditions, values about communication, and collective advocacy for language access.

How a person understands and describes their relationship to deafness and the Deaf community, which may include cultural, audiological, and personal dimensions that vary among individuals.

Discrimination or prejudice based on hearing ability, including assumptions that hearing and spoken language are superior. The concept helps explain barriers Deaf people face in education and employment.

An educational and social approach emphasizing spoken language and lipreading for deaf children, historically restricting or banning sign language use in schools.

A 1988 student protest at Gallaudet University demanding a Deaf president, widely seen as a turning point for Deaf empowerment and public awareness of Deaf rights.

Professional principles guiding interpreters, including confidentiality, accuracy, impartiality, and role boundaries, so that communication access is provided without altering the message.

The cognitive sequence of receiving a message, comprehending it, analyzing meaning, and producing an equivalent message in another language, often with monitoring and adjustment.

The limits of an interpreter's involvement in an assignment, such as avoiding advising, advocating, or making decisions for consumers, while managing requests and logistics appropriately.