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CLASSA-WHAT?

Perhaps, by now, some well-meaning person has said something like, "ASL, unlike other languages, has things called classifiers that are hard to understand and harder to know how or when to use."  S/He may have gone on to explain that, "Hearing people don't know about classifiers because there aren't any in spoken languages."  

Well, forget all of that, because none of it is true ... except that ASL does use them.  Looking for proof that linguistic classifiers are used all over the world?  Here ya go:

It's a crying shame that many ASL students have been introduced to classifiers in such an unfortunate and erroneous way.  After such discouragement, it is a wonder that any of us pushes through.  Thankfully, some of us do.

CLASSIFIERS DEMYSTIFIED

Many spoken and signed languages use classifiers.  As a user of English, you use them everyday, but may not have known they're called classifiers.  Think of classifiers as category-words (or category-signs).  An example of a category-word (a classifier) is the word vehicle.  When you think of vehicle, you might think of front loaders, cars, or moving vans.  Then, if it's cars we're talking about, it might be a sedan, a Mazeratti, or a hybrid.  And, so on.  Which ever car it is specifically, it is still a car, which is a vehicle.  The words vehicle and car are classifiers in English.

Tah-dah!

Now you know what a linguistic classifier is, that you and everyone you know have used them for years, and that not one of you has died from it.  Yet.  <wink>

Classifiers in ASL, just like classifiers in English, are handy, simple, wonderful, and fun linguistic tools.  You're going to get this concept in a snap.  After some practice - OK, lots of practice - you'll be almost as comfortable using classifiers in ASL as you are using them in English.  Emphasis is on the world almost because, after all, you're a second-language learner so we don't want to go overboard here.  (smile)

SUPPORT MATERIAL

There's a tough-to-find video that's really helpful.  It's called  Pursuit of ASL: Interesting Facts Using Classifiers.  You might find a few in VHS but you'll be lucky to find the DVD version because it's so popular.  Get a copy, if you can.

FUNDAMENTALS

DEFINITION

A word or handshape ...
   For example, a 3 handshape ...

used to represent the concept of a noun ...
   the 3 handshape representing a vehicle ...

that has already been identified specifically.
   you established already that you are talking about "Aunt Jo's motorcycle."

FORM

... in English

Spoken or written classifier words representing a category of people, places, or things (i.e. animal, airplane, house, statue, vehicle).

... in American Sign Language

Classifier handshapes representing a category of people, places, or things (i.e. animal, airplane, house, statue, vehicle).

Glossed as CL: followed by a standard or modified handshape (coded in English notation), for example, CL:1, CL:V, CL:B, etc.

There are approximately 28 classifier handshapes (depending upon who you ask).

Interpreters are not allowed to simply create new classifier handshapes (even though some try).  Classifier handshapes are fixed and defined within the ASL lexicon.  Sorry, no fudging allowed.

FUNCTION

A classifier:

is efficient (rather than describing a thing in tedious and lengthy detail again and again, an appropriate classifier is used);

streamlines expression and understanding by eliminating the need to reprocess repetitive detail;

is useful in visual languages to quantify or group things, or show characteristics, motion (behavior) and relative placement of one noun to another;

may be used only after the noun it represents has been clearly identified; this is especially necessary when conversing with someone you don't know well;

is useful in visual languages because a it shows; it does not merely tell.  An ASL classifier conveys a lot of information quickly and clearly.

EXAMPLES

1.  cup

The word cup might mean any number of specific things, but after it is understood what cup we're referring to, we can chat on and on about it by simply using the classifier cup, rather than describing it in cumbersome detail each time we refer to it.

2.  food

Again, we use the classifier food to refer to specific food after we have established which food we're speaking of.

3.  people

After we understand which people we're talking about, we'll simply say the classifier people during our conversation.

4.  soldiers

If we already know that we're speaking of, for example, U.S. military men and women abroad, we can both use the classifier soldiers and will understand one another clearly; however, if one of us begins to speak of soldiers in Florida, we need to identify that particular noun before we can continue to say soldiers and still hope to understand one another.

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1.  CL:1  1
After we have already established that we're speaking about a friend's former boss, Emily, we can use CL:1 (classifier one handshape) to represent Emily as she struts down the hall and out the door, then tears up the sidewalk, without having to re-identify Emily again and again.

2.  CL:S  s
We agree that I'm telling you about what happened to my head during a recent roller coaster ride.  Now, I can proceed to use CL:S (classifier S handshape) to convey what happened concerning my poor head.

3.  CL:3  3
You already know that my right-hand CL:3 (classifier three handshape) is my car, and my left-hand CL:3 is the yellow MX-5 Miata driven by my brother-in-law, Henry.  Now, I can use the CL:3s while I'm thrilling you with the spine-tingling tale.

ASL CLASSIFIER HANDSHAPES

What follows is not an exhaustive list, but a place to start that offers examples of what each classifier handshape might represent or how it might be used ... after the noun it's representing has already been precisely established, of course <grin>.

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Appearance	Classifier	Examples
.	CL:1	an upright person person or streamers twirling a thin cylindrical object (e.g. pencil) used to delineate a 2-dimensional shape (square, poster, circle), not 3-dimensional objects.
.	CL:3	a vehicle, generally motorized (car, snow mobile, tractor) three people standing or walking together; a group of three
.	CL:4	people lined up single-file a leak flowing out of something stripes, bars, fence pickets long, streaming, flowing, waving, or dangling (hair; bunting) four people standing or walking together; a group of four
Like a CL:5 (claw), but thumb remains at palm. . . .	CL:4 (claw)	items dotted or peppered about (stars; freckles) curled, fluffed (hair) hairs or fur standing on-end
.	CL:5	traffic many people many things paper or leaves in mid-air floating downward five people standing or walking together; a group of five
As though holding a softball or cantaloupe using one hand. . ..	CL:5 (claw)	a clump crowd; herd; village all-curled-up rough; jagged
As though making a thumbs-up gesture.   ..	CL:A (modified)	inanimate object statue; vase house
.	CL:B	smooth, flat surface roadway; runway book; racecar; artwork displayed on the wall of a gallery barrier; wall height of animal delineate shape of 3-dimensional object (e.g.: house), not 2-dimensional shape.
Move thumb out of the way then fingers bend sharply at the knuckles. , .	CL:B (bent)	height of human
.	CL:C	large, long, cylindrically shaped, round, or oval object (column; pillar; sewer-pipe) thick, cylindrically shaped (bicep; thigh; tree stump) very thick (encyclopedia; huge stack of paperwork) deep (snow) big, toothy smile
Use thumb and index finger. Remaining fingers are tucked-in (as S).. .	CL:C (modified)	(newspaper column; article; stripe) medium-sized, round, flat object (cookie; tea saucer; badge)
.	CL:F	small, thin, round objects (button; coin;  eye-gaze long, thin, cylindrically shaped object (stick; dowel; rod)
.	CL:G	very short or shallow (small stack papers; shallow water) thin shapes (mustache; eyebrow; bird beak)
.	CL:I	very thin and long (string; wire; line or stripe)
.	CL:L	delineation of object with corners (driver's license; greeting card) pictures hung on a wall
Curl your index finger. Your thumb is unchanged. .. .	CL:L (modified)	circular or oval-shaped object (dish; rug)  delineate visible surface (lake; paint-spill)
.	CL:O	medium-sized, cylindrically shaped object (rod or tree branch; hose; substantial cable or tube)
.	CL:S	solid, spherical object (head) solid, packed tight, jammed
.	CL:U	flat strip-shaped object (ribbon; strip of paper)
.	CL:V	two long, thin things, parallel to one another (train track) two people, upright; side-by-side eye gaze
As the dominant hand in STEAL. . .	CL:V (claw)	4-legged creature seated human crouching, squatting, hunched-down human people or seats (chairs) arranged side-by-side people or seats arranged in a circle or semi-circle
.	CL:V (upside-down)	human standing, walking, climbing human lying down
.	CL:Y	wide object wide load hippo's mouth delineates span, width, breadth (vertical or horizontal extent)
.	CL:Y (upside-down)	wide object wide load hippo's mouth; heavy person whose weight shifts side-to-side delineates span, width, breadth (vertical or horizontal extent)

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This page was edited: 09/13/2009 This page has been visited times since: May 13, 2009. TerpTopics is a trademark and service mark of TerpTopics, LLC. © 2009. All rights reserved. TerpTopics™ is an independent entity; as such does not claim or attempt to claim, represent, or imply by any means whatsoever that it is associated with any other entity that may or may not offer services, goods, or information of interest to interpreter, Deaf, or student communities.  The opinions expressed here those of TerpTopics unless otherwise stated.  Please keep in mind that, while every effort is made to present correct, appropriate, and reasonable information that is based on our experience, anecdotal experiences of others, or developed during the general course of study and professional development, we do not represent TerpTopics as having cornered the market on wisdom (heck, no!) or experience; one reason why links to several other good and reliable resources are made available throughout this site, and we hope that earnest seekers of knowledge will take advantage of them.

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