Beginner I
Pronouns are a class of referents that may substitue for nouns in a sentence. They have the same reference as the nouns which they replace.
Personal pronouns in English include "he," "she," "it," and "you". In ASL, indexing (finger pointing) is used for personal pronouns.
The forms of the ASL pronouns are the same for both subject and object in a sentence, like Chinese but unlike English which has different forms (i.e. "he" and "him").
The pronouns are used to make nouns in sentences less repetitive. Same true for signed languages.
It's not uncommon to see a few ASL students signing the same nouns repeatedly without using pronouns. In this case, imagine what it would be like to translate ASL into English below. It's repetitive and somehow distracting.
Jane asked John for a penny so that Jane could keep the penny in Jane's wallet for good luck. John couldn't find John's wallet and realized John had lost John's wallet.
Did you feel lost? Or become distracted? A speaker does not need to repeat the same noun every time. Instead, she/he uses pronouns to refer to these nouns in the following sentence.
Jane asked John for a penny so that she could keep it in her wallet for good luck. John couldn't find his wallet and realized he had lost it.
ASL, like other sign languages, has a complex set of pronouns, pronominal classifiers, and indexing. It uses the pronominal references in space. But, start practicing pronouns to build your foundation.
Here are some basic examples of using personal pronouns in sign language.
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Also see possessive pronouns (possessive adjectives); determiners (THAT, THESE, etc).
Also see listing and ranking: referencing grammar.
Practice signing pronouns and possessives in sentences.
New to sign language? "Where do I start?" or "How do I start learning sign language?" This ASL Rookie guide lists some selected links to the tutorials for ASL beginners to get started and keep rolling. It may be a useful review for intermediate-level learners and ASL students as well.
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Are you able to carry everyday conversations in ASL? Are you a student in the intermediate levels and beyond, who wishes to boost up your signing skills? You've come to the selected tutorial series. (Some premium content are available to PatronPlus membership.)
Stories, poems, performance arts, etc. in sign language.
This documentation project follows a child's language acquisition, literacy development, and phonological acquisition in sign language, specifically ASL, from newborn to age five in a natural native-ASL environment and visual culture.