Grade
Concept/Content
facial expressions, non-manual signals, size, style, intensity, movement, and location
Elaboration
Non-manual signals (NMS) are parts of a sign that are not signed on the hands (e.g., ASL adverbs made by eyes and eyebrows; ASL adjectives made using the mouth, tongue, and lips). For this level, non-manual signals include but are not limited to:
- facial expression matching the meaning and content of what is signed (e.g., mad, angry, very angry)
- conveying “tone of voice” while signing
- mouth morpheme: “cha” (big), “fish” (finish), “diff-diff-diff” (different), “pah” (finally, tends to), “pow” (suddenly)
- head nod/shake
- WH-face (eyebrows down for a WH question, shoulders up, head tilted slightly)
- shoulder shift/contrastive structure/spatial organization
- eye gaze: must be used with deixis (pointing)
- mouth open: used to convey length of time
keywords
non-manual signals