Mouth Morphemes In American Sign Language

In American Sign Language a major part of the language entails being able to express emotions and types of questions through the use of non- manual signals such as when asking a yes-no question the eyebrows will go up but when asking a wh-question such as what the eyebrows go down. Another way to express something is through mouth morphemes this is the way your mouth is shaped to convey different meanings, such as size and grammar. Non-manual signals and mouth morphemes are just as important as any sign and enrich the language to make it possible to effectively communicate.

Non-manual signals are created during sign language by facial expressions, mouthing head tilting shoulder movement, and other types of movement that give signs a greater

meaning. These signals can be grammatical, transitional, emotional, or mouth morphemes it can be any mixture of any of these and while usually they are accompanied by a sign, but they do not have to be (Bickford). Grammar wise non-manual signal can display, statements, conditionals, adverbs, rhetorical questions, yes-no questions, and wh-questions (Aron). In a signed language, there are many signs that have the same hand shape, location, movement, and palm orientation and the only way to tell the difference is through non-manual signals. For example the sign of late and not yet are the same the only way to tell the difference is to look at the non-manual signal, which is the movement of the head and the position of the shoulders.
For American Sign Language and other sign languages they will borrow from the main language that is spoken in their area or its language of origin. An example would be that American Sign Language was brought over from France and has French aspects, but was fully codified using the American language of English. When signing you also use the same mouth gestures that can be borrowed from the spoken language in the surrounding area or be developed independently of a language and adopted with an unknown origin. Now not all mouth morphemes use only the mouth, the head and shoulders can be incorporated to add an extra element to incorporate and give a wider understanding of the sign. While mouth morphemes are usually used as a part of a specific manual sign it can be used as an independent mode of communication.
Mouth morphemes come in all different shapes and sizes, with and with out manual signs depending on what one is trying to convey (Bickford).

Grammar in a signed language is completely different then a spoken language so they have to use what they have and what they have is the ability to display words through facial movements and mouth morphemes. Mouth morphemes mostly occur with a manual sign and usually with one sign (Bickford). These small changes can make a sign that originally meant one thing and turn it on its head to form a completely different sign. When executing these mouth morphemes one has to pay attention to what one is really trying to get across to the receiver. In American Sign Language 101 they teach the basic mouth morphemes that have to do with size, such as cha for something that is large, but there is much more that are taught at the upper levels and give the language more depth and

expression.
When learning and teaching sign language it is important understand how essential non-manual signals and mouth morphemes are to understanding the language.

In a paper by jack Hoza entitled Five Non-manual Modifiers That Mitigate Requests and Rejections in American Sign Language he studies five different non-manual signals. The signals he looks at are polite pucker, polite grimace, body/head teeter, tight lips and polite grimace-frown, he discuses their form, production, structure, function, purpose and meaning. (Hoza) He found that the polite pucker is the only non-manual signal that is associated more with easy contexts than with difficult ones, in that it mitigates small impositions.

(Hoza)
Though manual signs are how one signs it is only half the language and would be meaningless without non-manual signals and mouth morphemes. One could get by just knowing or just signing signs they can lack depth and sometimes be misinterpreted if not used in conjunction with non-manual signals and mouth morphemes. They allow the signer to communicate more effectively and allows the receiver to understand the conversation in an uncomplicated manner. While usually used in concurrence with signs they can be used independently of manual signs but manual signs could not be used without Non-manual signals and mouth morphemes. There are many different non-manual signals and mouth morphemes but they all play a vital roll in sign language and need to be used when signing.