DFST 430 Midterm Presentation

1. IDIOMS:
IT ALL HAS MEANING IN THE END
MEIGHAN SCHMIDT DFST 430
LINGUISTICS OF ASL OCTOBER 11TH, 2020
DR. JU-LEE WOLSEY

2. IDIOMS: AN INTRODUCTION
 Idiom: “…an expression whose meaning is partially
unpredictable because of regular and
idiosyncratic properties.” (Johnston & Ferrara,
2012)
 Examples:
 Cats and dogs
 Hold your horses
 Idiom in ASL: “…often just ordinary signs that are
difficult to translate into English.” (Valli, Lucas,
Mulrooney, & Villanueva, 2011)
 Examples:
 TRAIN GO SORRY
 TRUE BIZ

3. TRAIN GO SORRY? AN OVERVIEW
Figurative vs. literal
meaning
• Idiom signs can
iconic
• Meanings are
literal
• Do not always
have English
Deaf Children and
Idioms
• Understanding
idioms is linked to
reading
comprehension
• Certain idioms do
not make sense
when translated from
Transparent and
Opaque Idioms
• Are transparent and
opaque idioms the
same as iconic and
abstract phrases in
ASL?

4. FIGURATIVE VERSUS LITERAL MEANING
 Idiom signs often are iconic (the sign
represents the concept)
 LIGHT BULB ON
 STRICT
 The meanings of the signs directly
translate if iconic
 Otherwise, they are figurative and are not
meant to be taken literally
 FISH-SWALLOW
 VOMIT
 Not all ASL idioms have an English
translation
 TRAIN GO SORRY
 FINISH (FISH)

5. TRANSPARENT VERSUS OPAQUE IDIOMS
 Transparent idioms: The meaning of the word
can be figured out from the word itself
 Opaque idioms: The meaning of the words
cannot be figured out the from the words
themselves
 Can ASL idioms be looked at in terms of
iconic and abstract?
 Iconic signs are looked at as symbols and
schematics of what the physical object is
 Abstract signs are signs that do not create
the symbol in pictures.
 (Valli, Lucas, Mulrooney, & Villanueva,
2011).
 Depends, linguists have not agreed yes or
no
 Personally? Yes due to the comparison of
iconic signs and idioms
 Example: LIGHT BULB ON and KETCHUP

6. DEAF CHILDREN AND IDIOMS
 Understanding idioms is found to be
linked with reading comprehension
 Language deprivation leads to issues
regarding learning and understanding
idioms
 Deaf children relate idioms to an
unrelated meaning (Hines, 2015).
 Deaf children tend to take idioms or
phrases literally. (Hines, 2015)

7. CONCLUSION
 Idioms have a wide variation
throughout different languages
 Not all idioms translate directly between
English and ASL
 Different kinds of idioms have different
styles of signs
 Idioms are difficult for Deaf children
(and some Deaf adults to understand
Activity Time!!!

9. WHICH IDIOM IS THE IMPOSTER (NOT THE ASL IDIOM)?
RESPOND IN DISCUSSION BOARD!

10. REFERENCES
 Duffy, Q. (2007). The ASL perfect formed by preverbal FINISH. Unpublished MA Project, Boston University,
Boston, MA.
 Hines, B. (2015). The Comprehension of Idioms in the Deaf Culture. Unconventional Wisdom: University of
Montevallo McNair Scholars Research Journal, 3, 16-26.
 Johnston, T., & Ferrara, L. (2012, February). Lexicalization in signed languages: When is an idiom not an
idiom. In Selected papers from UK-CLA meetings (Vol. 1, pp. 229-248). UK: United Kingdom Cognitive
Linguistics Association.
 Nicodemus, B., & Cagle, K. (2015). Signed language interpretation and translation research : selected papers
from the first international symposium. Gallaudet University Press.
 Valli, C., Lucas, C., Mulrooney, K. J., & Villanueva, M. (2011). Linguistics of American Sign Language: An
introduction (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press

11. QUESTION: WHAT IS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IN ASL AND
ENGLISH IDIOMS?