The document discusses grammar rules in American Sign Language (ASL). Some key points: - In ASL, objects are described before their color, unlike in English which uses the order "my mom has brown hair and blue eyes." - ASL has its own grammar system separate from English, with different rules for phonology, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics. - ASL uses different word orders than English, often placing the subject before the verb and object, though order can vary depending on factors like familiarity and purpose. Topic-comment structures are also used where the topic, either subject or object, comes first before the comment.

1. Descriptions!
Grammar note:
-In ASL we sign object before color.
Indicate what you are describing first.
For example, In English we say,
• My mom has brown hair and blue
eyes.
• In ASL we gloss/sign, MY MOM
HAIR BROWN EYES BLUE

2. A "grammar" is a set of rules for using a
language. These rules guide users in the correct
speaking or signing of a language. The grammar of
a language is decided by the group of people who
use the language. New grammar rules come into
existence when enough members of the group have
spoken (signed) their language a particular way
often enough and long enough that it would seem
odd to speak the language in some other way.
American Sign Language has its own grammar
system, separate from that of English. What this
means is ASL grammar has its own rules for
phonology, morphology, syntax, and pragmatics.

3. • ASL Word Order
• ASL follows several different "word orders" depending
on what is needed. Which word order you choose
depends on your audience's familiarity with the topic
and what you are trying to do: explain, remind,
confirm, negate, cause to consider.
• Normal conversations tend to follow Subject-Verb-
Object or Subject-Verb order. Some people might
confuse this as to mean English word order. While the
word order in ASL and English can be similar, ASL does
not use BE verbs (am, is, are, was, were) or anything to
indicate the state of “being.” Nor does it use articles
(a, an, the). These are some distinctions to keep in
mind.
• To understand why, you’ll also need to Topic-Comment
sentence structures and topicalization.

4. • What is Your Topic?
• A topic is what you are talking about. You can use
either a subject or object as the "topic" in a sentence.
•
• A. If you use the subject as your topic, then you are
using an active voice.
• BOY THROW BALL. The boy threw the ball.
•
• B. If you use the object as your topic, then you are
using a passive voice.
• BALL, BOY THROW. The ball was thrown by
the boy.
• Note that the active voice is in Subject-Verb-Object
word order: BOY THROW BALL. The passive voice is in
Object, Subject-Verb word order: BALL BOY THROW.

5. • What is Topic-Comment Format?
• Both of the aforementioned sentences are in Topic-Comment format. As
we’ve already established, the topic is what you are talking about and the
comment makes observations about that topic. Topic is for the first item
mentioned in a sentence (whether it is the subject or object) and the
comment is the latter, and it makes a comment about the topic. So let’s
take a look at those sentences again:
• A. Active Voice, using the subject as your topic.
• BOY THROW BALL. Topic: BOY Comment: THROW BALL
• What is the topic? Boy What is the comment saying about the boy? He
threw the ball.
•
• B. Passive Voice, using the object as your topic.
• BALL, BOY THROW. Topic: BALL Comment: BOY THROW
• What is the topic? Ball What is the comment saying about the ball? It was
thrown by the boy.
• So, as you can see, the topic can be either a subject or an object. Now
that we’ve established the topic can be a "BOY" or it can be the "BALL" he
is throwing, and it can either be the subject or object of the sentence.

6. • A. The BOY can be:
• · The subject of the sentence: BOY THROW BALL.
• · The object of the sentence: BALL, HIT BOY.
•
• B. The BALL can be:
• · The subject of the sentence: BALL, HIT BOY.
• · The object of the sentence: BOY THROW BALL.
•
In each of these examples, the comment is either
THROW BALL" or HIT BOY.