1. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.

2. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.

3. Introduction to ASL Classifiers
In our textbook, “Learning American Sign Language”, it explains very minimally about ASL classifiers. I feel it is my obligation as your ASL instructor to present, clearly explain and expand on the concept of classifiers using examples. This will give you a better feel for what ASL classifiers really are before I begin teaching you the Unit 7 lesson.

4. Introduction to ASL Classifiers
One sign technique that is relatively easy to understand and incorporate in ASL is the use of ASL “classifiers”. But what exactly are classifiers, you may ask? Classifiers are simply a variety of hand shapes that usually represent a noun and show location and also possible action of that noun.

5. Introduction to ASL Classifiers
For example, the vertical raised index finger of the fisted handshape (cl:1) could represent:
a person who could move from one spot to another, or
meet another person (when the two identical fisted hand shapes with index’s raised (cl:11) are brought together).

6. Introduction to ASL Classifiers
Another one of many possibilities might be to use the classifier shape to represent telephone poles zipping by outside a bus or train window. The speed of the train or bus could be represented by the speed of movement of the hand (as the poles go by the window).

7. Introduction to ASL Classifiers
Still another classifier of this type is the ‘3’ hand shape (cl:3) that represents a motorized land or water vehicle (car, bus, truck, van or boat). For example, “The car stopped and backed into the parking spot” could all be communicated with the ‘3’ hand shape held in a horizontal position. Similarly, a boat could be represented as it moves forward through choppy water.

8. Introduction to ASL Classifiers
Classifiers are not unique to ASL. The spoken language, Navajo, uses classifiers in ways almost identical to ASL. Japanese use classifiers when counting people, objects, and events. But native speakers of English may find classifiers difficult because English has no classifier system. We might even say that classifiers have a sense for the dramatic. At the very least, your knowledge of classifiers will help you paint images in the air.

9. Introduction to ASL Classifiers
These ASL classifiers and others can be used to outline the shape of a building, pattern of a dress, flow of tap water; ray of sunbeam, limp of a hurt baseball player, scattering of many ants, and so forth. Actually, there are many, many more ASL classifiers. It is just not possible to learn all classifiers during the remaining of our ASL I course, but if you plan to take up ASL II, III and IV course, you will learn more classifiers one by one.

10. Introduction to ASL Classifiers
Don’t try to sign and translate into English in your mind at the same time. Remember, ASL is a visual language. It shows, doesn’t not merely tell. ASL classifiers often convey a lot of information and details and can match and sometimes exceed that which spoken English can convey.

11. Introduction to ASL Classifiers
The most important thing for you as ASL students is to start trying to use classifiers. For ASL viewers like you, it is relatively easy to visualize and to understand the concept from the ASL signer, but as a person using ASL as a second language, it is bit challenging to learn and to master using classifiers. It takes time and takes a lot of practices, practices and practice to feel comfortable using classifiers in ASL.

12. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.

13. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.

14. About classifier that show the size of an object.
Grammar Note: Some predicates have classifiers that show the size and shape of an object. For example. In the sentence below:
MY GLASS I CL:C>-PUT-THERE. GONE.
I put my glass there. Now it’s gone.
the classifier, CL:C>, represents a cylinder-like shape the size of glass, cup, or bottle. Compare the properties of some classifier predicates:

15. About classifier that show the size of an object.
See p. 84 of your ASL textbook
CL:C> CL:CC> CL:CC>
CL:F CL:LL CL:LL

16. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.

17. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.

18. About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
Grammar Note: Some predicates with instrument classifiers indicate how an object is moved or placed as in CL:C>-CARRY-TO in the previous example. Some other such classifiers are: (see p. 85 of your ASL textbook)
CL:C* CL:O*
CL:5 CL:S>

19. About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed. .
Exercise 7A
Working in pairs, indicate the size and location of the following objects. Follow the prompt.
Prompt: a glass
CL:C>-THERE

20. About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
A can of soda
A silver dollar
A wastebasket
A large pizza
A thick candle

21. About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
Exercise 7A
b. Indicate that you moved the following objects. Follow the prompt.
Prompt: a glass
CL:C*-CARRY-TO

22. About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
A book
A thick stack of paper
A cup
A peach
A pitcher
A box of candy
A mug
A newspaper
A letter
An orange

23. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.

24. To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
Grammar Note: Classifier predicates can be used to indicate the location of objects in relation to each other as in CL-5-NEXT-to-CL:5-PUT-THERE below. The sentence below shows the relationship of more than 2 objects:
GLASS CL:C>NEXT-TO-CL>NEXT-TO-CL:C>.
There are three glasses in a row.

25. To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
Exercise 7B
Describe the location of the objects in the following pictures:
(See p. 87 of your ASL textbook)

26. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.

27. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.

28. How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, or A-FEW.
How Many? _______q________ Lisa: CLOTHES YOU HAVE? I WASH-CLOTHES. Chris: YES. HAVE SOME. I BRING-HERE. (Chris brings a pile of clothes.) ______whq______ Lisa: WOW! MANY SHIRT. HOW-MANY THERE? Chris: I THINK 8. PLUS 4 PANTS. Lisa: SEEM YOU NOT-YET WASH-CLOTHES SINCE 1-MONTH.

29. How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, or A-FEW.
Grammar Note: One of the ways to show numbers (plural) is by using quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, or A-FEW. These quantifiers can appear before or after the noun as in MANY SHIRT in the previous example of SHIRT MANY.

30. How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, or A-FEW.
Note that the question form HOW-MANY? is made with the eyebrows squeezed together and the head tilted forward like the other questions asking for information.
Another way to show numbers is by adding a number before or after the noun as in
4 PANTS or PANTS 4.

31. How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, or A-FEW.
I THINK 8. PLUS 4 PANTS. I think eight. And four pairs of pants. or I THINK 8. PLUS PANTS 4.

32. How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, or A-FEW.
Exercise 7C a. Following the prompt, tell how many cars you have. Prompt: four HAVE FOUR CAR I. 1. many 2. several 3. three 4. two 5. a few 6. seven

33. How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, or A-FEW.
Grammar Note: The plural of MINUTE, HOUR, DAY, WEEK, MONTH can be made by incorporating numbers. Some examples are: 7-MINUTE 4-HOUR 3-DAY 7 minutes 4 hours 3 days 2-WEEK 6-MONTH 2 weeks 6 months

34. How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, or A-FEW.
Exercise 7C B. Following the prompt, tell how long you have been taking ASL classes. Prompt: 1 month I TAKE-UP ASL SINCE 1-MONTH weeks 2. 6 months weeks 4. 4 days hours 6. 2 hours 7. 3 minutes

35. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.

36. Unit 7 – More Descriptions
Tonight, you will learn…
Introductions to ASL classifiers
About classifiers that show the size and shape of an object.
About classifiers that indicate how an object is moved or placed.
To use classifiers that indicate the location of objects in relation to each other.
How to show quantity by using numbers or quantifiers such as MANY, SOME, SEVERAL, OR A-FEW.
ANY QUESTIONS