Improving BSL Skills Workshop - using non-manual features
Presented on 27 February 2002
Non-manual features in BSL
Non-manual features are used at different levels of BSL.
We need to know the form and function of the features, ie: what features are used and what they are used for.
| FORM | FUNCTION | LEVEL |
| Various, eg: 'sh' lip pattern; puffed cheeks; sucked-in cheecks, etc | Inherent 'phonological' element of signs: as much a part of the sign as the handshape. | Multi-channel signs, eg: 'existence' signs; 'bang one's head againsta a brick wall'; negative markers such as 'vee' and 'th'. Part of the lexical resources of BSL. |
| 'th'; 'sh'; puffed cheeks, tongue protrusion, etc. | Non-manual morphemes we can add to give information often given by adverbs (adverbials), adjectives and intensifiers in English. | Expressing meanings such as 'unpleasantly', 'carelessly', 'with difficulty', etc. Part of the morphological resources of BSL. |
| Furrowed eyebrows; raised eyebrows | 'wh' questions; yes/no questions | Part of BSL syntax |
| Eyebrows raised, eyes wide open, head tilt | Marking the topic in topic-comment utterances | Part of BSL syntax |
| Body shift | Used to indicate who is being referred to, eg: in reported dialogue (role shift) | Park of discourse structure, ie: the level of language beyone the sentence. This tells us who is communicating. |
| Eye-gaze | To indicate the referent - ie: object or person being referred to | Park of BSL syntax |
Support materials
Handout: Examples taken
from Sign 9: Non-manual features I
(Sign: a series of VHS bideotapes on BSL from the Edinburgh Research Project)
Handout: Extract from The visual world of BSL, showing phonological elements in 'that's right'; 'oh my God', 'bang one's head against a brick wall', 'saunter', 'could have happened', 'because', 'be', 'there'
Handout: Extract from The visual world of BSL, showing non-manual morphemes 'th', 'sh', 'ee', 'puffed cheeks', 'open wide', 'drawn in lips', 'puckered nose', 'downward droop'
Course materials
University of Edinburgh, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ