Studyfin
✨ Sign up free
Hey there! Ready to learn how to ask questions using American Sign Language? It is all about your face!
In American Sign Language (ASL), your face does the talking when you ask a question. We call these facial movements non-manual markers. They act like the punctuation marks we use in written English.
When you ask a 'Yes or No' question, you must raise your eyebrows. You also tilt your head forward slightly. This tells the other person that you are waiting for a simple yes or no answer.
For WH-questions (like Who, What, When, Where, or Why), you do the exact opposite. You furrow or squeeze your eyebrows downward. You also tilt your head forward to show you want information.
Imagine you want to ask a friend two different questions in ASL: 1) 'Are you hungry?' 2) 'What is your favorite food?' Explain how your facial expressions must change for each question.
- Identify the type of question for the first sentence. 'Are you hungry?' can be answered with a simple 'yes' or 'no'.
- Apply the rule for Yes/No questions. For 'Are you hungry?', you must raise your eyebrows high and tilt your head forward slightly while signing.
- Identify the type of question for the second sentence. 'What is your favorite food?' uses the question word 'What', making it a WH-question.
- Apply the rule for WH-questions. For 'What is your favorite food?', you must squeeze or furrow your eyebrows downward and tilt your head forward while signing.
- Compare the two cases. Notice how the eyebrows go UP for the first question to expect a yes/no, but go DOWN for the second question to ask for details.
