Why use ASL Gloss?

Obviously, videos are the best way to capture ASL narrative and record it for all posterity. However, I know that digital videos have a definite lifespan and such works may be lost forever. Here's a couple of examples;

• The video hosting provider could go out of business; (Yes, even Google Video/YouTube are not immune from market forces!)


• The hard disk drives containing the videos could be damaged;


• I could have a Homer Simpson moment and accidentially delete the video and realize that there is no backup.


• Planned technological obsolence will render current (2007) state of the art digital video formats to be all but unreadable, ten, twenty, or thirty years ago. (C'mon, try to read a 8" disk right now with modern equipment! I double-dare ya! :) )

The list goes on and on...

There is a good reason why the George Veditz video was preserved and archived for future generations to view and enjoy; It was printed on celluoid. Even then, the ravages of time will destroy the physical reel, and only the meticulous and watchful care of its stakeholders will tend to its digital equivalent for pretty much forever, given its importance.

With that in mind, I needed to reduce my ASL videos to a written form, that can be easily edited, printed, distributed, understood, archived, searched, etc. I checked out a couple of systems used to reduce ASL to a written format;

• SignWriting [Wikipedia]


• HamNoSys [Hamburg University]


• Stokoe Notation [Wikipedia]

The first two systems, SignWriting and HamNoSys, are pretty much similar. They rely on symbols and notations suggesting movement, location, etc. However, they needed specialized software and they do not lend themselves to ease of searching or being understood. The last system, Stokoe Notation, had the advantage of using regular Unicode characters, but there remains a steep learning curve and apparently is designed for the linquistic community. It also may not lend itself suitable for searching or reading by lay people.

That only left me with one suitable choice; ASL Gloss. As the name implies, I just write down the equivalent English words for the signs as used in the video, in that order. Yes, I know the resulting English looks butchered and broken. But, it does not imply in any way that ASL is inferior to English or really is just Bad English. It just connotes that English is a poor substitute in transcribing ASL.

ASL Gloss met my criteria in reducing my ASL videos to writing; I can understand the system, and a fair degree of Deaf people will also. A lot of hearing people, if they can get past the red herring that is in the seemingly 'bad' English, will also readily grasp the minimal narrative. ASL Gloss can be easily typed, edited, printed, searched, archived, distributed, etc.

However, using ASL Gloss is not like using it in a vacuum; A corresponding English translation is provided. This way, I can compare the English translation with its corresponding ASL Gloss transcript to see if I've strayed far from its original meaning, and make revisions as needed.

More importantly, it allows readers to compare the two, and arrive at an reasonably high degree of understanding of what the ASL video is saying, even if they have not watched the video in question. Now, is that written literature for a manual language like ASL? Has ever there been literature where readers have to read and compare two competing written systems in order to fully understand and appreciate such videos? Maybe it is just isn't realistic; ASL deserves to stand on its own pedestal in the literary pantheon?

Admittedly, this is not a perfect system. I am hopeful that one day, some genius will come up with a writing system for ASL that is in widespread adoption. In closing, there is an ad hoc glossary of sorts, to help you understand what is being said in the transcripts;

• (FS) - Finger-spelled


• (CL:xx) - Classifier/handshape used.


• (RE) - Repeated sign


• (ID) - Idiomatic sign - No true English equivalent. Some improvisation required in the reader's imagination.


• More to come as more ASL Gloss transcripts are developed.