Delimitations of Signs:

When you "delimit" something you "determine the limits or boundaries of" it.  The "delimitations of a sign" are the established, stated, conventional, or agreed upon limits or boundaries of that sign. When discussing language, boundaries are often fuzzy, porous, or flexible.  Also delimitations that apply in some regions (geographical locations) may not be apply in other regions.
 


For what it is worth, this conversation is going to inform my project: "Delimiting ASL."

de·lim·it
/dēˈlimit/
verb
determine the limits or boundaries of.
synonyms: determine, establish, set, fix, mark (out/off), demarcate, bound, define, delineate

One aspect of the project has to do with factors that influence semantic expansion (which is a fancy way of saying what things influence whether or not a sign like ISLAND can be used to mean more than just a piece of land surrounded by water).


 
Sabrina Johnson
Hello and good morning.
Would you sign kitchen "island" as KITCHEN+ISLAND
19 Comments

Kevin Patrick Jr. I'm a student, not offering advice. But I'd fingerspell I-S-L-A-N-D and then use classifiers to show its general shape, maybe add something PLACE FOR MAKE FOOD.

Casey Hester Sexton Kevin Patrick Jr. But there's a sign for island. Curious why you'd fingerspell.

Kevin Patrick Jr. Because it's not a piece of land surrounded by water, it's kind of poetic description of what is basically a table.
But again, I'm a student, not fluent.

Ann McBain Ezzell Casey - Kevin is correct (at least until someone Deaf comes along and corrects us :-) )
It's important to be able to separate English from ASL. You need to think about the concept, not the English label.…See More
 

Casey Hester Sexton Makes a lot of sense. Thanks guys!

Casey Hester Sexton Goes along with what my instructor was telling the class on Monday. She said you would fingerspell townhouse, not sign TOWN HOUSE.

Megha Gavin I learned to describe it with the sign for table, classifiers to show the shape, and location in the middle of the room. I'm curious about using the sign for island since that refers to an actual piece of land surrounded by water.
 

Sarah Houston Use classifer....kitchen area and place the island there add cook prepare food...

Sabrina Johnson Sarah Houston thank you.

Jc Wordsmith I'd still sign Kitchen +Island, then expand with descpritors: large counter space, prep sink, prep space this side. 4 stools on the other side with himework space or soace for guests to visit me while I cook. Then after that revert to just Kitchen+ island unless it's a new person learning about my dream kitchen.
 

Marthe Schmitt KITCHEN (MIDDLE) ISLAND is how it gets signed in this ASL house, because when you're looking for your keys, no one has the time to do elaborate classifiers!
That folks is a lesson in the vernacular use of ASL vs the academic approach!

Sarah Houston Marthe Schmitt i was gonna post a video just showing shorter way... im gonna attempt (i have horrible luck in posting videos lol) but it would have been 2 short signs lol (Coda here)

Charles Phillips Kitchen room/area
Cl:claw palm down (for island)

Sarah Houston Charles Phillips THAT!!!! THAT!!
 

Bill Vicars Marthe Schmitt Your comment (which I'll paste below so people can see exactly to what I'm referring) might just be the most important comment I've seen in this group -- ever.
"Marthe Schmitt KITCHEN (MIDDLE) ISLAND is how it gets signed in this ASL house, because when you're looking for your keys, no one has the time to do elaborate classifiers! That folks is a lesson in the vernacular use of ASL vs the academic approach!"
Marthe Schmitt I'm dying to know more about "this ASL house."
Who is in this house?
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Tag: Belinda G. Vicars
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Bill Vicars
Bill Vicars Marthe Schmitt Belay that. No need to go into detail about your household. Belinda clued me in. I was and still am enamored with the phrase "In this Deaf house." That would be such a cool "Channel" or "website" name eh? Or even the title of a book about how signing REALLY and TYPICALLY takes place in Deaf households!
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Bill Vicars
Bill Vicars For what it is worth, this conversation is going to inform my ongoing project: "Delimiting ASL."
de·lim·it
/dēˈlimit/
verb
determine the limits or boundaries of.
synonyms: determine, establish, set, fix, mark (out/off), demarcate, bound, define, delineate
One aspect of the project has to do with factors that influence semantic expansion (which is a fancy way of saying what things influence whether or not a sign like ISLAND can be used to mean more than just a piece of land surrounded by water).
Edit or delete this
Like
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AREA-[non-initialized]-[5-handshape-single-large-movement-version]-[field/-hood/-dom]. Delimitations: A version of the sign "AREA" is sometimes used to mean "field." This sign doesn't mean "field" as in a "field of work" or a "profession." Instead, for the concept of "field of work" or "profession" used the sign labeled as MAJOR/field/discipline/line-of-work.


ADDRESS: An ASL instructor asked: Some friends and I recently had an interesting discussion about the sign for 'address.' We all agree that it is used to mean: address; live, life, living exists etc. as explained on your 'address page.' Two of us think the sign can also be used (in certain contexts) to mean 'location.'
For example, let's say you tell me that you have the greatest dentist on planet earth and she makes going to the dentist sheer joy. And, needing dental work and not having an established dentist, I reply: "Your, dentist . . address (location), WH? Meaning I am not asking for the street address of your dentist but I want to know the general area where she is located. I know we could use the sign for 'area' in that case. Could we also use the sign for 'address' (or not)? Others in our group are convinced that using the sign for 'address' would be incorrect if used to mean 'location,' regardless the context. Thanks for educating us :) [Name removed to protect the person's privacy.]

Dear ____________,

 I've been thinking lately about the concept of "delimitations."

When you "delimit" something you "determine the limits or boundaries of" it. The "delimitations of a sign" therefore are the established, stated, conventional, or agreed upon limits or boundaries of that sign.

The fact that your group is "discussing" the delimitations of ADDRESS is an indication that the "boundary line" of ADDRESS is at least a bit fuzzy.

However, we have to ask ourselves what will be the most likely response to a question signed as:
YOUR DENTIST what-ADDRESS?

The vast majority of skilled signers will likely assume you are asking for the "address" of the dentist and reply accordingly.

The vast majority of skilled signers upon seeing the sign for ADDRESS-(repeated-movement-version) will infer that you are signing "address."

Thus an ASL instructor would be well advised to "not" include the word "location" in a list of "typical" meanings of the sign for ADDRESS.

On the other hand, an example that might clarify why it is that in the back of your mind you keep thinking that "location" could be one of the meanings of the "ADDRESS" sign is this:

Suppose a business leader were discussing moving to a new "location." She might even write the "address" of that new location on the board. Then as she is discussing the move he might state something to the effect of, "We plan to move to the new location next month." Any interpreter worth their salt is going to do the sign for ADDRESS to mean "location" (in that specific interpreting scenario).

If the business leader had been discussing a new "building" (but hadn't mentioned nor written an address) and used the same phrase "We plan to move to the new location next month" -- the interpreter would likely sign "BUILDING" to mean "location" (in that particular interpreting scenario).

Thus an interpreter educator (not a basic ASL instructor) would be well advised to include ADDRESS on their list of possible interpretations for "location" -- depending on the scenario.
Cordially,
Dr. Bill

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LOOK-for:  The concept of "look for" doesn't use the signs LOOK-at FOR.  The concept either uses SEARCH or it uses a modified version version of LOOK-[scan/look-intently]-[squint-eyes/sweep-movement]