Time, Topic, Comment

• The order for these sentences is very specific. you must always do the following:
  • Time (if you have one: YESTERDAY, 2-MINUTE BEFORE, NOVEMBER, VALENTINE’S DAY, TIME-4 AFTERNOON)
  • Comma (if you had a time)
  • Topic (MY DOG, YOUR HOUSE, P-E-T-E-R, SCIENCE CLASS) (underlined)
  • Comma
  • Comment (BROWN, COOL, ME LOST, MY FAVORITE, AWESOME)
  • Period

• Sometimes your time can be the topic if the focus of your sentence is on the time or time period.
• Sometimes your time can be the comment if you are using the time as your comment.

• Non-Manuals
  • During the Topic:
    • Raise eyebrows
    • Tilt head slightly forward
  • Holds the last sign of the topic
  • Pause slightly between the topic and the comment

•  Examples:
  • I love my ASL class.
    • #ASL CLASS, ME LOVE.
  • My mom gave me $100 to buy a prom dress.
    • BUY PROM DRESS, MOM GIVE-ME 100 DOLLAR.
  • I went to Disneyland and went on Space Mountain.
    • DISNEYLAND, ME RIDE SPACE MOUNTAIN.

• Notice that the ASL gloss is all capitalized (to represent signs), has punctuation (a period) at the end, has dashes between the letters that are fingerspelled, and has a dash between the two words used in English to represent one sign in ASL.
• The English is written with only the first letter capitalized and there is punctuation (a period) at the end.
• There is a # sign before a sign to represent that the sign is lexicalized (spelling all or most of the letters of the word in order to make a sign).