Meaning?

stormpraiser91 · 10-06-2011, 11:45 AM

How would you explain "cha" and "pah" to a hearing person who's an ASL beginner?

DeafCaroline · 10-06-2011, 11:50 AM

Never heard of "cha" but "pah" - it's like an exclamation point.

**Reba** · 10-06-2011, 12:00 PM

"Cha" is the mouth morpheme that accompanies classifiers indicating an object is a large size. Examples: the size of a dog, a stack of paperwork to be done, a tree that fell.

"Pah" indicates or emphasizes finally, success at something particular. Examples: passing a test, winning a competition, getting a promotion, winning a dispute.

Mountain Man · 10-06-2011, 12:05 PM

"Cha" is what you mouth to indicate that something is very large (as in volume). There are different adverbials used to indicate height ("tah") and distance ("fah"). "Pah" is commonly used with the sign for SUCCESS and could be interpreted as "Finally!". While it is coupled with other signs, I can't think of them at the moment.

Edit: Ah, man, Reba beat me to the punch! lol

**Reba** · 10-06-2011, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mountain Man

"Cha" is what you mouth to indicate that something is very large (as in volume). There are different adverbials used to indicate height ("tah") and distance ("fah"). "Pah" is most commonly used with the sign for SUCCESS and could be interpreted as "Finally!". While it is coupled with other signs, I can't think of them at the moment.

Edit: Ah, man, Reba beat me to the punch! lol

I just type faster.

stormpraiser91 · 10-06-2011, 12:18 PM

What does morpheme mean?

DeafCaroline · 10-06-2011, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormpraiser91

What does morpheme mean?

It means the smallest meaningful unit in a language.

For example: the word "break" has just one morpheme (it cannot be broken down into smaller units or meanings) but "unbreakable" has three morphemes: un/break/able.

Another example: "dog" has just one morpheme but "dogs" has two - dog/s - the "s" being a plural marker.

stormpraiser91 · 10-06-2011, 12:30 PM

It means syllable?

**Bottesini** · 10-06-2011, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormpraiser91

It means syllable?

No it has to have a meaning on its own.

stormpraiser91 · 10-06-2011, 12:34 PM

oh. how do you use it? would you mouth pah and then sign success, or after the sign, or at the same time?

**TWA** · 10-06-2011, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormpraiser91

It means syllable?

No. Not syllables. It cannot be explained any more clearly than how DC put it.

**TWA** · 10-06-2011, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormpraiser91

oh. how do you use it? would you mouth pah and then sign success, or after the sign, or at the same time?

The Pah! itself is the sign. It is a morpheme. You would sign BOOK READ ME FINISH, and then mouth "Pah!"

**Reba** · 10-06-2011, 12:40 PM

Check out this site:

By "mouth morpheme" I'm talking about a type of facial grammar employed by ASL. This facial grammar can be used to show size or manner. For example, you might notice that when talking about something huge, skilled ASL signers might make a mouth movement that looks as if they were pronouncing the letters "cha." When describing something that is very thin or small they use a mouth morpheme that looks as if they are pronouncing the letters "oo."

American Sign Language (ASL)

DeafCaroline · 10-06-2011, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormpraiser91

It means syllable?

Google morphemes and you'll find all kinds of explanations.

Mountain Man · 10-06-2011, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stormpraiser91

oh. how do you use it? would you mouth pah and then sign success, or after the sign, or at the same time?

Usually at the same time as the sign you want to emphasize.

Mountain Man · 10-06-2011, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reba

Check out this site:

By "mouth morpheme" I'm talking about a type of facial grammar employed by ASL. This facial grammar can be used to show size or manner. For example, you might notice that when talking about something huge, skilled ASL signers might make a mouth movement that looks as if they were pronouncing the letters "cha." When describing something that is very thin or small they use a mouth morpheme that looks as if they are pronouncing the letters "oo."

American Sign Language (ASL)

Another name for these is adverbials.

10-06-2011, 11:45 AM	#1 (permalink)
stormpraiser91 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Gardner-Webb University Posts: 41	Meaning? How would you explain "cha" and "pah" to a hearing person who's an ASL beginner?

10-06-2011, 12:00 PM	#3 (permalink)
Reba Granny Terp Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: South Carolina Posts: 39,108	"Cha" is the mouth morpheme that accompanies classifiers indicating an object is a large size. Examples: the size of a dog, a stack of paperwork to be done, a tree that fell. "Pah" indicates or emphasizes finally, success at something particular. Examples: passing a test, winning a competition, getting a promotion, winning a dispute. rockin'robin, deafbajagal, KristinaB and 2 others like this. __________________ Tell us the truth about Benghazi!

10-06-2011, 12:05 PM	#4 (permalink)
Mountain Man Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 596	"Cha" is what you mouth to indicate that something is very large (as in volume). There are different adverbials used to indicate height ("tah") and distance ("fah"). "Pah" is commonly used with the sign for SUCCESS and could be interpreted as "Finally!". While it is coupled with other signs, I can't think of them at the moment. Edit: Ah, man, Reba beat me to the punch! lol stormpraiser91 likes this. Last edited by Mountain Man; 10-06-2011 at 01:19 PM.

10-06-2011, 12:40 PM	#13 (permalink)
Reba Granny Terp Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: South Carolina Posts: 39,108	Check out this site: By "mouth morpheme" I'm talking about a type of facial grammar employed by ASL. This facial grammar can be used to show size or manner. For example, you might notice that when talking about something huge, skilled ASL signers might make a mouth movement that looks as if they were pronouncing the letters "cha." When describing something that is very thin or small they use a mouth morpheme that looks as if they are pronouncing the letters "oo." American Sign Language (ASL) Journey likes this.

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10-06-2011, 11:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
DeafCaroline Registered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 4,889	Never heard of "cha" but "pah" - it's like an exclamation point.

10-06-2011, 12:18 PM	#6 (permalink)
stormpraiser91 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Gardner-Webb University Posts: 41	What does morpheme mean?

10-06-2011, 12:30 PM	#8 (permalink)
stormpraiser91 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Gardner-Webb University Posts: 41	It means syllable?

10-06-2011, 12:34 PM	#10 (permalink)
stormpraiser91 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Gardner-Webb University Posts: 41	oh. how do you use it? would you mouth pah and then sign success, or after the sign, or at the same time?