21.3 American Sign Language

The appearance of a particular response form in ASL can be a function of someone else making the same sign (like an echoic). There is a written form of ASL which is somewhat analogous to a phonemic form of written English. Rather than the letter corresponding to speech sounds, the “letter” corresponds to significant features of the signs, and therefore, has point-to-point correspondence that allows for relationships analogous to textual behavior, copying a text, and taking dictation. These relationships are not commonplace in the deaf community, however.