ASL Grammar: Focal Point

How does ASL order their words in a sentence?

(This is also called topicization and includes sentence structure of subject + verb + object and object + subject + verb.)

Transcript and visual description:

Video ID: A male with light complexion, Garrett, in a white and charcoal polo shirt stands in front of a white background with the text on the top, “ASL Grammar: Focal Point”.

Garrett: In a sentence, there is a word order. How does ASL decide their word order? The answer is focal point. What is focal point? It is words that take these roles. In a sentence, focal point isn’t in the middle but the beginning. ASL’s word order is flexible as long as it follows focal point. Here are some examples.

Video ID: The text appears above Garrett, “Focal Point:” “I” “Them” “Event” “Tomorrow.” The red square line that represents the focal point moves to each word in order:

Subject: “I” I film them at the event tomorrow
Object: them they (are who) I film at event tomorrow
Location: event at event I film them tomorrow
Time: tomorrow Tomorrow I film them at event

FYI word order can be switched around in a middle of a sentence including description. This structure focuses on what is in the beginning of a sentence, the focal point.