Describing Relationships: How TSL Expresses Causality and Contrast

Conjunctions such as because, so, but, or although rarely appear in TSL. A cause-effect relationship between two events is expressed by describing the cause first and the effect later. A contrast between two events is indicated by adding facial expressions of confusion, surprise or concern in between the two events (when the contrast occurs).As Signed Chinese is increasingly used and TSL itself increasingly influenced by Chinese, however, more and more signers now employ signs to indicate because, so, and but.

Example sentence

I can’t speak, let alone talking on the phone. So I clap my hands instead, and they get it. If it were other people, they’d be weirded out by the claps when they pick up the phone. That is why I only call them two. Only they know clapping means I’m inviting them over. This is only works for the three of us. It’s our secret signal.

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