In this issue:

• Five Years and Counting!

• How to Manage Your Modifiers
• Did You Know? The Earliest Deaf Person in Recorded History
• ASL Homonyms

• Ask TSW!

• Spotlight On…Betty Henderson

Let us take care of your words.

FIVE YEARS AND COUNTING!

On July 18, 2003, T.S. Writing Services, LLC, was formally established in Minnesota. Back then, our client base was at approximately 50 clients. Five years later, we have served over 500 clients – with a majority of our clients being loyal clients who come back time after time. If we were to total all the projects we have worked on, the total would go up to over 2,000 projects – at minimum!

As a way of thanking our clients, TSW will give a 10% discount on all work performed between July 5, 2008 and July 20, 2008. To qualify for this discount, mention 5ANNIV at the time of project initiation.

Thank you for your support, and here’s to five more years!

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR MODIFIERS

You already know about adjectives and adverbs. You may not know they are also modifiers - words that limit or qualify other words. For example, if we say, "Bob drives a green car," green is the modifier that tells us we're discussing a green car, not a blue or red car.

The trouble is, sometimes modifiers get mangled and muddy your message. They can be misplaced, or they can be left dangling. Here's what to watch for:

Misplaced Modifiers
Sometimes it's not clear what word or words your modifier targets. For example, let's say someone visits Bob's house and says:

"There's a car in the driveway that is green."

Is our friend saying the car is green, or the driveway is green? We happen to know Bob's car is green, and driveways usually are not, so we understand the meaning. But it could be confusing to someone else. So let's rewrite for clarity:

"There's a green car in Bob's driveway."

No confusion now!

Dangling Modifiers
Dangling modifiers - usually found at the beginning of a sentence - confuse the reader because they're modifying the wrong part of the sentence. For example:

"Driving recklessly, Bob's Corvette crashed into a tree."

Who was driving recklessly? Bob? The Corvette? A thief?

Better: "Driving recklessly, Bob crashed his Corvette into a tree."

Now our modifier is no longer mangled, but unfortunately Bob's car is!

DID YOU KNOW? The Earliest Deaf Person in Recorded History

The first deaf person in recorded history dates back to 575-550 BC. The deaf man is unnamed, and may be also be the first example of audism. Legend has it that an oracle advised Croesus, the king of Lydia, that his son would only speak on an unhappy day. Later Croesus lost a fierce battle, but his life was saved when his deaf son spoke for the first time to demand his father's life be spared.

Source: Gallaudet University Library

ASL HOMONYMS

In many languages, there are words that have the same spelling and are spoken the same way, but have different meanings. These words, called homonyms, are often confusing to new students of the language.

There are homonyms in American Sign Language (ASL), too - signs that are the same, or very similar, but with different meanings. These signs typically use the same handshape and are expressed in ways that are subtly different to the fluent signer, but seem the same to the newcomer.

For example, consider the sign for "patience." It is expressed with an "A" handshape held sideways to the mouth. The handshape slides vertically down the chin. The sign for "suffer" seems similar to the new signer, but it also incorporates a slight wiggling motion.

Similarly, some signs can be identical in handshape and expression, but in one context it is expressed once, and in another it is repeated. An example of this is the sign for "jump" - the index and middle fingers flex on an open handshape, then curl and leap upwards. The sign for "hyper" is exactly the same, but uses repeated motions. Any parent with young children gets the difference immediately!

With these and other ASL homonyms, context is king. Learning the difference requires some practice and patience, but hopefully no suffering!

ASK TSW!
The Questions You've Always Been Too Embarrassed to Ask

A reader from the Chicago area asks,

I notice people list their educational degrees differently in biographies. What is the proper way to list your degrees in your biography? When do you capitalize majors or areas of study?

A common way to list degrees is to say, "Jane Doe has a B.A. in Public Policy from Acme College." This is incorrect; the proper way is to write, "Jane Doe has a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Acme College."

According to the Associated Press Stylebook, “If mention of degrees is necessary to establish someone's credentials, the preferred form is to avoid an abbreviated form and use instead a phrase such as: John Jones, who has a doctorate in psychology."

The stylebook adds, "Use an apostrophe in bachelor's degree, a master's, etc. Use such abbreviations as B.A., M.A., LL.D., and Ph.D. only when the need to identify many individuals by degree on first reference would make the preferred form cumbersome. Use these abbreviations only after a full name – never after just a last name..."

As for job titles and majors, only capitalize them when they are part of a formal title before one or more names, such as, “President Bush said today…” or “Jane is employed with the Gallaudet University Department of Mathematics.” Otherwise, it should be: “The president said today that…” or “Jane works for the mathematics department at Gallaudet University.”

The Associated Press Stylebook also notes that majors should be listed in “lowercase except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives: the department of history, the history department..." or when "department" is part of the official and formal name (i.e., University of Connecticut Department of Medicine).

Sidenote: some words are always capitalized, such as English or Spanish. “She majored in English” or “He is a Spanish major” are both proper ways of identifying majors.

Sources: Associated Press Stylebook and Chicago Manual of Style

Have a question about American Sign Language or English that you're too embarrassed to ask? Send your question to us at news@tswriting.com. We'll try to answer your question in an upcoming issue. All questions will be kept anonymous. 

SPOTLIGHT ON...BETTY HENDERSON

Each month, TSW profiles one of its clients. This month, we talk to Betty Henderson, a veteran deaf activist and a manager at the Philadelphia post office.

Talk with Betty Henderson, and it’s easy to see why she is a leader within the community. An articulate person, Henderson has been a long-time member and supporter of the National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA) and its Philadelphia and Houston chapters. “As a member of the Philadelphia Black Deaf Advocates, I have been active as an advocate, giving seminars and workshops throughout the community,” she says.

Henderson, who is deaf, finds the deaf community near and dear to her heart. “My parents and two sisters are deaf. Also, my father’s sister is deaf as well as my mother’s sister and brother. There are many deaf relatives on both of my father’s and mother’s sides,” she says, adding that she intends to research her family’s genealogy upon retirement.

“I attended both segregated & integrated deaf schools, including the Texas Blind, Deaf and Orphan school, where both my father and sisters attended,” she remembers. In 1965, when civil rights were ratified in Texas, she transferred to the Texas School for the Deaf. After graduation, Henderson became part of the National Theatre for the Deaf for a short time, then returned to Texas and completed junior college. “The United States Postal Services was my first job, and 35 years later, I’m still here,” she chuckles.

Henderson worked in Houston for 14 years before transferring to Philadelphia. In 1990, she was promoted to frontline supervisor, a managerial position she still holds. “I supervise 35 to 40 employees daily,” she states, “And I also schedule employee assignments and monitor machine operation for anywhere from 8 to 16 machines.” This translates to between 60,000 to 90,000 pieces of mail daily, with the number going up to 100,000 on Sundays.
Henderson also is the point of contact for deaf employees at her branch, ensuring that they have full communication access. “It’s not really any problem communicating with co-workers who are hearing,” she says. “When we need to communicate, there are many options: writing, gesturing, or having combined staff meetings with other supervisors who know sign language, use of video remote interpreting, or on-site interpreters.”

In addition to traveling, watching Deaf Missions videos, and reading Archie comic books, Henderson has a strong sense of duty to her community. She chaired the 2004 NBDA conference in Philadelphia, which brought over 400 people. She has served as a member of various advisory councils and boards, including the Pennsylvania Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Pennsylvania Society for the Advancement of the Deaf, and Silent Society Club for the Deaf, among others.

Henderson works with TSW on a variety of projects because, as she says, “It’s easier to communicate face-to-face with TSW, since their staff understands my language. Although I am fluent in written language, I sometimes have a hard time writing down descriptions. I’m thankful that TSW exists; the company helps me say what I want to say.”

ABOUT TSW

T.S. Writing Services, LLC, is a Deaf-owned company that provides writing, editing, design, and translation services for American Sign Language and English users. For more information, visit www.tswriting.com.

If you have suggestions or questions about this e-newsletter, e-mail the editor at news@tswriting.com.