4.3 BSL word order

Looking at how BSL differs from English, lets take the same sentence used earlier and see how it is created in BSL.

When forming sentences in BSL, it would be best to think of it as painting a picture on an empty canvas. So if you were to take the same sentence, what would you paint on your canvas first?

This image is of a picture on a whiteboard. There is a brick footbridge. Next to it, on the right of the bridge, is a cartoon penguin. From this images there is an arrow down to anther image. This image is of a penguin ontop of a bridge. Arrows behind the penguin indicate that the penguin in walking across the bridge.
Figure 11 BSL word order
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This image is of a picture on a whiteboard. There is a brick footbridge. Next to it, on the right of the bridge, is a cartoon penguin. From this images there is an arrow down to anther image. This image is of a penguin ontop of a bridge. Arrows behind the penguin indicate that the penguin in walking across the bridge.

Figure 11 BSL word order

A key difference is that the word order in BSL is Object, Subject and Verb. - O,S,V. You sign this by placing the bridge first, then the penguin (point) at the subject and then sign the subject walking over the bridge.

When signing, you can see how English differs greatly. Signing is a more visual and sometimes a more blunt way of expression. It differs greatly from English in so many linguistics aspects.

4.2 English word order

4.4 What’s the word order difference?