A classifier in ASL is like the -li in spoken language: it is a smaller component that adds meaning. In ASL, I "classify" the vehicle by using a specific handshape. I then manipulate the handshape in a variety of ways (movement, palm orientation) and manipulate my body and face to provide meaning.

I suppose you could say I used the sign for CAR because I used the classifier for a car, but linguists would argue that one should keep the two groups separate. Widely swinging the CAR classifier shows the winding road. A Widened eyes, an O-shaped mouth, and the jerking of the CAR convey speed. The body also swings with the CAR, and when it rolls off a cliff, the CAR rolls and the body shadows its movement. I threw in the NE 12% as extraneous info.

The classifier doesn't mean much of anything unless it is manipulated or used somehow. If I purely showed you the classifier CAR, there wouldn't be any meaning assigned to it. Even if I wanted to communicate that the car existed and nothing else (Latin erat), I would need to add a certain type of movement to convey that "being."

Brandon