Sign language, deafness, true language, prehistoric sign, Mayan sign, Abbe de l'Epee, American Sign Language
Anybody that has traveled to a foreign country can appreciate the feelings of helplessness when no one speaks your language. We all take for granted the fact that when we want or need something, we can make strange sounds with our mouth to make it happen. However, not even the hardiest of world travelers can understand the feelings of helplessness that arise from not being able to understand any language at all, feelings that are the everyday norm of millions of deaf people. How can one exist in a world where communication is entirely auditory when one cannot hear a sound?
[...] Sign language is a true language in every sense of the word, possessing grammar, syntax, and even poetry. According to sociological studies, forms of sign language have existed for as long as there were deaf people, dating back thousands of years: “sign languages have probably sprung up independently in many different places. Signing probably began with simple gestures, but then evolved into a true language with structured grammar” (Wolkomir, 313). A recently discovered Mayan village had preserved a form of Mayan sign language for thousands of years, passing down the gestures and grammar from generation to generation. [...]
[...] Thus, ASL speakers can craft a number of sentences using the same signs, much in the same way that English speakers can craft different sentences using the same words (Stewart, 239). American Sign Language speakers can also use their language to create poetry and wordplay, something which has traditionally been restricted to spoken languages (Brueggemann, 411). Poetry performed in ASL shares all of the elements of poetry performed in a spoken language, including rhyming, rhythm, and meter: “maintenance or repetition of hand shape provides rhyming, while meter occurs in the timing and type of movement” (Wolkomir, 318). [...]
[...] Also, signs formerly made at the center of the face migrate toward its perimeter. (316) Like the English language, ASL is constantly changing to reflect the culture and norms of it's “speakers.” Such dynamism cannot be a function of a crude series of gestures but is rather the hallmark of a rich and vibrant language. In addition, ASL also employs a grammatical rules, including punctuation and sentences structure. Punctuation and other grammatical markers are employed using facial expressions in conjunction with hand signs. [...]
[...] According to the researchers, “deaf toddlers in the “don't-understand- pronouns” stage do not see a pointing finger. They see a confusing, abstract word” (318). Perceptions of sign language and the deaf in general have grown much since the work of the Abbe de l'Epee in the 1700's. What was once identified as crude gestures has become embraced as a genuine language capable of grammar, poetry, and puns (Brueggemann, 412). Similarly, studies of brain activity have concluded that practitioners of sign language utilize the same part of the brain as those that use spoken language. [...]
[...] 235- 252. Wolkomir, Richard. "American Sign Language: "It's not mouth stuff - It's brain stuff"." Linguistics At Work. Ed. Dallin D. Oaks. Orlando: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998. [...]
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