I am a full time sign language user and a linguist. I’d like to clear up some misconceptions… take this kindly—I am coming from the perspective of someone who uses and studies sign language during every waking moment. @gailcalled has shared a lot of good information—but to add to that:
There are over 150 known different sign languages around the world- some sources put it at over 225. A French signer does not sign the same as a British or Japanese signer—they have their own languages. Even American and British sign language are very different, regardless of the spoken English that’s shared by the two countries.
Many, if not most, of the sign languages do not follow the structure of their spoken counterpart. American Sign Language does not follow the structure of English—it is a separate language with a different grammar structure. That’s also true for French, German, Japanese, Nicaraguan, Nepalese, and many other Sign Languages- they don’t match the spoken language used in these countries. All these sign languages have been researched and shown to exist as true languages, following all the linguistic principles that spoken languages follow.
The reason the spoken and signed counterparts are not the same is because of the difference in mode—the speaking and signed parts of a language changes how it’s expressed and perceived, which inherently changes how it is produced and structured.
Morse Code is not a language. It is a code, no different than maritime warning flags. It is limited in range, usage, users and does not meet the criteria of what constitutes a true language. It can not be used in an unlimited number of domains, which is one criteria a language must meet.
As for accents—yes, American Sign Language definitely has accents and regional variations. The differences are very slight and often imperceptible to non-fluent users. People who are not fluent sign language users often do not know 80% of what is going on in sign language because they do not know these visual markers exist, so don’t know to look for them. For example—a slight eyebrow raise has linguistic meaning. So does a slight chin-down movement or a shift in shoulder placement—ALL carry meaning. If you don’t know those carry meaning, then they are not noticed.
A sound equivalent would be an American not understanding that the pitch and tone variations in spoken Chinese carry meaning—if they don’t know that the pitch changes the meaning, they don’t notice it or pay attention to it.
It is not true that languages can be learnt in 3 days—not the full, fluent usage of the language, no, but maybe only words and parts, yes. I chatted with German people for 3 days and was able to pick up a lot of signs/words, but that does not, in any way, make me fluent in German Sign Language.
The best thing about sign languages around the world is that Deaf people are accustomed to using their hands/bodies to communicate, and become much, much more able to use gestures to communicate cross-cultures and cross-languages. Gestures are not languages, just a way of using the environment and shared understandings to help communicate.
I can travel to other countries and gesture with Deaf people there. We don’t have to share the same language—we are able to bypass that and still find ways to communicate. It’s amazing and fascinating to watch how communication happens without shared language—and that makes the Deaf community a very international community. People assume Deaf people are isolated—the irony is they can be isolated locally, because of who’s around them, but are much more able to communicate globally.
If you want to see some differences:
British Sign Language
American Sign Language: Oratorical style (This is part of a TEDx series. You can see more TEDx ASL videos on this page as well)
Comparing American and Swedish sign language alphabets
Russian sign language (I don’t understand one word on this video…)
Video by ASL Activist (Yes, ASL activists exist—many of them)
Black ASL (discusses dialect used by Deaf African Americans)
Composing members:
0
Composing members:
0
