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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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OP
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
While I am by no means fluent in ASL I can cummunicate somewhat. I use and abuse it much the same way I do in French and Spanish, that is I use a mixture of words (signs recognised by native signers as actually in the language), symbols (pointing etc) spelling out (equivalent to looking it up in the phrasebook)and mime.
It is a language filled with nuance. The size of the hand movements, the distance of the hands from the body, the facial expression and the body posture are all involved.
I have had a shouting argument in ASL. I have also seen puns and "poetry". I use the quotation marks not to belittle the art of the piece but because the word is not an accurate descriptor but as close as I can come in English.
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 89
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 89 |
Now you've done it, Zed. You have tweaked the curiosity of all of us who have an interest in the future of our kind. Now tell us...what are the signing nuances of the poetry of the American Sign Language? Is it like ballet? Opera? Take your time...we'll listen.
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230 |
>While I am by no means fluent in ASL I can cummunicate somewhat.
Does Canada not have its own SL? I have noticed on this board that most USns use "ASL" where I would say "sign language", since most countries have their own, and they are often quite different. I know that Auslan and NZSL are quite distinct from each other and from ASL. Given that, I assumed Canada would have its own, as bad an assumption as that apparently made by the USns here who assume (or at least phrase their posts as if they do) that there is only one.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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OP
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
I can't remember much as I haven't studied it since high school but I do remember that the poetry was beautiful to watch. (You may need to find a website with the alphabet shown but I'll do my best)
A dream fading away was done by spelling the word while moving the hand away and letting the letters get looser and less formed.
And one pun: When the movie "Jaws" came out there was no adequate sign as the sign for jaw is just to point at your own. One, possibly local, solution was to spell out the word with both hands while holding the heels of the hands together.
"a" is a fist with the thumb beside the index. "w" is the first 3 fingers straight up while the thum holds down the pinkie. the threee fingers then snap shut like sharks jaws into "s" which is a full fist.
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 89
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 89 |
Well done, Zed. Your two examples illustrated well the subtleties of direction that sign language has taken quite well. Thank you.
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475 |
Thanks for the examples of nuance in ASL, Zed.
Another interesting phenomenon in the language is how names are handled. Unfamiliar names can be finger-spelled as necessary, but folks also have name-signs. For example, one friend who signed, whose name was Hughie, his name sign was the finger-alphabet 'H' tapped on the signer's upper left arm. My name was a 'J' made on the right side of the signer's face near the check-jawline (because I have a beard). Names and nicknames can all be quite inventive.
I'm not sure about the existence of a Canadian sign language, but I know there are British and Australian sign languages. The US shows quite a lot of dialect variation in ASL.
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