ASL needs some legitimacy.
I read an article by SIGNews about signwriting, a "codified" system of writing American Sign Language. That prompted me to write this- I cannot keep silent about this any longer. It is of my opinion that the hearing majority of this world do not view advanced sign languages like ASL and BSL as authentic because they do not have a written form. They probably view it as rather primitive, like the languages of primitive tribes still living in the Amazon. ASL and their languages both do not have authentic written forms.
Signwriting is definitely not a written language! You have to decipher each code. It tries too hard to "visualize" ASL on the paper. It is just akin to what SEE tries to do to the English language, it completely corrupts it. Encoding ASL into indecipherable symbols only make it more complicated, making hearing people think that our language is a combination of mad gestures and the Navy's semaphore flagging system. A true written system flows through the eye like fluid, and it should be as easy to write what your thoughts are, in the same language.
I have thought about this often, the fact that ASL does not have a written form. I have always looked at the beautiful curves of Arabic script as something I should look at more closely to represent the dynamic movements and symbolism of our very visual language. You might by now look at me like I am crazy.
Still reading? Great. Arabic is not the only language that I am fascinated with and want to learn. I am also very fascinated with Chinese, Hebrew, and Hieratic, which is the cursive form of hieroglyphics. I have even started learning these languages, because these are very dynamic languages that use a lot of "imagery", as far as Chinese and hieroglyphics are concerned.
Instead of confusing codified symbols representing handshapes, and another squiggly lines to represent movements, it will be possible to develop a written form of ASL using a set of alphabetic symbols to represent our handshapes, markings (such as these used by Hebrew, Arabic, French, Czech, as an example) to represent certain facial expressions. Studying Chinese will help develop the logical structure of ASL writing. For example the character of "person" juxtaposed with "tree" represents "strength." Makes sense, doesn't it, when these characters actually look like a person and tree!
This is no task for one man to do alone. It would require superhuman (or supergenius) power to do so, so I hope that there are enough people that share my sentiments. Only a massive colloborative effort will this be made possible. After all, languages are not created, they evolve. So, the "seeds" have to be planted for this.
Signwriting is definitely not a written language! You have to decipher each code. It tries too hard to "visualize" ASL on the paper. It is just akin to what SEE tries to do to the English language, it completely corrupts it. Encoding ASL into indecipherable symbols only make it more complicated, making hearing people think that our language is a combination of mad gestures and the Navy's semaphore flagging system. A true written system flows through the eye like fluid, and it should be as easy to write what your thoughts are, in the same language.
I have thought about this often, the fact that ASL does not have a written form. I have always looked at the beautiful curves of Arabic script as something I should look at more closely to represent the dynamic movements and symbolism of our very visual language. You might by now look at me like I am crazy.
Still reading? Great. Arabic is not the only language that I am fascinated with and want to learn. I am also very fascinated with Chinese, Hebrew, and Hieratic, which is the cursive form of hieroglyphics. I have even started learning these languages, because these are very dynamic languages that use a lot of "imagery", as far as Chinese and hieroglyphics are concerned.
Instead of confusing codified symbols representing handshapes, and another squiggly lines to represent movements, it will be possible to develop a written form of ASL using a set of alphabetic symbols to represent our handshapes, markings (such as these used by Hebrew, Arabic, French, Czech, as an example) to represent certain facial expressions. Studying Chinese will help develop the logical structure of ASL writing. For example the character of "person" juxtaposed with "tree" represents "strength." Makes sense, doesn't it, when these characters actually look like a person and tree!
This is no task for one man to do alone. It would require superhuman (or supergenius) power to do so, so I hope that there are enough people that share my sentiments. Only a massive colloborative effort will this be made possible. After all, languages are not created, they evolve. So, the "seeds" have to be planted for this.
2 Comments:
Believe it or not, signwriting is being taught to Deaf children somewhere in Latin America, along with their respective language. (I'll try to find out the specific country(ies).)
Well, spoken english and written english are practically two different languages.. if you were to read a paper written in phoemics (the actual sounds of language), you wouldn't understand a word. All written words are essentially coding systems. But I'm curious, what is the difference between signwriting and chinese? Both require elaborate drawings and so forth. Does signwriting exhibit no combinations like the combo you described in chinese, "strength?" What characteristics of signwriting, other than its look, do you not like?
Elisa
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