Re:The Covid Zoom Boom Is Reshaping Sign Language
by mabbo on Friday February 26, 2021 @01:21PM
(#26277958)
To add to what bluGill commented, there is "Signed English" which is word for word translation, there is ASL (or other signed languages), and there is a spectrum in between!
And there can be disagreements in the Deaf community about, for lack of a better word, 'purity' of the language. Is it 'okay' to just sign English words with English grammar? Is there an ethical or moral imperative to maintain ASL as a language and not just a translation of another language? And then you have one person telling another person that there's something wrong with how they communicate their native language! Language overlapping with culture overlapping with disability (or different-ability?) overlapping with people being people.
And there can be disagreements in the Deaf community about, for lack of a better word, 'purity' of the language. Is it 'okay' to just sign English words with English grammar? Is there an ethical or moral imperative to maintain ASL as a language and not just a translation of another language? And then you have one person telling another person that there's something wrong with how they communicate their native language! Language overlapping with culture overlapping with disability (or different-ability?) overlapping with people being people.
There's no easy answers. But it's fascinating.