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From:
Valerie Sutton Date: Wed Oct 7, 1998 6:07 am Subject: WEB ARTICLE: Interview Prince Aziz | ||||||||
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SW WEB ARTICLE BY EMAIL You can access this article on the SignWriting Web Site at: https://www.SignWriting.org/deaf005.html Denny Voreck interviews Prince Abdul Aziz Al-Obaid from Saudi Arabia DENNY Hello, I'm Denny Voreck, and this is my name sign, "Denny": (diagram). In today's interview, we will be discussing the topic "the Deaf Community and Deaf Linguistics". Now, our guest with us today is an individual by the name of Abdul Aziz Al-Obaid, and this is his name sign "Aziz": (diagram). And he's with us from Saudi Arabia. And this is the sign for Saudi Arabia: (diagram) because it represents the type of headdress that they wear. Our guest is sitting right here next to me. Ok, I'd like to start off by asking your thoughts on the American Deaf Community, Deaf Culture, and Deaf Linguistics. AZIZ I have done a lot - For 10 years I have not been working, but instead I've traveled around the world. From what I've seen - The Americans seem more fascinated and absorbed with the Deaf Community, and with anything having to pertain to the Deaf, especially with the hot issues and discussions dealing with the intricacies and complexities of the language of ASL. It's impressive to see how the interest in all of this has persisted even up till now, and including of late the issue of SignWriting, of which I've come across this past month. DENNY Well, welcome to America. Now, you mentioned SignWriting. So, I'm interested in what your thoughts and feelings are about this SignWriting Project? AZIZ Well, I think it's another sign or example of growth of the "Deaf Identity". Similar to what has occurred with other ethnic groups in America. DENNY Thank you. All right, I would now like to ask your opinion on how we can get SignWriting to be officially recognized by the governments and deaf educational institutions, and as a part of linguistics? Also, what about in your educational institutions in Saudi Arabia? AZIZ Well, I think it has to happen at the governmental level. What I mean, is that, if the people involved in politics and the rest of the American people accept and view the Deaf as being like any other "ethnic entity", then, and only then, will it be recognized and accepted by the governments. Now, with regards to the educational institutions - I think you have to begin the change with the politics in America. And then you'll be able to bring about an acceptance among the various systems of education in America. DENNY Ok, so when SignWriting is finally accepted and recognized by the government...do you envision SignWriting beginning to blossom and flourish and succeed to the extent, that perhaps by the year 2000, it will be used in the various institutions all-over and perhaps internationally? AZIZ Well, I think for any idea to take root, you have to start with the place or community from which it is stemming. Once you have it growing and blossoming there, then you can begin to have it spread and flourish throughout the rest of the nation. DENNY So when SignWriting does grow and proliferate through literature and as a writing system, what similarities would then take place, such as what happened with your language, the Arabic language? Would you please expound as to what has happened historically with Arabic. AZIZ Sure. Really what has happened historically with SignWriting is pretty comparable to what the Arabic language has experienced over the years to become a very strong and enduring language. You see, in the beginning, the Arabic language started off as a spoken language only, without having a written component to it. Quite similar to ASL today, where it is a manual-visual language without a written form. Once a written form was established, then Arabic was able to become a truly rich and fruitful language. The situation today is no less similar for the Deaf. Where our language is spoken or communicated only through signing, it doesn't have a written form as of yet. So in order for the language of the Deaf to truly become a rich and prosperous language it needs the written form. DENNY You make a good point there. I can't argue with that. So now I would like to ask you, how do you foresee SignWriting being transmitted? Through the vehicle of huge bound volumes, or through the use of computers, via print or electronically? Exactly what do you envision happening with SignWriting in the future? AZIZ Well, I envision that in the future it will reach its highest potential indeed. SignWriting will experience tremendous growth and popularity in its usage. Just like for the hearing peoples in England and in France, both populations have very strong and powerful organizations because in France, they have the spoken French, and they have the dictionaries for the written French, and the literature etc. And in England they have the same thing for the same reasons. So in my opinion I foresee that the same powerful growth will happen for the Deaf worldwide through the popularity and use of SignWriting. DENNY Thank you very much for your thoughts about this. For your information, there is already an organization established for SignWriting. It is the Deaf Action Committee, or the DAC for short, and it has been in existence since 1984. So we want to thank you for interviewing with us, and we really appreciate you being here today! ___________________________________ Valerie :-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit the SignWritingSite: https://www.SignWriting.org Valerie Sutton at The DAC Deaf Action Committee For SignWriting Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA (619)456-0098 voice (619)456-0010 tty (619)456-0020 fax ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | ||||||||
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