| SignWriting List Archive 1 October 1997 - May 1998 |
April 6, 1998
MESSAGE TO THE SIGNWRITING EMAIL LIST
SUBJECT: Update From Spain...
Dear List Members -
I think you will find the information below interesting. Use of SignWriting is growing in Spain thanks to the very hard work of some fine linguists, as you can see below...
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 11:55:50 -0400
From: Steve/Dianne Parkhurst <100525.651@compuserve.com>
Subject: Updated info about LSE project
To: Valerie Sutton <DAC@SignWriting.org>
Hi, Valerie!
Here's that long-awaited update for the web page for Spain.
Dianne and Steve
_________________________________________
Spanish Sign Language Project Update 1998
Steve and Dianne Parkhurst
In January of 1995, Steve and Dianne arrived in Spain to begin
a survey of the sign language situation. The Parkhursts work
with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and a local Spanish
organization, the Promotora Española de Lingüística
(PROEL).
Their first task was to determine how many sign languages exist
in Spain and if there are major dialectical differences throughout
the country. To do this they first spent nine months learning
some of the sign language as it is used in Madrid. Next, they
traveled throughout the country gathering word lists and video
recordings of the sign language. They compared word lists from
18 different cities to get an idea of the wide dialectical differences
in the sign lexicons. They also used video recordings of the
sign language in six cities to test how well people from each
of these cities understand the signing from the other cities.
As a result of this testing, they concluded that there is a distinct
dialect of sign language in nearly every major city that has
an active Deaf community. They found that the varieties of sign
language used in the cities within a region are more similar
to each other than they are to the varieties used in cities from
other regions of the country. They also found that the sign language
used in the region of Cataluña is quite different from
the other varieties and may even be considered a separate language.
In addition to the survey work, they have been involved in other
linguistic activities. In June of 1997, they helped a Deaf federation
organize the "First National Conference of Sign Language
Linguistics," where they joined other linguists encouraging
Deaf people to be involved in the study of their own language.
They have also participated in several other conferences in Spain
and England.
Their current project is to introduce and promote a system for
reading and writing sign language called SignWriting. This system,
invented and developed by Valerie Sutton and the Deaf Action
Committee, is used to a limited degree in more than a dozen countries.
Steve and Dianne have been working with Irma Maria Muñoz
Baell to translate materials into Spanish and adapt the system
to the sign languages of Spain. They hope to help teach a literacy
course using this system in the fall of 1998.
Steve & Dianne Parkhurst
100525.651@compuserve.com
For more information about SignWriting in Spain, go to:
SignWriting in Spain