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From:
William McGruder Date: Sun May 27, 2001 3:11 pm Subject: Re: QUESTION: Why write Sign Language? | ||||||||||||
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Sutton@SIGNWRITING.ORG writes: >I don't understand? Could you explain why sign writing was created? I I would like to supplement Valerie's answer with my own observations. To address >I understand how sign [writing] benefits those who cannot hear< The reasons for this are exactly as Valerie explained. SignWriting is a method of providing a written form of communication for the very language that the Deaf use and not a sequence of translations. This part >what is the purpose of translating the relatively universal standard of using written letters, words, and sentences to communicate an idea or thought, into a completely new format / language.< to me is the key for why SignWriting came into existence. First, the so-called universal standard of using written letters does not use the same written letters. There are various alphabets with no relationship to each other; some alphabets are in reality syllabaries; some languages use ideograms; and others use letters which don't represent the sounds of the language at all well. Second, it is possible to use a translation of what the Sign Language sentence is; however, as in all translations, this is nowhere near perfect. One will always lose something in the translation. On the other hand, if one grows up using SignWriting to record on paper his or her native Sign Language, then he or she will have a record which can be read with no loss of understanding. Third, SignWriting makes it possible to compare different Sign Languages. Consider for a moment your assertion about "universal standard of using written letters." If one were to record a sentence originally formed in American Sign Language, one would then, presumably, record that in written English. The next step, if you were to have this read by someone in, say, Oman, would be to translate the English sentence into Arabic. Then finally, the Omani Signer would have to read that Arabic sentence and consider what he or she believed the translation - provided on the spot - would be in Arabic (or Omani) Sign Language. Thus you have three translations, all involving some loss of meaning due to the nature of translation. Using SignWriting, which records the actual movements made by the original Signer, the individual at the Omani end of the above sequence would know what movements the original Signer had made. This leads to my fourth point. One could very well have a parallel dictionary showing, say, American Sign Language on one side and the accepted translations into Arabic Sign Language on the other. Thus, a competent translator would only have to parse one, not three, translations to convey the message. Fifth, this sequence can also assist the Deaf in learning the local written language. Since the local written languages are those used to record the spoken language, this does not convey accurately the knowledge needed at the outset of learning to write. There is just no comparison between thbe written word and the language known by the Deaf equivalent to the comparison of the written word to the language known by the hearing individual. It's just not possible to "sound out" the word in English if one is not able to hear English. Sixth, for those of us who do hear (I'm not Deaf), I supplement my notecards for when I have to give training, with SignWriting showing what I should do with my hands to make a consistent point. This way I don't have to use two cards for the same instant in the speech. Lastly, I want to reiterate Valerie's point about respect for a language. Sequoyah of the Cherokee Tribe in the United States recognized that, in the modern world (over a 100 years ago), a language had to have a written form. He considere that the Europeans' power was manifest in their writing. Sequoyah then invented one for his people. Since he didn't know how to read or write English, his syllabary uses some of the Roman letters but for different sounds, and some symbols he just made up. The Sequoyah Syllabary was accepted by the Cherokee and is still in use today to record that language. Many hearing people have said that a language with no written form isn't a language. Of course that's patently false, but it does point to the perception held by many that Sign Language isn't really a language. Having its own written form, Sign Languages around the world can come out of the dark, so to speak, and be studied in the same manner that other languages are. In my opinion, the written form of SignWriting itself may even entice some people into learning the local Sign Language and thus enhance acceptance of both the Sign Language and those who use it. William J. "Chip" McGruder Marina, California, USA | ||||||||||||
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