LL-L "Deaf culture" 2002.12.08 (05) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 08.DEC.2002 (05) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Web Site: <http://www.lowlands-l.net>  Email: <admin at lowlands-l.net>
 Rules & Guidelines: <http://www.lowlands-l.net/rules.htm>
 Posting Address: <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>
 Server Manual: <http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html>
 Archive: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html>
=======================================================================
 You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
 To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
 text from the same account to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or
 sign off at <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
=======================================================================
 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic
               V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
=======================================================================

From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Deaf culture"

I thought I'd bring a reminder of another stratum of language
culture in the Lowlands that's rarely mentioned on Lowlands-L
but does elicit some discussion when it is - that is to say,
Deaf Culture and Sign Languages.

Gestures
========

An aspect of oral languages (I use "oral" rather than "spoken"
in this context because sign languages are also spoken of as
being "spoken") is that as well as the mouth being used to
produce sound, the hands are used to a much lesser extent to
produce gestures. Students of oral languages often fail to
notice these gestures, resulting in an impairment of
communication.

Similarly, a feature of sign languages often missed by students
are "multi-channel signs" - signs in which the mouth is used as
well as the hands.

Sometimes a multi-channel sign involves using the whole face to
add expression to the sign the hands are making. In BSL (British
Sign Language) for example, if you make the thumbs-up sign with
both hands then bring them down to horizontal, this means "finished
at last!" In this case, the facial expression can be used to show
the amount of relief, exasperation or triumph associated with
having accomplished the object. However, a similar sign can
be made, moving the thumbs from the mouth slightly towards a person
(whether present or implied) - in this case the teeth bite the
lower lip as if saying "fffffff!", which makes it clear that you
mean "she's the apple of my eye".

Dialects
========

I learned to sign in South Wales, and have picked up most of
my BSL from people in Bridgend and Newport. Since I moved
100 miles to Somerset, I've had to attend classes at the
local college to learn the South-West England dialect of BSL.

International Communication
===========================

I was signing with a group of Deaf people, some of whom were
English, some French, and some Portuguese (and of course, one
Scottish!). All the British people were agreed that, when signing
naturally, the French were almost impossible to understand, and
that the Portuguese were actually impossible to understand.
Suddenly, we were taken aback to see a Portuguese man making a
sign involving shaking his index and middle fingers, held
downwards, at the top of his ear. Using a more international
(graphic) form of sign language, we asked asked him if that
meant "cherry". He said that it did, and we told him that in
BSL we use the same sign, but make it at the side of the jaw.
Then the French person told us that she used the same sign, but
at the bottom of the ear.

On a course in (oral) French for the Deaf in Liège, Mary was
the only Hearing person amongst us. In the small hours of one
morning there was an earthquake in Maastricht, and only Mary
woke up. Next morning I was walking to classes with a Savoyarde,
who signed to me, "Damn! I wish I had been woken by the
earthquake. If I hadn't been deaf it would have woken me up and
I'd have heard it." I understood her perfectly even although we
didn't have any signed language in common. Later, I was speaking
to one of the locals, a man of about 70 who was also deaf, and I
and I asked him if the earthquake had woken him. He said, "No,
but it woke my wife, she felt the vibrations." Again, we had
no language in common - or presumably he spoke French but we
didn't use it. This is possible partly because there was a
context, and partly because they were able to select the most
graphic signs possible. Another striking use of graphic signing
occured when a deaf Swedish woman on British television was
describing her experiences with books. After some time depending
on subtitles I suddenly saw her, probably aware of her British
audience, signing very graphically, "I love books because I can
plunge into them and swim away into their depths".

This isn't _always_ easy, and can depend very much on experience.
Still in Liège, I was talking to a Flemish woman and asked her
where she had been on holiday. She signed by touching the tips of
her forefingers together and bringing them downwards and apart. I
didn't understand and turned to an English woman who was more used
to international communication, to ask her what the Flemish woman
meant. She signed "Oh, it's obvious, try again." The Flemish woman
made the sign again and again, but I still couldn't get it. Finally
the English woman made the sign of a snake on her head - BSL for
"Egypt" - and I said, "Oh, it's obvious!"

Speaking Loudly (and Softly)
============================

When I arrived in Liège for that course, some of the "old
hands" at the café where we met were telling me that the year
before there had been a power cut and the waiters had brought
candles so that people could see. However, the light was soft,
so the signs soon got to be very large, so that they could see
clearly what was being said.

I was speaking to a deaf woman about a common acquaintance
recently, and suddenly she lowered her hands and started
signing with small movements so that only I could see them,
to say, "Peter's slow, isn't he?" (name changed to protect
the innocent!).

Attracting Attention
====================

In a crowded room, you can always attract a hearing person's
attention by shouting and waving (though at some risk of
causing annoyance at politer gatherings). An inexperienced
hearing person at a predominantly Deaf gathering is often
completely stumped by the problem of how to attract a deaf
person's attention in the same situation, often waving and
shouting like a mad thing until some nearby signer takes
pity on them and shows them how it's done - he waves to catch
the eye of anyone standing near the person to be contacted,
then signs to ask them to tap the person on the shoulder.
Other methods of catching attention, appropriate in different
situations, are banging on the table so that another person
at the table feels the vibrations, stamping on the floor,
similarly, and flicking the light switch off and on (none
of these are advisable until you've seen the protocol in
action for yourself).

Walking
=======

When two signers walk down the street, they have to look at
each other continually to follow the conversation. This
results in a situation where neither person can see what's
in front of him, but they can see what's in front of each
other. So each person continually reaches out to the other
to prevent them from bumping into people, traffic signs and
wall corners.

Swimming
========

Some deaf people will don goggles at the swimming pool and
have a conversation underwater, just because they can!

Eating Out
==========

A hearing person might say on entering a restaurant, "Table
for six, please." A deaf person (after making sure the
restaurant has good lighting) might say, "Round table for
six, please."

Making Love
===========

In work some time ago the (Hearing) chaps were discussing
their favourite subject, and whether it was "kinky" to leave
the light on. I said, "I always have the light on, always."
After some seconds of puzzled silence, they started cheering.

Urban Legends and Tall Stories (1)
==================================

A Deaf honeymoon couple arrive at their hotel very late.
It's one of those small hotels where if you go down in the
middle of the night there's no-one at reception to help you.
The bride insists on champagne, but by the time the groom
gets downstairs, the receptionist has gone to bed, so he
goes out and finds an off-licence. On returning, the whole
hotel is in darkness, and he realises that he can't remember
the room number. So he gets into his car and blares on the
horn until all the windows in the hotel light up - except one!

Urban Legends and Tall Stories (2)
==================================

The sign for the English word "but" in some sign languages
is to raise an index finger from horizontal pointing leftwards,
to vertical. In BSL at least, this is the sign for the English
word "but", it's not often used in BSL itself.

One day a deaf man is driving and is stopped at a railway
crossing. He waits, but no train comes. Finally he goes to
the signal box and sees a guard asleep. He goes in and wakes
the man, then finds a piece of paper and pencil and writes,
"PLEASE BUT".

Urban Legends and Tall Stories (3)
==================================

A lumberjack was happily working his way through a forest
with an axe. Each tree he came to he would chop at it for
some time with his axe, then yell, "Timber!" and the tree
would fall. Eventually he came to a tree which he chopped
at for some time, then yelled "Timber!" but it didn't fall.
So he chopped some more and yelled "Timber!" again, but
still it didn't fall. So he chopped more, and yelled more,
and chopped more, and yelled more, but still it didn't fall.
So he sent for a tree surgeon. The tree surgeon examined the
tree and concluded that it was deaf. So the lumberjack went
back to his cabin and spent five minutes learning the manual
alphabet. Then he went back to the tree and fingerspelled
"t-i-m-b-e-r", and the tree fell over.

In Space, No-one can know you're Deaf (Take 1)
==============================================

Probably the only complaint you'll hear from Deaf people
about being deaf is that it's invisible. Here's how a
well-known pocket-book on Deaf Culture describes the
experience of a deaf person at an airport:

"At the airport, everyone is waiting for the boarding call.
Finally, they announce that people in rows 25 to 36 can
board the plane. Your seat is row 7. The man at the boarding
gate wonders what kind of trick you are trying to pull when
you attempt to go with the first group."

Of course, you might see what the problem here is, so here's
what happens when I'm taking a flight:

In Space, No-one can know you're Deaf (Take 2)
==============================================

At the check-in, I tell the person there I'm deaf. He calls
a stewardess who asks me what I need. I tell her I just need
to be collected at the boarding gate. So about an hour later
everyone's waiting for the boarding call. When the doors open,
a stewardess comes and says, "Mr Fleming, we're boarding now,"
and escorts me to the plane. Once I'm seated, everyone else
may board!

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

==================================END===================================
* Please submit postings to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or at
  <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
=======================================================================