Hayne & Taylor re Yukon CJ

[David Lewis]

here is some information about ASL for the listviewers.

>Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 10:58:14 -0800 (PST)
>From: "Donna M. Ralstin" <dralstin at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>
>Subject: Re: Hayne & Taylor re Yukon CJ
>To: David Lewis <coyotez at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>
>Reply-to: "Donna M. Ralstin" <dralstin at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>
>
>well, i wll try to type this message on the yucky keyboard, bt here goes.
>
>ASL was not "invented" until mid-1700 (i have the date at home) also ASL
>was formed as a compilation of french signlanguge and "home signs" that
>existed in north amer prior to the arrival of the french guys who started
>ASL. "home signs" are signs that deaf people and their family often use to
>communicate, they are "invented" signs. sometimes when deaf people would
>meet oneanother they would "trade" home signs, and often these became
>widely known. This is why they were included in ASL. Many of the signs (or
>variations thereof) that were used by indigenous people were more than
>likely included in the creation of ASL. There is a book out called Indian
>signed language, but I dont know how accurate it is. there is a project at
>WOU (a big ASL college) that is centered around natives and signed
>languages. My ASL teacher was telling me about it. ASL, like any other
>language evolves with time, it is also different in different regions of
>the US> Chances are that many of the signs that were used by the native
>people in the plains and the NW and where ever else can seen in some way
>in the current usage of signs in ASL, especially in those regions.
>
> Donna M. Ralstin
>
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>"[Native women] let us begin by talking to each other about ourselves. Let
>us cleanse the dirty shack that racism left us. Let us deal with our
>men-folk and the refuse of patriarchy they borrowed from white men...The
>road to freedom is paved with the intimate knowledge of the oppressed."
>Lee Maracle. _I Am Woman_ (1996)
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
>On Sun, 31 Jan 1999, David Lewis wrote:
>
>> check out this discussion
>> >Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 21:31:07 -0800
>> >From: Liland Brajant ROS' <lilandbr at SCN.ORG>
>> >Subject: Re: Hayne & Taylor re Yukon CJ
>> >Sender: The Chinook List <CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
>> >To: CHINOOK at LINGUIST.LDC.UPENN.EDU
>> >Reply-to: lilandbr at scn.org
>> >Delivered-to: chinook at linguist.ldc.upenn.edu
>> >Comments: To: ironmtn at bigfoot.com
>> >
>> >David Robertson skribis kaj Mike Cleven prikomentis:
>> >>
>> >>>*page 87:  'The Indians talk a mixture of English and Hudson Bay
>> >>>[presumably Chinook Wawa] trading jargon -- a word here and a word
there,
>> >>>and the rest by signs.'
>> >>
>> >>Ameslan is everywhere......
>> >
>> >As long as we're being picky about whether HBTJ and CJ were the same, I
>> >might as well point out that the "signs" referred to here were almost
>> >certainly *not* Ameslan.  Ameslan (or ASL -- both are abbreviations for
>> >"American Sign Language") and the aboriginal sign language of the Great
>> >Plains of North America are two completely independent languages, and in
>> >fact two completely different *kinds* of languages.  The Plains sign
>> >language was an IAL, or pidgin, or both, intended to facilitate
>> >communication among speakers of different languages. Ameslan is a
>> >full-fledged language
>> >
>> >     (note: in the sense that a creole may be said to be more fully
>> >      fledged than its ancestral pidgins -- I'm not trying to put
>> >      down the expressiveness or "full languagehood" of CJ, Esperanto, or
>> >      any other IAL or pidgin)
>> >
>> >used primarily by people for whom it is the (or at least a) native
>> >language, and in communication with others of like fluency.  ASL is said
>> >to be the third-most-used language in the United States.  Note also that
>> >it is almost completely unrelated to Signed English, especially in terms
>> >of syntax; and that in some respects ASL is more closely related to
>> >French than to English.  Does anybody know anything about indigenous deaf
>> >signing among NW Coast & Interior Native peoples before the introduction
>> >of ASL?
>> >
>> >Leland
>> >
>> >--
>> >Liland Brajant Ros' * UEA-D, Seatlo Usono * FD Baptismo, AA, US-lit-ro
>> >      204 N 39th St / Seattle WA 98103 Usono | tel 206-633-2434
>> >    lilandbr at scn.org / lilandbr at hotmail.com / lbrnpusa at hotmail.com
>> >        webpage "La Lilandejo" - http://www.scn.org/~lilandbr/
>> >
>>
>>
>
>
>