[lg policy] How Internet Slang Enters ASL Vernacular

[Harold Schiffman]

How Internet Slang Enters ASL Vernacular
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[image: 475001049]
<http://languagemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/475001049-e1425341151705.jpg>As
the Oxford dictionary updates its lexicon with Internet-y terms such as “
lolcat
<http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/lolcat>”
(a photograph of a cat accompanied by a humorous and typically misspelled
caption) and “hawt
<http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/hawt>”
(an informal spelling of hot), speakers of American Sign Language (ASL)
adapt to tech-lingo as well. Change in ASL happens the same way as any
other language, with new trends and ideas cropping up organically. The
words that stick will be added to the dictionaries. However, ASL doesn’t
have one official dictionary.

There is no official ASL website, so multiple grassroots sites provide an
open community for the ever-changing language. Bill Vicars, who compiles
*Lifeprint*, starts his research by, “do[ing] a literature review, [and]
compar[ing] numerous respected sign language dictionaries and textbooks to
see how the sign is demonstrated in those dictionaries.” Along with surveys
and online debate, Vicars attempts to identify the most used sign for a
specific term. Still, not everyone in the Deaf community uses *Lifeprint*,
and as new words are created, a great variety in their respective signs
emerges.

Douglas Ridloff, the current coordinator of *ASL Slam*, an online space for
Deaf performing artists to share poetry and storytelling in ASL, commented
on the different ways terms for new technology come about; “With words like
‘Glide’ [a live video messaging app] or ‘Instagram’, we’ve started to see
signs emerge. As a collective, we see various signs until one emerges as
the agreed upon sign by a collaboration of the community.” For *Glide*, the
CEO got involved, as it was key that he collaborated in deciding on a
definitive sign. However, for *Instagram*, no representative has been
involved in the sign decision process, and no official consensus has been
reached in the ASL community.

Words such as “selfie”, “emoji”, and “duckface” are being used in ASL, but
with a wide variety of signs. To see these new signs and how they differ, click
here
<http://www.hopesandfears.com/hopes/now/internet/168477-internet-american-sign-language>
.

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