LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.09.15 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 15.SEP.2003 (06) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Language varieties"

I don't know how off-topic list members think my recent postings on sign
languages are, but it could perhaps be likened to our occasional discussions
on religious/folk/social beliefs amongst Lowlanders: even if the linguistics
isn't quite what's being discussed on the group, it still examines what it
can mean to be a Lowlander in certain minority groups.

Anyway, I thought I'd go into some of the social interactions between
signers. This will be mainly with respect to BSL (British Sign Language)
since it's the only sign language I know very much of.

Social Elitism
==============

In BSL there isn't much in the way of professional elitism, since deaf
people don't normally become lawyers, doctors &c (there are always
exceptions, but not enough to amke up a social stratum with its own form of
language). In the USA there's the distinction between alumni of Gallaudet
University, where ASL is an official language, and everybody else. However,
no British Deaf schools have BSL as an official language - most deaf
children of hearing parents depend on meeting deaf children of deaf parents
for learning proper BSL. This does reveal the main source of linguistic
elitism in BSL, however: 90% of deaf children have hearing parents and don't
normally start learning BSL until they attend school, while only 10% of deaf
children have deaf parents and learn BSL from the cradle. This 10% forms an
elite amongst British signers, their signing being noticeably less
influenced by English and therefore having, for example, more
"multi-channel" lip patterrns and suchlike. (Multi-channel: this means a
sign which is produced with native elements (ie not borrowed from an oral
language) occurring on the lips as well as on the hands - for example the
sign for "there's none left" looks as if the signer is also saying "pooh!",
"brilliant" goes with "vee!", "it's not there" with "thoo!" etc).

Gender Differences
==================

Gender differences in BSL production are thought to be less marked than in
English production. However, in some sign languages, such as ISL (Irish Sign
Language), men and women sign in ways that are more or less mutually
unintelligible. This is because in Roman Catholic areas, there tend to be
separate Deaf schools for girls and boys. A study in Dublin showed that in
the years after school, women would adopt more of the men's sign language in
order to be able to communicate. By contrast, the extra uniformity in BSL
could be explained by the fact that most teachers at Deaf schools are women.

Religious/Cultural Differences
==============================

Roman Catholics on the British mainland use BSL, but it's strongly
influenced by ISL, due to many Roman Catholic priests being trained in
Ireland.

Jewish use of BSL has a complex history: the current trend is towards
incorporating features of Israeli Sign Language into BSL.

Very little research has been done into the use of BSL amongst British
Muslims, although like other religious minorities, they have their own signs
for their own religious ceremonies.

There is a lot of English influence in BSL, but in communities that use
minority languages such as Greek, Urdu &c, BSL will be influenced by the
minority language as well.

At the moment, there's not much difference between White and Black signing
in BSL as far as I know - at least I've never noticed a difference in Black
signing. In the USA, however, White and Black Deaf clubs have remained
separate even now that segregation isn't required by law. Generally, Black
ASL speakers also know White ASL, but White ASL speakers may have more
difficulty with Black ASL.

Formality
=========

More formal signing is used in more formal situations. This usually means
making limited use of the signing space: generally, the more people you are
signing to, the less your arms will depart from the space in front of the
body.

For example, in formal signing, "drinking a lot" might be shown by holding a
(virtual) beer glass and moving it up in front of the mouth a few times, say
from chin to nose, whereas in casual signing it's more likely to go from
infront of the stomach to above the head, and will be sort of heaved up as
if it were very heavy. It's a bit like the difference between saying
"drinking a lot" in English and saying "drinking like mad" - in both
languages the casual production has as much to do with imagination as
reality.

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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