LL-L "Lexicon" 2009.11.14 (05) [EN]

[Lowlands-L List]

===========================================
L O W L A N D S - L - 12 November 2009- Volume 05
lowlands.list at gmail.com - http://lowlands-l.net/
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-08)
Language Codes: lowlands-l.net/codes.php
===========================================

From: Hellinckx Luc <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon"

Beste Sandy,

You wrote:

Yes, there are specific terms in Deaf culture that don't look like
they'll ever spread out into general use.

"Hearing" as a qualifier is one example. It's the opposite of Deaf, but
Hearing people seem to me to say "non-deaf" when, on rare occasions,
they need to express this concept.

There are terms that fail to cross the cultural divide in the opposite
direction, too. For example, "hearing impaired", though invented by
Hearing people with the intention of finding a term that everybody would
be happy with, never makes it into Deaf circles.


Of course. If I were deaf, I think I wouldn't like being labelled as a
"have-not". Thinking in opposite terms is something I did until I
was thirteen...maybe fourteen. Not that much into dialectics anymore by now.

Look at people eating meat, and those who do not. The latter may call
themselves vegetarians (or vegans or...). Linguistically, they define
themselves, not as a dependance or a reaction to "carnivores", but in terms
of a "positive" choice they made themselves. OK, you may think...how on
earth can a deaf society describe itself in positive terms?

Well, maybe this is the point where Latin comes in handy.

What about "surd"?

French still uses the word "sourd" for "deaf"...as in the proverb:


Il n'est pire sourd, il n'est point de pire sourd que celui qui ne veut
point entendre
(There are none so deaf as those who will not hear)


"Surd" is the old adjective given to irrational numbers (far more exciting
than rational numbers ;=)) and is also the last part of "absurd" (a sort of
humour I'm quite fond of): absurd = out of tune, literally.

Not sure how it could be signed though...maybe an index finger held up in
front of your lips, symbol of silence?

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx, Halle, Belgium

•

==============================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.

*********************************************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lowlands-l/attachments/20091114/9662c169/attachment.htm>