signs in different cultures

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
January 16, 2006

Neil Bauman wrote:
> There never were any universal benefits such as you envision. Each  
> country has its own signed languages. For example, Canada has two  
> major signed languages and some lesser ones. ASL and LSQ are the  
> two main ones. So the people using sign writing to write ASL would  
> not understand LSQ sign writing and vice versa. Of course, some  
> signs are similar in several signed languages just as some words  
> are similar is several spoken languages.

Neil -
Thanks for your great messages today...really well stated! smile...

So you are left-handed, I believe? That is why you are so  
intelligent! I heard that left-handed people are brilliant ;-))

You know what is interesting in the statement above, is that even  
though it is true that we have different signed languages,  
SignWriting is visual enough that some people can learn to sign by  
reading it, or learn other languages by reading it...so documents can  
be exchanged and read in other countries now, between signed  
languages, and I hope it will lead to more people learning each  
other's signed languages...

Thanks again, Neil!

Val ;-)