Me and Jess are at it again, this time talking about sign languages and how they’re changing. I was horrified by some of the old signs (just like I’m horrified at some terms we use in spoken English), but hey, that’s why language changes.
I also did some digging on the different varieties of English-based sign languages. I wasn’t expecting ASL, BSL, and Auslan to have the same signs for so many words, since they really are different languages, but there really is a bit of convergence.
One-off show: Here
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Show notes: Here
13 October 2012 at 4:54 pm
Great episode…lol @ insensitive signs…good job for changing signs.
The discussion of iconicity is interesting, especially your point about calling people a "jerk." So, in the US, no one would ever make the connection…but for me, hearing the (I guess) equivalent "wanker", *I* make the connection immediately…but do people elsewhere (who use that term natively) make that connection?
ANYWAY, kinda different than what you were talking about, but still on topic:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/sign-language-that-african-americans-use-is-different-from-that-of-whites/2012/09/17/2e897628-bbe2-11e1-8867-ecf6cb7935ef_story.html
So, not only is there a Black ASL (OK, I guess that doesn't surprise me as much), but that Black ASL and ASL are based on French ASL (of course, that's pegged by the article at like…60%), so they are more intelligible to each other than to BSL or Auslan.
14 October 2012 at 4:23 am
I noticed that article, too! That was interesting.
It makes sense that there would be a Black ASL. Language varieties pop up when people are separated from each other somehow, and it's hard to imagine a bigger divide than the colour barrier in the last century.