OliviaSoudah-EC#3
pdf
keyboard_arrow_up
School
University of Wisconsin, Madison *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
424
Subject
Linguistics
Date
Nov 24, 2024
Type
Pages
1
Uploaded by ProfRoseFinch9
Olivia Soudah
Extra Credit Option #3
I’m not going to sugar coat the fact that my knowledge of sign language and the history of it was close to
nothing. Before this course, I didn't even know that there is American, British, French, Chinese (and
many more for that matter) sign languages. I never put the effort into thinking about when sign language
began, the people who had fought to establish it, and how it has developed over time. As a Palestinian, I
have grown up learning how there are so many different Arabic dialects. Watching this video, seeing the
North American Indian Sign Languages (NAISL), it reminded me of the different ‘dialects’ people can
have, even when they all live in ‘close’ areas. Another thing I thought was interesting was how a Spanish
colonizer noted that indigenous people knew signs so well that there was no need for an interpreter. It
shows how influential signing can be. Something about this video that amazes me is how they don’t have
a specific alphabet, rather they have about 4,000 basic words that can be formed together. I think I like
that better! I like that their signs are almost ‘describing’ something rather than the need to memorize
millions of specific words. I am curious as to how difficult things can get when describing new things or
‘not being able to find the words’ to communicate. For example, the fact that ‘question’ is one hand shake
and it encompasses all the types of questions such as “who, what, when, where, why, how, etc”. However,
I can see how these can offer limitations during conversations and possible confusion? Does it mean it
takes them much longer to arrive at an answer? When asking how old someone is, you said ‘how many
winters are you?’. I thought that was cool and showed a cultural aspect. On top of the other points I’ve
brought up, I also question how difficult it is for someone
new
to understand and learn these languages.
With that, I loved to see the side by side images of PISL and ASL to see the similarities with some of the
signs such as ‘SNOW’ and ‘LOVE’. Personally I love to learn languages and I’ve found that the more
languages I learn, the easier it is to learn a new one because of some similarities, and I find that to be true
with signs!
Discover more documents: Sign up today!
Unlock a world of knowledge! Explore tailored content for a richer learning experience. Here's what you'll get:
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help