nostriches - AMA
What questions (or assumptions) do you have about American Sign Language?
Common question I've been asked:
>Is Sign Language universal?
>Isn't ASL just English on the hands?
>Is sign language is real language?
>Is ASL hard to learn?
>Can't Deaf people just read lips?
What questions do YOU have about signed languages?
#introductions #plebchain #nostr #homeschooling #asl #AMA
How soon until AI video replaces interpreters?
Interesting question: One I've been thinking about for over 20 years after reading Ray Kurzweil's "Age of Spiritual Machines" (which included a timeline of life-changing tech leading to the Singularity... including translation/interpretation for the Deaf).
According to that book, we're on the cusp of replacing (some) human interpreters by 2030.
By 2030, we'll be seeing AI TV-interpreters for "news", concerts, YouTube, etc.(honestly, I'm a little surprised we're not seeing those en masse, now) - We'll have interpreting apps for mobile.
However, when it comes to interpreters for the Deaf in the field (live, 2-way interpreting), there are often more logistics, nuance, and specified needs involved, especially if working in K-12 education; Due to such externalities, at least some sign language interpreting jobs will remain for the foreseeable future as software cannot satisfy specific client needs.
Examples:
>K-12 Deaf students who are also going blind (yes, this happens- and requires Tactile interpreting- software cannot do this)
>"Deaf+"clients (I've heard this in reference to Deaf students who have other considerations (ie autism, blindness, CP, etc. that severely impact their ability to comprehend &/or produce language)- these students/clients require more than "straight" interpreting (AI distinguishes no outside client needs; thus, AI is inadequate for such situations)
>Languageless Deaf - The world over, there are many languageless Deaf people who were born into hearing families, and were never given the gift of language- signed or otherwise. These people grow up with gestures, possibly Home-specific gestures, or nothing at all. I myself, have interpreted for 1/2 a dozen languageless Deaf people, and this requires a lot of back-and-forth b/w the interpeter and Deaf person (software, currently, cannot perform such duties)
Loved your questionπ€
Since I know close to zero about sign languages, I'm going to go ahead and ask: Where do phonetics fit in this language?
Phonemes are specific to units of sound in a language; The "equivalent" in ASL is what's referred to as the "5 Parameters", which include:
>Handshape
>Palm Orientation
>Movement
>Location
>Non-manual Markers (ie facial expressions)
Specific combinations of phonemes create words/language - and if any are "off" then there is an error of the word/language;
Similarly, the 5 Parameters of ASL are the units of ASL that makes meaning - if any of them are "off", then there is an error of the sign/language.
Fun question!π€
What did you mean by "location"? The location of the hand relative to the body?
LOCATION in ASL's 5 Parameters refers to the hand's location in space/on/around the body.
For instance, I'm signing BROKE below. The LOCATION of the sign is on the side of the neck. *If* I were to change the LOCATION to anywhere else on my body or the space around me, the sign would no longer make sense.
And, *if* I were to use the same HANDSHAPE, and MOVEMENT, but lower the LOCATION to the top/front of my thigh, and shift my hand's PALM ORIENTATION upward, the meaning changes to "TRIPPIN'" (yes, the slang word)
π€ 
I am so excited about your account, but the excitement is at 11 to learn ASL SLANG
AWESOME YES PLEASE
Thank you, Eryn!
Hidden inside my ASL Course is a Deaf "slang" unit π...
But I'll try to make a couple "slang" ASL gifs to spread on nostr!
In the meantime, you might enjoy learning some ππ signs: https://rumble.com/v4ixnqo-6-asl-signs-for-itcoiners.html
In Mandarin, for example, in order to write a slang word, you would combine two dictionary-existing characters (Chinese written characters, also known as "Han zi") to make a slang word.
The way I see it, although the slang word is an addition to the known vocabulary, it is still made up of known Chinese characters.
However, based on what your saying, using sign language, in order to learn the slang word equivalent to a known word, you have to learn a whole new sign?
Interesting... so, in Mandarin, there are no neologisms (newly-created words that represent cultural zeitgeists) in terms of slang creation??
And... yes! For slang to be interpreted into ASL, the sign is, for lack of a better word, novel and unrelated (in form) to English.
Moreover, some ASL slang signs are based on English (ie TRIPPIN, "BLOW-OUTTA-THE-WATER")...
While others are unique slang to ASL/Deaf community:
Examples:
CHAMP (meaning: the absolute best of something)
"TRAIN-GO-SORRY" (technically an idiom; meaning: You missed an opportunity)
"FISH-YOU-SWALLOW" (another idiom, but serves the purpose; meaning: You're gullible)
π€
There are, but new characters are not introduced into the language to represent them. Since there are over 10,000 characters in use (over 30,000 in total), old characters are chosen to represent the writing of new slang.
So, as the language grows with new words, the writing of these new words uses old known characters, no new characters are ever introduced.
For example:
"No way" is represented by "沑ι¨", two known characters, pronounced "mei men", that mean "not/no" and "door/entrance/gate" respectively.
This is so interesting! My uncle is fluent in Mandarin (he lived in China for a few years) but we've never had linguistic talks about the structure of the language.
I used Mandarin as the example because it is the closest language I know to sign language: They both use "symbols" to represent words.
Do you use one hand or two and why?
In ASL, one hand is Dominant (the one you write with), the other is Non-dominant.
Why?
There are two categories of signs: Symmetrical & Asymmetrical.
Symmetrical signs use both hands that mirror each other in (shape, movement, location)- so, both dominant/non-dominant hands work in tandem (ie the sign for TEACHER, ADVERTISE, COUNSEL, etc.).
Asymmetrical signs require one hand to remain stationary (as a base), while the other moves (ie the signs for SUPPORT, LEARN, COLLEGE etc)
Other signs (like DEAF, HEARING, YES, NO, or the entire ASL alphabet, etc) require only one hand - one's Dominant hand.
π€
So I know Chinese and it uses a lot of classifiers (a CUP of water, a SHEET of paper, but for everything; we call them βmeasure wordsβ which is a calque). I think I heard that ASL also uses classifiers and Iβd like to know more about that.
Fascinating! Yes, ASL uses Classifiers, too! Our Classifiers are a suite of HANDSHAPES + MOVEMENTS that represent objects' speed/size/shape/texture, etc.
Examples include: Describing a CUP, BOTTLE, πΈ FRAME/DOOR FRAME, 4-legged animal running, hail storms, tsunamis, CAR-crashes, etc.
π€
Hehe I actually have many questions π but Iβll try not to bug you
Iβm wondering what you know about other sign languages:
Do they have many features in common besides using hands?
Do all also use facial postures like ASL?
Do Asian ones incorporate finger spelling of some kind?
Do any you know of have a one-hand-only mode or are completely one handed?
I π«Ά all these questions!
I've picked up a few signs from other signed languages (a few Japanese signs, a few Hawaiian, and the Australian Sign alphabet (2-handed alphabet).
Though I'm not an expert in any of the world's other signed languages, I do think they all follow the 5 Parameters (all languages need "guard rails"/limitations in order to make sense- Chinese Sign, French Sign, and all the rest, must certainly follow such rules.
Chinese Sign *does* use fingerspelling- many of the HANDSHAPES are the same as ASL, however, there are some differences in PALM ORIENTATION (and meaning!). Also the Chinese Sign alphabet represents Chinese sounds that English doesn't have, so these are particular to CSL (example: https://youtu.be/3ZJBzhbYjAU?si=d3xALA_0tyYuI5M1 )
All signed languages must use facial expressions, however, what these facial markers *mean* in each individual signed language can differ.
As for a signed language that utilizes only one-hand, exclusively... I've never seen one! But, I've interpreted for a Deaf client who had 4 out of 5 fingers amputated (that was a difficult interpreting gig!!)
I hope I answered some of your questions!!π€
