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British an inferior form of to ?

18 Babel The Language Magazine | August 2013 Feature Sign language

British Sign Language

Kateryna Pavlyuk argues an inferior form of that is in no way inferior to communication to spoken language spoken language?

anguage can be described as Furthermore, researchers from Bristol communicating through ‘a system University have discovered the existence of of arbitrary vocal symbols’, or by regional lexical differences in BSL by asking signers ‘modulating the sound we make when from various parts of the country to translate a list we exhale’. Both of these definitions of English words and receiving a wide variety of are ignorant of the fourth most different . Reasons for regional in BSL Lspoken language in the UK and the first language include: deaf people previously often being isolated of approx. 150,000 deaf people: British Sign and only knowing the BSL of the people around Language (BSL). Due to being a ; them; BSL cannot be used on the telephone; and being in use in the same community as the globe’s there is no way to send letters/emails due to no – English; and creating a visual as written form existing. However such dialects may opposed to auditory output, BSL is rarely regarded be decreasing now due to increased broadcasting of as a ‘real’ language. However through the study of BSL on , creating a more uniform way of the history, psychology, neurology and primarily, signing. , of BSL, its social status as a mere On the other , a greater generational gap pantomime can transform into recognition as an exists in sign language than in spoken . independent method of communication, in no way This is because before the 1940s, sign language inferior to spoken language. was taught through lip-reading and , Only 10% of deaf children in Britain are born however now signers are encouraged to develop to deaf parents, while 90% have hearing parents, and learn established signs instead. This results which alters exposure to sign language at an early in differentiation in signing between generations. age. Those with deaf parents are exposed to sign Similarly, as technology has advanced, so have language earlier and at a fluent level. Consequently, signs. Therefore how older people may sign this group is seen as a linguistic elite. Therefore the TELEPHONE (a two-part apparatus with a deaf people’s community has a social class in the mouthpiece) differs to how young people will (one same way that English does. single earpiece) [Figure 1 overleaf]. Other words such as TRAIN and CAMERA share the same problems as they are ever-evolving.

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Figure 1 – Changes in TELEPHONE

“BSL has both Some linguists have proposed that the first via explanation. For example, in American Sign , utterances were gestural as opposed to Language, a sign which can be glossed as TRAIN- which is far vocal. This poses a historical debate about the GO-SORRY, is used when somebody joins a more flexible origins and legitimacy of BSL, however studying conversation at too late a stage for all information than English the history of BSL is curtailed by the lack of written exchanged prior to their arrival to be retold. yet definite records. Most resources for studying sign language In the pronominal system alone, there are rules exist, history are written descriptions of the language in many differences between English and BSL: and lexicon, English, some printed drawings and photographs • English distinguishes between ‘he’ and ‘she’ which is smaller of signs, and even some films dating back to the whereas BSL does not. This does not make than English, 1920s of British deaf signers. Due to modern BSL inferior; the same applies in Finnish and yet certainly technology such as video recording, we are able Hungarian. substantial. to supply future generations with a much better • BSL has more pronouns than English and is able BSL even record of BSL. to specify within the pronoun sign how many contains untranslatable The earliest written record of British Sign individuals are being referred to. Therefore terms – like Language comes from 1575; the parish register of St whereas English is limited to ‘we’, BSL has WE- ‘schadenfreude’ Martin’s, Leicester, mentions a deaf man, Thomas TWO, WE-THREE. This same elaboration is in German Tillsye, making his marriage vows in sign: available in ‘you’ and ‘they’. and ‘duende’ “to show his continuance to dwell with her • BSL provides further implied information in Spanish – to his lyves ende he did it by closing of his eyes about a referent through hand shapes. The which English with his handes and digginge out of the earth English pronoun ‘it’ can be used in the place can only with his foote.” of almost anything that is not human, ranging express via The publication of an official BSL dictionary from a single bacterium to a country. In BSL explanation.” in 1992, not only created a coded written format of on the other hand, it is possible to use specific signs, but has also legitimated BSL’s position as a hand shapes – called ‘proforms’ – to provide language. information about the shape of a referent. An A study carried out in 1979 found that most example of a frequently used proform is a single deaf school leavers had an average reading age finger (known as the ‘G’ hand shape), which of 8.75 years, thus incapable of reading tabloid represents referents that are long and thin newspapers, safety regulations and instruction (PERSON, PENCIL), whilst indicating only one manuals. Similarly, studies conducted in 1973 dimension (length or height). English pronouns found that deaf adolescents had more difficulty are therefore ‘zero-dimensional’, as they with symbolic logic reasoning tasks than hearing simply replace a noun, but do not provide any children. Conversely, in recent studies, in which information about their shape. speaking and deaf children completed various Although it often takes longer to produce a psychological assessment tests, and it was sign than to pronounce a word, signs often express discovered that performance levels were similar in meaning far more succinctly than corresponding both categories. . For example, it is possible to produce BSL has both grammar, which is far more multiple signs simultaneously in BSL using both flexible than English yet definite rules exist, and the dominant and non-dominant hand. BSL also lexicon, which is smaller than English, yet certainly utilises aspect modulations, in which differences in substantial. BSL even contains untranslatable direction, duration and the number of repetitions terms – like schadenfreude in German and duende of a sign all convey subtle distinctions in meaning. in Spanish – which English can only express For example, the uninflected sign meaning ‘be sick’,

20 Babel The Language Magazine | August 2013 Feature Sign language when repeated three times in a circular motion, Arguably therefore, BSL actually offers more alters the meaning to ‘prone to be sick’. This information when answering ‘Yes-No’ questions, method of performing the same sign with slightly by reminding and reinforcing the topic of the different hand shapes is a key feature of BSL which asked question in their answer. BSL also uses tag expresses minor differences in meaning [Figure 2]. questions, which are a form of yes-no question, In a similar manner, locations of signs can in which a statement can be made into a question also be altered. Various semantic fields can be with the addition of, in BSL, the signs RIGHT or expressed depending on where the sign is produced TRUE. For example: in relation to the body. For example, signs made on LAST-WEEK WENT AMERICA TRUE or near the forehead usually indicate thought or “You went to America last week, didn’t you?” knowledge, such as REMEMBER, THOUGHTFUL, This shows that BSL has the capability to IDEA, etc. Similarly, signs made near the chest easily and informally transform a statement into a cover the semantic field of affections and desires, question, just as many spoken languages can. BSL such as FEEL, LIKE, WANT, etc. is also equipped with all the necessary fundamental question words (‘what’, ‘why’, ‘where’, ‘when’, Grammatical features ‘who’, ‘which’, ‘how’) which specify what type of TIME/TENSE: Time and tense can be expressed by information the question is asking for. dividing signing space into neutral (present tense), NEGATION: In the same way that English uses further forwards (future tense), and further back negation words (‘no’, ‘not’, ‘never’, etc.) or affixes (past tense). Tense is also commonly expressed in such (un-, dis-), BSL has various methods of BSL by simply indicating a time framework at the conveying negation, such as hand shapes, head beginning of a sentence with time markers such movements and in particular, facial expressions. as LAST WEEK or TOMORROW, and one must Weak (.g. ‘quite’) and strong (e.g. ‘very’) negations assume that all following statements are in the are often shown through alone, specified tense, until the time frame is changed varying from slightly narrowing the eyes and again. pushing out the lips, to the mouth being strongly QUESTIONS: BSL, like any legitimate language, turned down, the nose being very wrinkled and the offers the opportunity to both ask and answer eyes being almost closed. questions. Question words are placed at the end of sentences in BSL: Non-manual features PEN WHERE: Where is the pen? Contrary to what is commonly thought, BSL BEN WHO: Who is Ben? does not only utilise the to communicate. BSL is also able to show questions such According to the Dutch sign linguist Trude as ‘what time’ and ‘how long’ as single units, Schermer, the non-manual components of sign demonstrating efficiency. In Yes-No questions, in language can be split into ‘spoken’ and ‘oral’ contrast to English, BSL often repeats the verb in components. the asked question, as opposed to merely stating Spoken components largely borrow mouth ‘yes’ or ‘no’. For example: patterns from English, which often serve to BSL: Mary – MOON LIFE EXIST-THERE Jane – identify or establish a sign. However despite this EXIST-THERE borrowing from English, BSL grammatical rules are English: Mary – ‘Is there life on the moon?’ still applied; verbs, for example, would be mouthed Jane – ‘Yes’ in their basic, uninflected form (‘take’, as opposed to ‘took’ or ‘taking’). Oral components on the other

Figure 2 – Identical actions performed with different hand-shapes to create different signs (left to right: CANDY, APPLE, JEALOUS)

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however many common English idioms have been manipulated to make them exclusive to BSL. For example, “in one ear and out the other” becoming IN-ONE-EYE-AND-OUT-THE-OTHER, or “my lips are sealed” becoming MY-HANDS-ARE- SEALED. BSL has also developed its own humour and even poetry. In the same way that Yeats is a renowned Irish poet, sign language poets gain equal recognition within the deaf communities, such as Clayton Valli, a leading poet. It has been discovered that deaf children exposed to sign language acquire the language on an identical maturational timeline as hearing children acquire spoken language. Similarly, language milestones are reached by children communicating using sign language or spoken

Figure 3 – Marking language at the same time, ranging from ‘syllabic a question with a stage’ (7-10 months) to ‘first two-word facial expression (Top: REASON, Bottom: WHY) stage’ (16-22 months). Signing children also develop systematic morphological and syntactic elements “A particularly hand include all other uses of the mouth. These at the same time as speaking children (e.g.: ‘over- shocking include enacting mouth movements, where in regularizations’, negation and question formation). discovery signs such as LAUGH or BITE, the mouth imitates A particularly shocking discovery made made by Laura the action described; multi-channel signs, in which by Laura Ann Petitto is that babies exposed to Ann Petitto the mouth mirrors the action of the hand, such as sign language babble with their hands. Human is that babies in DISAPPEAR, where the hands close abruptly, as infants therefore have an innate sensitivity to the exposed to does the mouth; and manner and degree , rhythm of language. Hand-babbling is functionally sign language where mouth shape gives extra information about identical to verbal babbling, only the input is babble with the extent/degree/size of an object/event. different. This supports the idea that children are their hands. Another fundamental non-manual feature Human infants of BSL is facial expression, which can mark a therefore have question [Figure 3], topic, or a conditional (‘if’). an innate Facial expressions are also obligatory in signs such sensitivity to as RELIEVED or SHOCK, in order to mirror the the rhythm of language. emotion associated with the meaning. Hand-babbling Similarly, eye gaze has various important uses, is functionally such as indicating role shift, marking time, and identical to even lexical distinction, as in some signs eye gaze verbal babbling, alters the meaning of a sign. For example, the signs only the input GOD and BOSS differ only in eye gaze [Figure 4]. is different. BSL is also able to demonstrate more abstract/ This supports figurative elements of language, such as rhetorical the idea that questions and . Some are even children are exclusive to BSL, such as saying that ‘someone’s born with a signing is wearing a bow tie’, meaning that they propensity to are being overly formal. BSL is particularly good learn language, at showing spatial metaphors, where space or regardless distance are part of the metaphor – such as down of how that in the dumps – which is due to BSL already using language is space as part of the language. mediated.” Idioms, a key kind of figurative language, also Figure 4 – The signs exist in BSL. Some idioms are borrowed directly GOD and BOSS differ only in eye gaze (Top: from English such as NOT MY CUP-OF-TEA, GOD, Bottom: BOSS)

22 Babel The Language Magazine | August 2013 Feature Sign language born with a propensity to learn sound, but to linguistic patterns language, regardless of how that – rhythmically contrasting COMPETITION language is mediated. phonetic-syllabic units – Kateryna’s about language Hearing children whether they be expressed seriously impressed us and got us exposed to both signed and using the tongue or hands. thinking… are there more 16-18 year spoken languages from birth This discovery also highlights olds who can write like that? demonstrate no preference for multiple commonalities between speech. Instead they acquire the sublexical organisation of So we are setting a competition, both at an equal speed. For signed and spoken language; challenging 16–18 year olds throughout example, children learning for according to Cognitive the world to write an article about a both French and LSQ (Quebec Neuroscientist, Laura-Ann topic in language and linguistics fit for Sign Language) simultaneously Petitto, “both use a highly publication in Babel. The winner will produced their first word in restricted set of units, organised have their article published in Babel in each language at the same time. into regular patterns, which August 2014. This challenges the hypothesis are produced in rapid temporal that speech is critical to normal alternation”. Ultimately, there Entries must be no longer than 2500 . Therefore, is neurological evidence of the words, in English, and deal with an the brain is not exclusively equality of spoken and signed interesting topic about language. ‘hardwired’ for speech, rather languages. Contestants must be aged between it is simply sensitive to the Signed languages therefore 16–18 at the time of entry. structure and patterning of possess all the linguistic elements The competition is open as of this language, irrespective of the deemed necessary to qualify as a issue and the deadline for entries is input modality. Signed and human language, and arguably, Friday 30th May 2014. spoken languages occupy equal sometimes even demonstrate biological status in the brain. linguistic advantages over Please email competition entries For over a century it spoken language. The evidence to [email protected], with has been understood that the accumulated here fossilises the subject ’16-18 competition’. In brain’s left hemisphere is the BSL’s position as a language the body of your email include the primary for processing and eschewed any stereotype of name and telephone number of language and particular brain inferiority.¶ your schoolteacher or guardian, so sites have been assumed to be that we may confirm your age and unimodal processing areas, in identity. You must also give the name/ that they respond only to speech institution of the Babel subscription- or sound. One such neural holder that allowed you to see this area is the Planum Temporale competition advertised. This is (PT), which is described as a to prevent the advertising of this neural location receptive only to competition to non-subscribers. We phonetic-syllabic units that form Kateryna Pavlyuk is a student of A2 will acknowledge receipt of your entry spoken words. It was believed at the Tiffin Girls' School in Kingston upon Thames, but the competition winner will not be that sound waves exert pressure Surrey, UK. announced until July 2014. on the inner ear, which then converts into neural signals, thus triggering the PT. Remarkably, however, recent experiments Find out more have discovered that profoundly deaf people’s PT was activated Books while processing signs. This Sutton-Spence, Rachel and presents shocking new findings Bencie Woll. (1999), The that visual stimuli are equally Linguistics of British Sign as effective as phonetic/spoken Language – An Introduction, stimuli in triggering the PT, Cambridge University Press: which was previously believed to Cambridge be an exclusively auditory cortex. Dictionary of British Sign Therefore, it is now understood Language/English. David Brien. that the PT reacts not only to (1992), Faber and Faber: London

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