Linguistics Capturing the Language of the Deaf Dr. Paweł Rutkowski insight University of Warsaw magine we were born in a society in which every- one around us communicates in a language we Idon’t understand. What’s more, it’s a language we are not even able to experience with our senses. Now imagine that in spite of this, everyone expects us to master that language in order to help us live “easier,” so that we can function “normally” in society. So that we do not have to be different. This is how, in very simple terms, we can describe the situation faced by Paweł Rutkowski, the Deaf in various countries, including in Poland. Note the preference for the term Deaf (or Pol- PhD is the creator of the ish: Głusi), rather than hearing-impaired (Polish: Section for Sign niesłyszący). While the hearing community may see Linguistics at the the term hearing-impaired (or niesłyszący) as neutral, University of Warsaw. He the Deaf want to be seen through the prism of what specializes in the syntax they are, rather than what they are NOT or in terms of natural languages, of how they are perceived to be defective. Writing the with particular emphasis word Deaf (or Głusi) with a capital letter is intended to on Polish Sign Language define deafness as a major indicator of a certain cul- (PLM). He has authored tural and linguistic identity (similar to other minority or co-authored more groups in Poland, such as Silesians or Kashubians), than a hundred research publications and not to stigmatize their disabilities. and textbooks. He has Deafness is rarely passed on genetically, and so over held scholarships at 90% of deaf children have hearing parents. Deaf chil- Yale University, Wayne dren therefore usually spend their childhood tediously State University, and learning the language of the hearing. For them, it’s Oxford University. like learning a foreign language. The Deaf in Poland A member of the Polish attempt to master the intricacies of the Polish language Sign Language Council in the same way that hearing Poles attempt to learn affiliated with the Polish English, German, or Chinese. With one difference: the Ministry of Family, Labor, Deaf understand this kind of communication main- and Social Policy. ly from lip reading. Through incessant attempts and [email protected] repetitions they try to control their own speech organs THE MAGAZINE OF THE PASK 60 4/52/2016 THE FIRST-EVER CORPUS OF POLISH SIGN LANGUAGE (PJM) Polish Sign Language (PJM) is a natural communication system that has been evolving for two centuries. It is at the heart of the identity and culture of the Deaf community in Poland, but it is often marginalized and neglected. It first came under serious linguistic scrutiny not long ago, and more systematic research on it has been initiated in recent years by a team of researchers at the Section for Sign Linguistics at the University of Warsaw. THE MAGAZINE 61 OF THE PAS 4/52/2016 Insight Linguistics Communication in so as to produce sounds which will be understood by sign language is not the hearing. Because it is the latter who dictate the limited to just making standards for communication. signs with one’s hands, But even years of arduous practice will still not but it also includes change the fact that the Deaf are most often perceived facial expressions, as different. Even if they are able to communicate body movements, and pointing. through speech, it is a very difficult means of com- munication for them and it is very often one-sided, geared towards the needs of the hearing person. So it’s no wonder that the Deaf often feel alienated. This feeling disappears, however, when they are surround- ed by people who use sign language. Answering some frequent ASL, used in the US and Canada), others are limited questions to small rural communities (like many local sign lan- guages in Africa or Asia). Usually the Deaf from one When it comes to the Deaf, the vast majority of the country speak the same sign language, but that does hearing population express their sympathy, compas- not mean that it derives from the spoken language sion and a desire to help. Good intentions, however, used in that country. In fact, British Sign Language cannot take the place of accurate knowledge. All sorts and American Sign Language have nothing in com- of misconceptions and stereotypes influence the way mon, even though the hearing people in the UK and the hearing perceive the Deaf and their language. Be- the US share the same spoken language. The language low are some of the typical questions asked of sign spoken by the Deaf in Poland is Polish Sign Language language researchers by laymen: (commonly referred to by the Polish abbreviation PJM, for polski język migowy). Is sign language just about showing letters by hand, one after another? So do the Deaf in Poland sign “in Polish”? No. Sign-language signs are not like the words of No. The Language of the Deaf community in Poland, a spoken language. They are not made up of letters, called Polish Sign Language (PJM), is not just spoken which after all represent sounds. Rather, each sign cor- Polish language translated into signs. Rather, it is a lan- responds to a single concept (such as HOME, WORK, guage all of its own, unrelated to spoken Polish, with NICE), and thus one sign resembles one word of spo- its own grammar. The question How old are you? is in ken language, not individual sounds or letters. Polish Ile masz lat? (literally: how-many you-have years). In PJM, the same sentence is asked with this series of Do all Deaf people around the world speak the signs: YOU LIFE HOW-MANY. This one small example same language? serves to illustrate how the word order and the word/ No. There are about two hundred sign languages in sign choices are very different in the two languages. For the world. Some are used by hundreds of thousands of at least two hundred years (since the establishment of people (as in the case of American Sign Language or Poland’s first school for deaf children), PJM has been de- THE MAGAZINE OF THE PAS 62 4/52/2016 THE FIRST-EVER CORPUS OF POLISH SIGN LANGUAGE (PJM) language may also show different signs with each hand simultaneously. In spoken language, sentences are one-dimensional strings of words composed of sounds. A human being is not able to simultaneously utter two different sounds and therefore can’t say two words at the same time. This means that spoken lan- guages are easy to write down as sequences of letters. In sign languages it is much more difficult. Nowadays, video recording is the simplest solution. Can everything that can be expressed in spoken language be expressed in sign language? Yes. Deaf people can refer not only to the immedi- veloping and evolving spontaneously. Today it is a fully ate present (“here and now”), but also to abstract formed natural language, which, due to its uniqueness concepts, feelings, unrealistic and hypothetical situ- and being completely different from the Polish language, ations. What’s more, sign language has its own stylistic was ignored by the hearing population for long decades. variations (precise, official, or slang sign language). You can compose poetry and jokes in sign language, Is signing a sort of pantomime, understandable and it even has profanity. Just like spoken languag- to everyone? es, PJM has regional and community-based versions. No. Sign languages use conventionalized signs, which The sign language of Poles from the north is different means that each one must be learned individually in from those in the south. Young people use slang, while order to understand it (just like individual words in various professional groups use industry jargon. It can spoken languages). The meaning of a sign in sign lan- therefore be said that PJM, like any other language, guage is not obvious just from its shape. For instance, lives and evolves along with its users. one sign in PJM, resembling a military salute, actually refers to the toilet, which is a meaning a hearing person Many more examples could be given of basic ques- would certainly never have guessed. Moreover, simi- tions, the answers to which the general public in Poland lar signs may have completely different meanings in remains totally unaware of. Although the Deaf are a mi- various sign languages; for instance the sign meaning nority group living amidst us, they and their language HARD OF HEARING in PJM in fact means HORSE in are a completely foreign subject to most hearing Poles Czech Sign Language, and the sign for TO KNOW in (unlike in the case of other minority groups and lan- PJM will mean BOY in German Sign Language. guages in the country, such as German, Lithuanian, etc.) But does it have to be so? In countries such as the US, Can sign language be written down? UK, and Sweden there is much more public awareness Yes, although it’s not easy. One of the most distinc- when it comes to this topic. Many hearing people with- tive traits of sign language is its three-dimensionality. out any family connection to the Deaf community, such This means that the signs are variously positioned in as Lady Gaga, are learning American Sign Language. space and can move within it. A person using sign It appears frequently in popular culture. Sign language THE MAGAZINE 63 OF THE PAS 4/52/2016 Insight Linguistics has been featured in cartoons like the Simpsons and of data collected in the form of videos meant to serve Smurfs.