Week 2, Language and Dialect Part 3

Question 1

Four myths of sign language

Answer 1

1. Sign language is universal
2. Sign language is purely iconic, or just gestures
3. Sign langauges enocde spoken languages
4. Signed languages are strings of hand motions

Question 2

Myth 1: Sign language is universal

Answer 2

-There are about 300 different sign languages
-can’t be understood by other sign languages
-there are dialects of sign language (e.g. Black ASL)

Question 3

Myth 2: Sign language is purely iconic or just gesture

Answer 3

-Most signs are not iconic or only iconic after you know what they mean
-if all signs were iconic, sign langauge would be universal, non-signers could understand the language, and we wouldn’t be able to sign abstract concepts

Question 4

Myth 3: Signed languages encode spoken languages

Answer 4

-ASL is not just english language, even though it’s used in the US (e.g. ASL and BSL are completely different)
-ASL Temporal inflection: ASL verbs inflect for whether something happened once, happens regularly, or continuously
-finger spelling for letters are different for ASL and BSL

Question 5

Myth 4: Signed languages are strings of hand motions (i.e. they don’t have grammar)

Answer 5

Not true, there are five basic parameters:

1. Shape of hand
2. Place of articulation
3. Movement
4. Palm orientation
5. Facial expression

signed languages have handshapes that are not permissable