American Sign Language Essay
In American Sign Language a look at its History, Structure, and Community by Charlotte Baker and Carol Padden many great topics were discussed. Such as: What exactly is sign language? , the history, who exactly uses it, about the deaf community, and the building blocks are a few of them.
Sign Language is a unique form of communication. It is a “visual gestural language … used by approximately one half million deaf Americans and Canadians of all ages”. (pg1) Gestural to be exact is the movement and shapes of the hands, eyes, face, head and body posture. They indicate exactly what word or phrase is trying to get across to another person. This language is intended to be understood by the eyes and not the ears because of how deaf people lack that ability. So that is why the movements are carefully structured to accommodate the person visually and take in the information through their eyes. There is not much information dated before 1817 on the history of ASL. It is likely since deaf people did not interact around that time that they made their own signs which is known as ‘home signs’. Recently, common sense tells us that deaf people in America used several different types of sign languages in the early 1800’s. (pg3) In 1817 …show more content…
These elements are key to a sign, if done wrong the meaning can totally shift and cause confusion or possibly trouble. Sign languages are not universal so not all signs are used in American Sign Language. A lot of signs are made to be signed in the face or neck area because this language is meant to be seen and the signs at the waist may become hard to see for some individuals. Present day signs are now only used with one hand instead of two like back in the day. Movement is an important key to the grammar in ASL. A slightly different movement in a sign (verbs; adjectives) can slightly alter their meanings.
Sign Language is a unique form of communication. It is a “visual gestural language … used by approximately one half million deaf Americans and Canadians of all ages”. (pg1) Gestural to be exact is the movement and shapes of the hands, eyes, face, head and body posture. They indicate exactly what word or phrase is trying to get across to another person. This language is intended to be understood by the eyes and not the ears because of how deaf people lack that ability. So that is why the movements are carefully structured to accommodate the person visually and take in the information through their eyes. There is not much information dated before 1817 on the history of ASL. It is likely since deaf people did not interact around that time that they made their own signs which is known as ‘home signs’. Recently, common sense tells us that deaf people in America used several different types of sign languages in the early 1800’s. (pg3) In 1817 …show more content…
These elements are key to a sign, if done wrong the meaning can totally shift and cause confusion or possibly trouble. Sign languages are not universal so not all signs are used in American Sign Language. A lot of signs are made to be signed in the face or neck area because this language is meant to be seen and the signs at the waist may become hard to see for some individuals. Present day signs are now only used with one hand instead of two like back in the day. Movement is an important key to the grammar in ASL. A slightly different movement in a sign (verbs; adjectives) can slightly alter their meanings.