Are the differences between the two greater than the differences between American English and…English English?
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Are the differences between the two greater than the differences between American English and…English English?
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THE SIGN LANGUAGE IS UNIVERSAL, SO IS THE SAME EVERYWHERE.
The sign language used in the United States and the one used in England are not related. They are completely different and are not mutually intelligible, like the spoken/written American and British English languages are.
For example, the entire manual alphabet can be signed with only one hand in ASL, whereas in BSL two hands are required to form some of the letters.
Sign Language is not a universal language.
IT’S NOT…
Some people just give an opinion about things they don’t even know.
I’m LSA (Argentinian Sign Language) and ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter and have been around the Deaf community and different sign languages for the last 12 years.
LSA and ASL are two completely different languages. Even BLS (British Sign Language) is a separated language by its own. The fact that in both the States and in the UK speak English doesn’t mean that the sign language are the same.
Even the fingerspelled alphabets are different:
ASL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Aslfingerspellalpha.png
BSL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bsl.png
LSA: http://www.sitiodesordos.com.ar/alfabeto.htm
and so on…
Every language is tight to the local area community and specific culture and not to external factors. ASL and BSL developed from different background and have their own vocab, idioms and grammar.