Is signing in English syntax order to a deaf person appropriate or do they find it offensive that hearing people don’t learn true ASL? I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m curious because I’m studying sign language right now, and would like to know what the best option would be.
.
Join the Conversation
Leave a comment
I won’t comment on the feelings and likely reactions of the Deaf. There may be a tendency, but I find that people are all different.
Nevertheless, English syntax in ASL is a bit awkward. The English SVO order, for example, is very inefficient.
Take, ‘The girl slapped the boy.’ (SVO)
Now sign that, in just that order: GIRL SLAP BOY.
(Definiteness and tense being assumed or expressed elsewhere in the discourse.)
Count the movements you have to make to produce that sequence.
Now sign it a bit more idiomatically:
RH-[BOY-x point-x] LH-[classifier-x] / RH-[GIRL-y-SLAP-x]
…where RH / LH = right hand / left hand
and x, y are points where characters are ‘indexed’ in the space in front of the Signer.
Count the number of necessary moves this time, and notice the natural flow of the sentence. It ‘feels’ something like English or French topicalisation or left-dislocation, e.g., ‘As for the boy, the girl slapped him.’
I don’t know how you intend to apply English syntax to ASL or any natural SIgn language. It is really quite difficult, ungainly, and crude way beneath the norm for Sign Languages. You won’t be making your own job any easier, and your intuition about the reception you can expect from some Deaf is probably on the right track !
The best option would be to go for ASL. No one uses SEE, so it wouldn’t make sense for you to learn it.
Use ether way. Most do not mind which way you use. As long as you can Communicate.
“Offensive” is not the right word, per se.
Very few people, Deaf, deaf, or hearing, use pure ASL. Most Deaf people I know use more PSE, though it leans towards ASL. It is nearly impossible to avoid all English influence in your signing, though it is easier to understand if it leans more towards ASL. It will be easier for the Deaf person, and for you, in the long run.