tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Nov 08 07:01:06 1995
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re: Sign languages
On Wed, 8 Nov 1995, michiel uitdehaag wrote:
> > > What we might be forgetting is that sign languages are not only for
> > > the
> > > deaf. Both hunters and warriors use signs to communicate with their
> > > comrades.
An interesting hypothesis. Do you know any hunters who use sign
language? Or are they just using a few ad hoc gestures devised for the
occasion? Would your hunters and warriors be able to participate in a
conversation with native signers?
> Therefore I think that Klingon society has certainly
> got a use for a very broad sign-language. Human society has only got use for
> it when deaf people need to understand.
So, now you're saying that hunters and warriors *don't* have a use for it?
And while we can identify settings in which hearing people "have a use for"
signed languages, unless there is a community of native signers, there will
be no sign language. Look at Martha's Vineyard, where in the 1800s nearly a
quarter of their population was Deaf, and everyone native to the island
learned sign, by virtue of being in the community. There were settings in
which sign was used, even when there were no Deaf people around, simply
because it was more convenient. But when the Deaf population thinned and
eventually disappeared (they were all gone by the 1950s), sign fell into
disuse and now no one there uses it.
> Being deaf is probably cured with a
> simple operation (being blind is curable too, look at Geordi) so
> sign-language shall gradually become useless.
> Not so in Klingon society where it is an art, usefull in combat.
And where their medical technology is far behind ours, and cannot restore
sight and hearing. [Your sarcasm-detector should be shaking madly.] I do not
find your argumentation consistent. I am not convinced that if we perfect
technology to restore hearing, that the Deaf culture will go away. Just
because we can sew a wig on someone's head doesn't mean we'll never see bald
people again. The issues with the Deaf culture are far more profound.
> BTW: signs can express certain hard-to-convey feelings. They can also be used
> for complex objects or ideas which are easily described using a handmove or
> two.
Okay, I'm now officially sorry I brought this up. Can we let it die
please? Because I have tons to say on the matter, and this isn't the
venue.
> jejQIb
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