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Old 01-30-2008, 08:47 PM   #11 (permalink)
jillio
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Babyblue View Post
I guess it depends on ones preferences. So many different ways to speak in the English language. just consider it as an accent. People speaks different accents and slangs. and the ASL, SEE, PSE. are all different but yet one can understand what they are saying.

It doesn't bother me either. I have talked to people that signs different ways and methods. Just respect their choices of language. I know some ASL is different in the northern part of the US from the southern. Just as the accents are.
Yes, certain signs will vary from region to region just as spoken dialects will vary from region to region. And if I am having a conversation with a deaf individual who prefers an English syntax, I will sign in English syntax. If I am having a conversation with a deaf individual who prefers an ASL syntax, I willsign using an ASL syntax. But SEE doesn't change just the syntax, it fundamentally changes the language. For instance, finger spelling -ed on the end of a sign to signify past tense. In a visual language, past tense is conveyed either through context or through time markers. The same with plurals. A plural in a signed language is conveyed either through context or by repeating the sign. However, while repeating "tree, tree, tree" makes sense in a visual medium, one does not say "tree, tree, tree" when speaking, but simply pronounces the "s" on the end of the word. These are the differences that make ASL a language separate from English, and not simply another mode of English, and are the very criteria that were used by Stokoe is his research on ASL that led to it being designated a true language.
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