Old ASL signs vs New signs

souggy said:
... speak of the Devil. I just sent off a PM.

Anyway, I have noticed there are big differences between the older and younger generations, especially in the classifiers and technological signs.
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With older signers, a lot of the technological signs did not exist in their youth!
 
Bottesini said:
With older signers, a lot of the technological signs did not exist in their youth!
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Heh, heh. With older people, hearing and deaf, a lot of technological devices didn't even exist in their (my) youth! :lol:
 
souggy said:
:lol:

I means things for radio, phone, movie... the things that they had back in the days that are still around today.
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True, but even the English words for these items have evolved. Such is the nature of a living language. Who still says "ice box", "rain bonnet", "moving pictures" or "victrola"? Yet most people will recognize these as refrigerator, hat, movie, or turntable (record player).

BTW, laudenum was actually an opium derivative similar to morphine. It was the pain killer of the working class.
 
souggy said:
:lol:

I means things for radio, phone, movie... the things that they had back in the days that are still around today.
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Yes, there were radios, phones, and movies "back in the day" but even those devices have changed, which means signs that were an iconic "fit" in the past wouldn't make sense now.

Radio "Mickey Mouse" headsets have been replaced by iPod ear buds, two-piece wall-mount phones have been replaced by fit-in-your-palm cell phones and Bluetooth, and flickering movie screens have been replaced by slick HD images.

Think about "new" signs that have been replaced by "newer" signs. A generation ago, the sign for "charging" a purchase was a "new" sign, replicating the movement of the equipment that ran over the card and paper. Now, people use the "swipe" to run a charge/debit card.

All languages do have to adept to changes in technology and society but simply initializing ASL signs isn't the solution. The deaf community can create conceptually accurate signs that convey the right meaning without depending on initialization.
 
DeafDoc1 said:
True, but even the English words for these items have evolved. Such is the nature of a living language. Who still says "ice box", "rain bonnet", "moving pictures" or "victrola"? Yet most people will recognize these as refrigerator, hat, movie, or turntable (record player)....
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"Record player?" You're still dating yourself. :lol:
 
LDNanna said:
Guys, I could not resist passing along this wonderful video. Yes, it is on topic.
I would consider this man, Ernest Marshall, (1910 - 1999) a deaf leader and filmaker, to be somewhat of an authority on the topic. His sign is a bit stiff at his age. Be patient.

YouTube - ernestoldsigns
http://webbytalents.com/play.php?vid=382
I hope you enjoy a bit of his 1934 film, he is the starring character. Notice the signing. Great display of the times. This one is a real silent film titled Its Too Late.

http://webbytalents.com/play.php?vid=382
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:ty: for the cool video links!
 
Juli-terp-to-be said:
I was told to use the "soda-pop" sign then fingerspell Coke or Pepsi..or what ever brandname I wanted.
The other sign was thought to have a bad connotation to it.
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In my area, we use the SODA sign for meaning any brand of soft drink. We use the PEPSI and COKE signs to be specific (very important for serious Pepsi/Coke aficionados to get the right drink). ;)
 
The first ASL class I took I learned computer a number of different ways. I thought the oldest one was the coolest. It "mimed" a reel-to-reel old school main frame computer. Wow. Our teacher said that things change, but that we should be able to recognize common old signs. I still use an old one that means on-line computer, a C up and down the forearm. (small movement, almost circle) I have also seen a C tapped on the head and circled on the back of the hand. I prefer others cause I can never remember church, chocolate or computer. LOL
 
Who uses the term "ice box"? Lots of people. A very common term one hears almost daily! Also, "ice box" is used for the freezer, not the frig.

But what about those new signs which simply do not visually represent the item which is being signed. For example, the "new" sign for car - using 2 C-handshapes being pulled apart. I think the "old" sign of miming the use of a steering wheel is much more visually representative of a car.

But the question remains - which do you prefer?
 
Daft said:
Who uses the term "ice box"? Lots of people. A very common term one hears almost daily! Also, "ice box" is used for the freezer, not the frig.

But what about those new signs which simply do not visually represent the item which is being signed. For example, the "new" sign for car - using 2 C-handshapes being pulled apart. I think the "old" sign of miming the use of a steering wheel is much more visually representative of a car.

But the question remains - which do you prefer?
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Well, to be fair... "car," "truck," "van" used to be one singular sign before they got initialized. It was just the THREE hands being done in the same motion that was representative of any motorized vehicles for classifying purposes. Somewhere down the line, that THREE became C, T, V and so on to represent car truck and van.
 
Well, to be fair... "car," "truck," "van" used to be one singular sign before they got initialized.
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They certainly weren't here!

car - miming using a steer wheel
truck - regional sign - looks like the sign for country but with Y handshape
van - had to be fingerspelled.

The use of the three fingers moving along wasn't considered a sign, but a classifier. This I remember when a hearie thought the use of a 3 handshape was the sign for car and was then explained to him by a group of deafies that it was a classifier and not actually the sign for a car.
 
Daft said:
They certainly weren't here!

car - miming using a steer wheel
truck - regional sign - looks like the sign for country but with Y handshape
van - had to be fingerspelled.
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We use CAR like your sign; sometimes one-handed, more "cool".

BUS and VAN, spell.

TRUCK (as in pick up), regional sign, like the sign for HAY.

TRUCK (dump truck, delivery truck, semi), large horizontal steering wheel, like used in a truck.

English signers use the C-C, T-T, B-B, V-V vehicle signs.

The use of the three fingers moving along wasn't considered a sign, but a classifier. This I remember when a hearie thought the use of a 3 handshape was the sign for car and was then explained to him by a group of deafies that it was a classifier and not actually the sign for a car.
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We use the 3-hand classifier for vehicles, and sometimes the B-hand, palm down, classifier for vehicles, such as showing bumper-to-bumper traffic.
 
LDNanna said:
The first ASL class I took I learned computer a number of different ways. I thought the oldest one was the coolest. It "mimed" a reel-to-reel old school main frame computer. Wow. Our teacher said that things change, but that we should be able to recognize common old signs. I still use an old one that means on-line computer, a C up and down the forearm. (small movement, almost circle) I have also seen a C tapped on the head and circled on the back of the hand. I prefer others cause I can never remember church, chocolate or computer. LOL
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The C-hand on the arm is most common here. I like it because it's the most economic movement. :)
 
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