Most common form of Sign Language

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polarbear2217

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I am studying ASL and we have to do a term paper. I am interested in the differences between different forms of sign language. I want to discuss the fundamental differences between ASL and the most common form of sign-language. (Or the second-most common if ASL is the most common)

Despite Googling, I have not found a definite answer. Does anyone know what the most common form of sign-language is, or the second-most common form?
 
Um, it depends upon where in the world you are; the A in ASL is for American. Good luck on your research.
 
What other form of sign-language is most well-developed/used as a percentage of the world etc. You know what I mean! I didn't need the sarcastic underlining either.
 
polarbear2217 said:
What other form of sign-language is most well-developed/used as a percentage of the world etc. You know what I mean! I didn't need the sarcastic underlining either.
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When you come ask people to do your homework, you are liable to get sarcasm.

When you then reprove them, you are likely to meet hostility.

For every language , there is a sign language.

First, find out the statistics on deaf population around the world. Then extrapolate.

It's just a little exercise in higher thinking. You can do it! :wave:
 
Bottesini said:
When you come ask people to do your homework, you are liable to get sarcasm.

When you then reprove them, you are likely to meet hostility.

For every language , there is a sign language.

First, find out the statistics on deaf population around the world. Then extrapolate.

It's just a little exercise in higher thinking. You can do it! :wave:
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Right. This should be pretty simple to deduct from rationalizing.

Just find the language with the most amount of users. That would likely be the language with the most users of their sign language.

I have a feeling it's not American English, either.
 
Jesus Christ, I'm asking for a simple answer to form my topic, not for a ten-page paper and bibliography.

You are completely wrong about "for every language there is a sign-language". Spanish is the official language of both Spain and Mexico, and yet the sign-language is different for both. Therefore, your "higher-thinking" method in invalid.

I know that ASL is used in both the USA and Canada. That led me to think that ASL is one of the more widely-used sign-languages. I'm sorry that I turned to the Deaf community to ask a question about sign-language. Next time I will ask people who have no idea.
 
Deep breath polarbear ;-). ... in, out, relax ... I think you are looking for a definitive answer where possibly none exists. If I were to guess, I would say ASL was most common but after that, I couldn't even hazard a guess. I can't imagine there are exact numbers of sign language users in any particular country nor of any particular language - how could you gather such information? Every day people start learning a language, some stick with it, others drop out, for some it is their only language for others it is fleeting interest. Perhaps you should just rethink what you want to discuss .... such as the differences between types of sign language in english speaking countries (ie: ASL and BSL).
 
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Hello there, you have the fiery spirit of a warrior.

You came to ask other people to do the search for you. You are not the only one with ASL class questions, adventurers like yourself come by every passing day.

Might I remind you that this is a predominantly english-based site. Probably the only english deaf forum alive on the internet today, which explains how you got here.
On that matter, we only have two forms of sign language users here - ASL, and BSL. The BSL'ers are in the minority here. From what I know about Chinese Sign Language, I'm willing to reason it is on par if not over the amount of ASL users. Just simply based on the fact that China has the 1 billion population size compared to the USA's third.

The real answer to your question is no one knows. I don't think there is even inferential statistics based on the subject for that matter. You can try searching, but with the amount of research dedicated to sign language, I'm afraid you won't get very far.

You asked, chief.
 
China has two major formal sign language dialects and many informal ones (if I remember correctly), so the population is split into various forms of sign language - again, this making a 'definitive' answer very difficult at best.
 
I feel it's gonna be based on majority rule, whichever has predominant standing will be the more likely used standard. Just as Mandarin overweights Cantonese.

In a way it is sort of the same concept with ASL vs BSL in Canada, UK, and Australia, but the signs from CSL (or any asian sign language for tha matter) are based on the character shapes/strokes. How do I know this, well, I am from an asian background, I speak and write Chinese, not at totally fluent level, though. I also ran into some CSL and JSL users at church, but the signs are completely different to understand that we had to rely on other methods of communication.
 
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I'm sorry. I was not trying to get other people to do my research. I thought that many people who were part of the Deaf culture would know the answer without having to research it. I thought of it as asking someone who knows the most about the subject, not asking someone to do work for. I know now that there is no simple answer. (which I probably why I had trouble researching it) I should have read more about the forum before posting, but I was getting frustrated looking for an answer. I am sorry.
 
^^^Wow, not too many people come back and apologize - I give you a lot of credit for that.

You're assignment sounds like trying to put a pin in an amoeba... I don't know where you would go to even find such information gathered. Good luck on it, and despite what my signature says - no sarcasm that time!
 
Thanks, I didn't realize the scope of differences in sign languages. I think I will try another topic- it's only a ten page paper
 
You sound like you are new to ASL. (So am I, really.) How about writing a paper about the differences between ASL and manually coded forms of English?

You should find lots of information on that topic just by using search engines and also the search button on this web site.

ETA: For a short paper in an intro class (or close to it) you are probably better off writing about something that has already been written about by many people because you simply won't have time to do the original research.

If you ever go for a PhD in ASL, linguistics or a related field -- your original topic sounds very interesting. Just not feasible for anyone who doesn't have time to do the hours and hours of interviews it would probably take to even just get started. Not to mention that fluency in two sign languages would be helpful if not actually required as well.
 
polarbear2217 said:
Jesus Christ, I'm asking for a simple answer to form my topic, not for a ten-page paper and bibliography.

You are completely wrong about "for every language there is a sign-language". Spanish is the official language of both Spain and Mexico, and yet the sign-language is different for both. Therefore, your "higher-thinking" method in invalid.

I know that ASL is used in both the USA and Canada. That led me to think that ASL is one of the more widely-used sign-languages. I'm sorry that I turned to the Deaf community to ask a question about sign-language. Next time I will ask people who have no idea.
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Mexicans speak Spanish very differently from people in Spain and same goes for argentinians who have their own version of spanish. Like everyone said here, do your research. Go to libraries, deaf centers, whatever.
 
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