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This woman then described how one taught her son, now in his late seventies, how to speak the language:
When my son was perhaps three years old, I taught him to say in sign language "the little cat and dog and baby." This woman who was deaf, he used to like to go down to our little general store and see people come and go. One day when I went down there, I took my son there and I said to him, "Go over and say "how-do-you-do to Mr. T., " the deaf man. So he went right over and then I told him to tell Mr. T, so and so - a cat, a dog, and whatever. And wasn't Mr. T. tickled! Oh, he was so pleased to know a little bit of a boy like that was telling him all those things, and so he just taught my son a few more words. That's how he learned. That's how we all learned.
Particularly, in the western secion of the island, if an immediate member of the family was not deaf, a neighbor, firiend, or close relative of a friend was likely to be. Practicalllly all my "up island" informants above the age of seventy remembered signs, a good indication of the extent to which the langauge was known and used. In this section, and to a lesser extent in the other villages on the island, sign language formed an intergal part of all communications. For example, all in the formants remembered the deaf participating freely in discussions. One remarked: IF there were several people present and there was a deaf man or wman in the crowd, he'd take upon himself the discussion of anthing jokes or news or anything like that. They always had s part in it, they were never excluded.
As in all New England communnicaties, gathering around the potbellied stove or on the front porch of what served as a combination general store and post office provided a focal point for stories, news, and gossip. Many of the people I have talked to distincly remember the deaf member of the community in the is situation. As one man recalled:
We woudl sit around and wait for the mail to come in and just talk. And the deaf would be there, everyone would be there. And they were part of the crowd, and they were accepted. They were fishermen and farmers and everthing else. And they wanted to find out the news just as much as the rest of us. And oftentimes people would tell stories and make signs at the same times so everyone could follow him to gether. OF course, sometimes, if there were more deaf then hearing there, everyone would speak sign language - just to be polite, you know.
The use of sings ws not confirned to small group discussion. It also found its way into assembled crowds. For exxample, one gentleman told me:
They would come to prayer meetings most all of them were regular church people, you know. They would come when pople offered testimonials , and they woudl get up in front of the audience and stand there and tive a whole lecture in sign. No one transslated it to the audience because everyone kenw what they were saying. And if there was anyone who missed something somewhere, somebody sitting near them would be able to thell them about it.
The deaf were so integral a part of community that at town meetings up island, a hearing person would stand at the side of the hall and cue the deaf in sign to let them know what vote was coming to next, thus allowing them to keep right on top of things. The participation of the deaf in all day to day work and play situation contrasted with the manner in which those handicapped by deafness were generally treated in the United States during the same time period.
Sign language on the island was not restricted to these occasions when deaf and hearing were together, but was used on a regular basis between the heating as well. For example, sign language was used on boats to give commands and among fishermen out in open water to discuss their catch. I was told:
Fishermen hauling pots outside in the Sound or off Gay Head, When they would be heaven knows how far apart, would discuss how the luck was running all that sort of thing. These men could talk and hear all right, but it'd be too far to yell.
Indeed, signs were used any place the distance prohabited talking in a normal voice. For example, one man remembered:
Jim had a shop down on the shore of Tisbury Pond, and his house was a ways away, up on the high land. When Trudy, his wife, wanted to tell Jim something, she'd come to the door, blow fishhorn, and Jim would step outside, He'd say, "Excuse me, Trudy wants me for something", then she'd make a signs to tell him what she needed done.
On those occasions when speaking was out of place, such as in church, school, or at some public gatherings, the hearing communicated through signs. Such stories as the following are common: "Ben adn his brother could both talk and hear, but I've seen them sitting across from each other in town meetings or in church and telling other funny stories in sign language."
Island people frequently maintained socail distance and a sense of distinct identily in the presence of tourists by exchanging comments about them in sign language. the occurrence of what linguists call code switching from speech to sign also seems to been used to certain instances. For example, I was told:
People would start off a sentence in speaking and then finsih it off in sign language, especially if they were saying something dirty. The punch line would often be in sign language. IF there was a bunch of guys standing around the general store telling a (dirty) story and a woman walked in they'd turn away from her and finish the story in sign language.
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