Sign language is an independent artificial language. It is reproduced with the help of finger and hand movements, facial expressions, mouth movements, and body position is also taken into account. As a rule, sign language is used for deaf or hearing impaired people. Understanding and reproducing it is also important for those who do not have such violations - after all, sometimes it is necessary to interact with those who communicate only in this way.
The foundation
Speech is considered the process of communication between the interlocutors, language is a system of signs and symbols. But for those who do not hear, speech is inaccessible. In this case, they use at the same time gestural speech, fingerprinting. The first was created specifically for such people with disabilities, it is a separate language, while dactylology is a speech that is produced by characteristic finger movements. Despite the fact that they are used to communicate with deaf or hard of hearing people, not these categories of citizens came up with fingerprints and gestures.
History
According to the official version, the monks of Sicily communicated these methods in the 12th century, who took a vow of silence. These methods allowed them not to break the vow of silence and at the same time communicate. It is possible to master such a speech in special institutions. Results are achieved if, from the very beginning, sign language training is built in strict accordance with the rules.
Initially, children study speech using data from the organs of vision. They are supported by motor sensations. They can not catch intonation, perceive by ear the expressive means of speech. For those who hear, the primary image of the word is formed through hearing, and for those who do not, through vision. Dactyl speech is built in accordance with the rules of the Russian language, it is given accompanied by oral.
Dactylology was first used in the XVI-XVII centuries. to interact with deaf people. In later times, a separate alphabet appeared for them. It was first published in Russia in 1835. At the moment, alphabets of many languages are used - in total, according to official data, there are 43 varieties of them. They are used in 59 countries.
Features
It is noteworthy that sign language is not primitive. This is a complex communication system. It is actively used in a number of states. At the state level in the Russian Federation, sign language was recognized as a language only in 2013.
How many languages are there
For those who have never come across this topic, it often seems that the world has a single sign language that everyone understands. But this is nothing more than a delusion. In fact, gestural speech in the world is represented in more than 121 languages. And deaf people who speak different languages are capable of not understanding each other. They learn and forget new languages in the same way. At the same time, a universal language was developed in the 1950s. It is called "tough." It was invented so that people with hearing impairments around the world can freely talk to each other during international events.
Up to this point in society, of course, there were ways for the deaf to interact with the world, the means of communication was constantly enriched. But such forms were not durable, and they spread to a narrow circle of deaf people. The deaf community, which developed a unified communication system, appeared later, when the population began to settle more densely in the cities.
In European countries, when the population became mobile, in the era of the New Age, along with ordinary languages, sign language flourished. A big impetus to its development was the opening in France of a training center for hearing impaired children. A similar center appeared in Germany. The languages of instruction were based on signs that were used by the deaf. The interpretation of European languages in gestures has begun. Due to the fact that the languages diverged greatly, the best specialists were involved in the process.
Amslen
In the eighteenth century, a deaf teacher from France named Laurent Clerk appeared in the United States to establish a school for the deaf. He had a major influence on the role of sign language in the United States. Since then, the sign languages of the American and French deaf are extremely similar. Later, the achievements of this specialist began to spread throughout the world, became part of the training of other deaf people.
In Russia
In Russia, seriously learning the gestural speech of a child suffering from hearing loss, was thought in 1806. It was then that the first school of gestures was opened in Pavlovsk. The French methodology was taken as the basis, while a similar school was opened in Moscow, but which used the German system as the basis. The discovery took place in 1860. The consequences of this confrontation are still being felt.
In the Soviet Union, the distribution of the Russian sign language was carried out centrally. Schools opened systematically, and this explains the fact that in the USSR there was a single sign language, which was extremely convenient.
Toughly
In 1951, the World Federation of the Deaf was established. Then a decision was made to adopt a single sign language. This was necessary to conduct full-fledged international negotiations. And then a group of specialists took up the selection and fixing of gestures of European states. For a quarter of a century, a separate, universal language was invented (significally). It was considered simplistic. His dictionary was published in 1973.
Linguistics
Gestures in such languages are sketchy, sometimes they are created on the go. Not always do they have a pronounced visual connection with the subject of conversation. In addition, they do not represent an interpretation of standard languages - they have their own grammar. Gesture is used to discuss a variety of topics - both in everyday contexts and regarding something sublime.
Sign language words are formed by the most standard components - miracles. There can be 5 elements in one gesture. Most languages use classifiers, they constantly change words, there is a syntax. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that the movements of the hands and lips are capable of acquiring very different meanings, and for understanding it it is necessary to take into account many characteristics that are broadcast all at once, in contrast to the standard language with its sequence.
The study
Until the middle of the 20th century, the grammar of the initial sign language was unclear. It began to be studied more actively in the middle of the 20th century by American researchers. One of them was Professor W. Stookie. In 1960, he released the work “Sign Language Structure”.
He actually proved the fact that this phenomenon is consistent. When the work was published, the deaf began to integrate into society much more actively than before.
Sign languages precisely in this period of time began to receive their separate names. So, the American sign language began to be called Amslen.
Specificity
One of the important characteristics of dactyl speech is concreteness. Each movement never contains the generalization that the word possesses. So, there is no one gesture to denote the word “big”, which can be used in all kinds of phrases - “big house”, “big salary”, “big fence” and the like. In each case, the gesture will be its own, and it will accurately convey the sign of a phrase. The gesture depicts objects and phenomena. In cases where a person moves his hand - this is a designation of signs or actions. The gesture is always figurative. For example, showing a house, a person bends his hand so that it resembles a roof. Marking the pages, shows how the book opens to say “love”, using gesture speech, you need to put your fingers to your heart and so on.
Imagery
The most important feature of sign language is its imagery. Thanks to this, it is easily absorbed, quickly perceived, and communication becomes much easier and more enjoyable. If, for example, a person does not know the Italian language, for him words from it will not mean anything. While gestures will be much clearer to anyone.
Dissection
The next characteristic feature is syncretism. The concepts are passed together, are indicated by different words that belong to the same category. So, initially the words fire, bonfire or theater, performance do not differ in any way. To distinguish between close objects and phenomena, additional signs were introduced. Of these, a separate system has developed. For example, the designations “draw” and “frame” are a “picture”.
Amorphous
Another difference between sign language is its amorphous nature. There is a term in the gesture, but there is neither gender, nor case, nor anything else. Verbs do not transmit time. For this reason, simple combinations are created from a limited number of movements of the hands and lips. For example, “action - negation” (wanted - no), “subject-quality”, “state” and so on.
Spatiality
Another feature of sign language stems from the spatial nature of such languages. They allow us to speak simultaneously about several phenomena at once. For example, “a large volume of an object moves along the road” is conveyed with just one gesture. However, languages in which sounds are meant to transmit information in a consistent way - one detail follows another, and there is no such thing that everything is expressed at once. Sign language transmission also includes head movements, which also carry additional information.