OUispeak BLOG

AN INTRODUCTION TO SIGN LANGUAGES: HISTORY & CULTURE

WHAT IS FRENCH SIGN LANGUAGE?

French Sign Language is a sign language developed by the deaf community to communicate as a substitute for oral language.

It is used by a part of the deaf population in France and Switzerland.

It is estimated that in France, it is used by between 80,000 and 120,000 Deaf people, i.e. about a third of French Deaf people.

HISTORY OF SIGN LANGUAGES:

Signing has always been used by the deaf community to communicate. There is evidence of the existence of sign languages as far back as Antiquity. It is mentioned in Plato's Cratylus.

Sign languages developed in the medieval period, particularly within religious institutions that took a vow of silence.

Some monks subsequently set up schools for the deaf to give them access to education, as was the case with Pedro Ponce de León.

There will also be writings on sign languages, presenting various types of manual alphabets for example.

In 1770, Father Charles-Michel de l'Épée opened the first free school for the deaf in France.

The Congress of Milan held in 1880, advocating oralism, prohibited the use of sign language in schools.

The congress aimed to improve the learning of oral language by the deaf, however, this reform reinforced the school failure of the community.

This prohibition lasted until 1991 and the adoption of the Fabius Amendment, allowing parents of deaf children to choose whether they prefer their child's education to be in French only or in a combination of sign language and French.

Since 2005, French sign language (LSF) has been officially recognized as a language of its own in France.

Since 2018, sign languages have had their international day, on 23 September.

A bill was registered in 2021 to include LSF in the French Constitution.

DIVERSITY AND CONSTRUCTION:

Diversity of sign languages:

Sign language is often referred to in the singular, but there are more than a hundred different sign languages. However, they are not adaptations of oral languages into signs, but languages in their own right, each with its own grammar and syntax.

Some are spoken with one hand, others with two.

However, not all sign languages are officially recognized.

Despite this diversity of languages, it is still possible for deaf people of different nationalities to understand each other, as some signs represent actions or have a common origin.

For example, French Sign Language (LSF) will be easier to understand than British Sign Language (BSL) for someone using American Sign Language (ASL).

The reason? Both LSF and ASL come from the French family of sign languages, unlike BSL which has a British origin.

As with oral languages, sign languages can have accents.

They may vary, depending on whether the speaker is hearing or not, the age at which he or she learns it, or the words and expressions specific to the region.

An attempt was made to develop a common sign language, in the same way as Esperanto: Gestuno. This failed attempt was later replaced by the International Sign Language (ISL).

This is used at international events for deaf people.*

Construction of the LSF:

French sign language uses 4 different types of signs:

Iconic signs (which express gestures through mime);
Dactylo logical signs (which represent the letters of the alphabet and are used for spelling);
French-inspired signs (gestures that combine mime and the first letter of the word);
Invented signs (for words that have their own sign).

Sentences are constructed differently. There is no conjugation in sign language.

For this reason, the sentence is started with the temporal context: past, present or future, before or after, then the exact date if necessary.

Other parts of the body can also be important in conveying messages: the gaze, facial expressions, body position, shoulders, etc.

Oral language also has a role to play. As deaf people learn oral language, they can read lips.

To do this, make sure you are facing them, no need to speak loudly, just articulate well and make short and simple sentences.

DEMOCRATIZING THE USE OF SIGN LANGUAGE:

In daily life:

Sign language is increasingly used in everyday life.

With the wearing of masks and to reduce physical contact during the Covid-19 pandemic, some people decided to adopt sign language to communicate or greet each other.

In addition, more and more hearing parents are teaching their babies sign language so that they can communicate with the world around them even before they can speak.

Screening representation:

There has also been an increase in the representation of signers on the screen in recent years.

This can be seen in French movies such as :

- Marie’s Story (2014) by Jean-Pierre Améris

- The Bélier Family (2014) directed by Éric Lartigau.

Unlike the French version, the latter's American adaptation, Coda (2021) features real deaf actors and won three Oscars in 2022.

Other American movies have also chosen to portray sign language, such as Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water (2017), A Quiet Place (2018) directed by John Krasinski, or the Marvel Studios blockbuster Eternals by Chloe Zhao released in 2021.

As a result of the latter, there has been a 250% increase in the demand for sign language training worldwide.

Marvel does not intend to stop there.

After introducing another deaf heroine, played by deaf actress Alaqua Cox, in its Hawkeye series, she will soon be entitled to her own series.

The Eternals and Hawkeye have been awarded a prize by the Ruderman Family Foundation, which promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities.

Where to learn sign language? 👀🙄

There are various solutions available to you.

You can find books on the subject, videos on the Internet, and dedicated accounts on social networks.

Other more entertaining methods:

Board games and applications have been created so that you can learn sign language while having fun.

Conclusion:

At OUispeak, our goal is to enable everyone to communicate together.

If this is also your case, we can provide sign language interpreters for your events.