Comparison of American

Sign Language Versus

Worldwide Sign Language
Dialects
Introduction
 Title: Comparison of  The goal of this
American Sign Language
Versus Worldwide Sign
Language Dialects
 Target Audience: Adults in
the age bracket of 25-55
project is to provide
an understanding
regarding the nature
of deaf
communication in
various countries
worldwide with the
focus on America.
Myths and Facts About Sign
Languages
Myths Facts
 Sign languages are  Sign languages in each
universal. country have their own
 People will understand dialect.
other countries’ sign  Sign language dialects of
languages. each country will differ
 All sign languages have from region to region.
the same grammatical  Sign languages will not
structures and rules. be completely
understood or clear to
foreigners who use sign
language.
Influences on Sign Languages

 The majority of sign languages in

different countries were influenced by
the French Sign Language system.
 Many countries had their own signing
system prior to the exposure of FSL.
 Many countries modified some of the FSL
and incorporated their sign language
and the FSL into a complex language.
ASL and Sign Languages of Other
Countries
ASL
 A complete and complex
visual-spatial, natural
language used by native
users.
 Has no grammatical
similarities to English.
 ASL is used and cherished by
the Deaf community.
 There are not many
documentations about ASL.
Other Countries’ SL
 A complete and complex
visual-spatial, natural
language used by native
users.
 Has no grammatical
similarities to spoken
languages of their own
country.
 Sign languages of each
country is used and cherished
by the Deaf community.
 There are not many
documents about sign
languages in other countries.
ASL and Sign Languages of
Other Countries
ASL Other Countries’ SL
 It has its own grammatical  Sign languages of each
structures: country have their own
 Syntax grammatical structures:
 Semantics  Syntax
 Pragmatics  Semantics
 Morphology  Pragmatics
 Phonology  Morphology
 It contains gestures, non-  Phonology
manual markers, classifiers,  Each sign languages contain
fingerspelling, etc. gestures, non-manual
markers, classifiers,
fingerspelling, etc.
Differences Between ASL and Sign
Languages of Other Countries
 Signs used for expressing words and the
manual alphabet are different from ASL.
 Some signs that are acceptable in some
countries may be offensive in other countries.
 The structures and rules of the
languages will vary from country to
country.
Japanese Sign Language

 Fingerspelling in JSL was not introduced until

the early 20th century.
 Fingerspelling is influenced by Spain, France, and the
United States.
 Older folks don’t know fingerspelling and numerals.
 It is not standardized like ASL.
 JSL rely on mouthing the words for
clarification; whereas ASL uses initial letters
of the English words or fingerspelling for
distinguishment.
Canada
 The dialect is very
different from ASL in the
United States and has
regional differences in
Canada from east to west.
 Most signers from eastern
Canada use ASL, but with
some British Sign Language
vocabulary.
 Structurally and
grammatically distinct
from Quebec Sign
Language (LSQ).
Auslan

 Auslan recently was pulled from the

words Australian Sign Language, but the
language is not new.
 It is very complex in grammar and
lexicon.
 The language is not purely gestural.
 Some signs are iconic, but it is mostly
arbitrary; similar to ASL.
Mexican Sign Language

 LSM and ASL are complete different languages.

 Strongly influenced by Spanish vocabulary and
initialization.
 LSM uses more initialization for clarification
compared to ASL.
 It is not seen as a negative strategy, nor is it viewed as
“hearing” signs like that in ASL if a signer used initialized
signs borrowed from English words.
Summary of Different Sign
Languages
 Sign languages are not universal as many
people think.
 Each sign languages have their own
grammatical structures and rules.
 People will not be able to understand sign
languages of other countries no matter how
fluent they are in their own sign language
unless they learn that language.
 Each sign language dialect is as unique and
complex as spoken languages.
References

 Nakamura, Karen (2002) “About

Japanese Sign Language.” Website.
<http://www.deaflibrary.org/jsl.html>
 WA Deaf Society. 25 July 2002. The
Western Australian Deaf Society Inc. 30
October 2002
<http:www.wadeaf.org.au/index.shtml>
References continued
 American Sign Language: A Language of USA.
July 2002. Ethnologue: Languages of the
World, 14th Ed. Dec. 2001
<http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?_c
ode=ASE>
 Faurot, Karla, Dianne Dellinger, Andy Eatough,
and Steve Parkhurst. The Identity of Mexican
Sign as a Language. June 1999.
<http://www.sil.org/mexico/lenguajes-de-
signos/G009i-Identity-MFS.pdf>