Chapter 14 of Talking Hands talks about how signers make errors when signing due to single formational parameters. This is the same way that people who use verbal language can mistake one word for another because of simple sound based errors. When nondeaf people mishear words this can be attributed to them not paying attention, the speaker not annunciating clearly, or their being static in the conversation and simply not being able to hear the speaker. Do these same type of behaviors occur in deaf people when they misunderstand a sign? It might be because they were not paying attention or the signer was being lazy and not fully expressing the sign, but what might other reasons be as to why they might misunderstand such as in the way that we do when we mishear someone? Are the same reasons hearing people misunderstand the same way that deaf people do to?
Comments (1)
I think those who speak sign language can make many of the similar blunders that hearing individuals do in their speech. It may be a little difficult to wrap our minds around the exact processes that give rise to these errors (especially because that's even rather elusive in spoken language), but I imagine the experience would be fairly analogous. We've already discussed in class how there exists a sign language equivalent to spoonerisms. I imagine eggcorns exist, as well (although since deaf communities are much rarer and exist in smaller numbers, the cultural spread of such eggcorns might be limited). After all, eggcorns are merely warped versions of original words or phrases that were skewed by individual perception. I imagine signers, then, could learn a particular sign incorrectly (though just slightly), and live all their lives thinking that a nonsense gesture was actually the sign for laundry.
As far as misunderstanding spoken and signed language, I think both processes are nearly the same. It's all a matter of perception--the only difference being (primarily) audio perception in spoken language, and visual in signed. We're more likely to misperceive things when we're tired or unfocused. And I'm sure every sign language speaker has his or her own particular accent (though in some ways, I'd relate this more to the differences in individual handwriting than accents) which can throw a signer of the same language off.
Posted by Michele Harris | April 25, 2008 4:25 PM
Posted on April 25, 2008 16:25