posted
It works for me. I'd imagine that using the word 'signed' instead of 'said' probably would work perfectly; tags such as 'asked' would still apply, since in the context of signing we know they've asked in sign language.
The capacity for additional character expression during signing could make such exchanges quite entertaining to both write and read.
posted
I agree that the way you present it works fine, but an alternative could be to use italics. This would work well to avoid confusion if some people were using sign language while others were speaking.
Posts: 1102 | Registered: May 2009
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posted
According to Chicago Manual of Style, no formal system for rendering sign language in written form exists. Chicago does have two pages of accepted methods and recommendations for how to present it in writing though. Section 10.145 through 10.154.
Reproducing from Chicago isn't permitted so I can't cite from my copy. I suggest looking up a copy in a reference library. The section contains several concise methods for depicting sign language in prose and transcript formats. Reading the entries made me immediately conscientious of a consideration for senstivity to hearing challenged persons, what for many people is a shared, secret language, and how conforming to the recommendations might enrich a story's verisimilitude.
[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited July 24, 2009).]
posted
Ah, the joys of the interwebs. Though no expert, I'm guessing that while quoting the manual for the purpose of research would be well within the bounds of fair use, it would fall outside a literal interpretation of this forum's policy on posting copyrighted material. A pity, for while I have no intention of writing a signing character, it would have been interesting (and no, there's probably not going to be a copy in my local library here on the other side of the planet ;)).
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posted
I saw silent language used in The Last of the Amazons, a book by Steven Pressfield. He used it very well, in my opinion. First he described the movement of the hands, then translated into usual speech so the conversation was not hindered by the reader's guessing.
[This message has been edited by MartinV (edited July 24, 2009).]
posted
This is from a non-expert in the field, but...I believe the grammar of American Sign Language, at least, is somewhat different from standard English. I don't know if "What are they doing?" would be an accurate rendition of the actual gestures...it might come across as "Doing [question] they?" or somesuch. You might want to study up on it to make things interesting...or at least find the expert in it that I'm not. (There are several users where I work, but I can't communicate with them except in English.)
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I would treat it like any foreign language. ASL grammar is a language separate from English, and has a different set of grammar rules that govern sentence construction, but I wouldn't use them in a story. Using a foreign language speaking character, I would use:
"This guy can go die as far as I'm concerned," Max said in German.
rather than
"Dieser Typ kann von mir aus sterben," Max said.
or, heaven forbid, translating German grammar into English:
"This guy can from me out die," Max said is German.
In the interest of my reader being able to follow what was going on, I would do sign language exactly the same way, which is how you presented it in the first post of this thread.
posted
In my wide reading experience, the deaf community is not represented as more than characters of note in stories. Deaf community signers represent around about two million potential readers in the U.S.
A hearing person might not see any sensitivity issue because deaf people who can see probably can read. But that's where the communication breakdown occurs. Sign languages are distinct languages, foreign to hearing persons' native languages, but native languages to signers. For signers written English is a foreign, secondary language.
An ocean of reading material, not one story that reaches out to signers. Signers who write, write in written English for a wider audience's appeal. What about reaching out to signers? I imagine it would be a rewarding experience for all concerned and possibly enriching too.
"'TRAIN-GO-SORRY' is one of the most widely-used idioms and is similar to the English idiom You missed the boat (Cohen, 1995). Another variation of this idiom is 'CIGARETTE-GONE' (Vicars, 2005)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASL_Idioms
Unfortunately, one of the methods for representing a sign language "gloss" in writing is in all small capitals, and that's not a formating feature available in UBB code.
[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited July 24, 2009).]
I'm not trying to recreate ASL nor is my character who signs deaf. I never even thought about describing the hand gestures because my POV character wouldn't notice it. He'd either sign back (when secrecy is needed) or talk back. Most people don't describe the someone's lips moved unless there is a reason to focus on someone's lips. Why describe the hand gestures unless I want to show agitation or something?
posted
Late in the game, I'm reminded of Longyear's Enemy Mine, with the main character, confronted (and stranded with) with the speaker of an alien language, going from (1) writing in an unfamiliar (created) language, to (2) writing a kind of pidgin of English and that language, and then to (3) writing in English, with phrasing in dialog influenced by the unfamiliar (created) language.
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