English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Robusto

00:09

American Sign Language (ASL) is a sign language, a language in which the hands, arms, head, facial expression and body language are used to speak without sound. ASL is not related to English, and features an entirely different grammar and vocabulary. In the 1960s, ASL was sometimes referred to as "Ameslan" but this term is now obsolete. ASL is the dominant sign language of deaf communities in the United States and English-speaking parts of Canada. Although the United Kingdom and the United States / Canada share English as a common oral and written language, British Sign Language (BSL) ...

Some do manage to get by without the audio track.

Actually, Kosmonaut had some interesting observations about sign language. Apparently it is as expressive in its own right as sound language, and has a number of different ways to convey meaning. One of the most interesting things he talked about was creating spaces in the air to hold ideas, which they could then refer to like a clipboard tool, bringing ideas back into the conversation when appropriate.

Cerberus

Oh, like pronouns.

Nice.

Robusto

Yes, pronouns are a good analogy. But it seems easier to make the referents clear in sign language, possibly.

> ASL grammar is completely unrelated to that of English. It lacks the inflections of English, such as tense and number, and does not use articles such as "the", but its spatial mode of expression has enabled it to develop an elaborate system of grammatical aspect that is absent from English.

> ASL grammar was obscured for much of its history by the practice of glossing it rather than transcribing it (see Writing systems below), a practice which conveyed little of its grammar apart from word order.

Cerberus

Yeah it's quite interesting.

Still, would you give your child cochlear implants, or not?

Mahnax

03:54

Ugh, it's ruined!

I had 6k exactly and some person came along and ruined it.

sniffles

user19161

@Mahnax You may downvote 5 answers.

user19161

@Mahnax Have a tissue.

Mahnax

04:29

@ClarkKent 10.

David Wallace

06:24

@Vitaly I appreciate the effort you've gone to, to expound your point of view. However, I still disagree with you completely, based on the evidence I see around me; to wit, happy smiling Christians. These are not Melanesian spider-worshippers, (sorry, some of your messages may have blurred into one, in my mind, I got befuddled when you promised @KitFox you'd withdraw after eight seconds).

These are genuinely fulfilled people who count themselves lucky to have God in their lives - there are many such here in New Zealand; and I kind of assumed that @Meysam was in the same category.

Vitaly

*lucky to have being part of a tribe in their lives

Unless you have evidence to the contrary. Then, of course, I'll be happy to learn about it.

Jeremy

06:57

Sorry, I don't mean to 're-comment' but I'm not sure if my last message got through. How does 700 words and 8 paragraphs sound for a scholarship's personal statement? I'm just afraid that it might be tossed for being too long. However, it is well organized in to paragraphs.

user19161

@Jeremy It sounds alright to me. Unless this is an exam in which you are penalized for violating the word count, it does not really matter. Guidelines are for guide, not for strict adherence. This is how I see it.

user19161

@Jeremy Also, good luck for the scholarship. May the force be with you.

Jeremy

@ClarkKent Lol, thanks.

user19161

@Mahnax Silly me, I have forgotten the rep rules. You are right.

user19161

@Jeremy I usually use very few words myself. I find that I can say the same things most people say in half the number of words. But sometimes using more words helps to add some colour. But it seems most people are just overly verbose.

user19161

07:08

@Jeremy Also, remember not to use lol in your essay!

user19161

@Vitaly been

Jeremy

@ClarkKent Yeah I know xd. I was careful not to be, as you put it, overly verbose. Thanks for your input, I really appreciate that.

Vitaly