Deaf signing......

Face expressions make you look intelligent ( well they think it does )

Is that where the saying deaf as a post came from?

Sorry, Aunty, coudn't resist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2upAsFzO9AU


i am deaf too and  i sign all the time

"Why do signers pull ridiculous faces

it  cos   they are born deaf   and becomes  normal signing 

while  old folks who  just gone deaf  and  cant sign

Had to think about that kenny....

I'm particularly talking about the ones that appear at the bottom of the screen, who are presumably signing from the dialogue,
which means they can't be deaf (unless they have autocue  of course)!

Very funny chris but, ee by gum cocker, I wor expecting them to sign in t'broad Yorkshire tha nors!

Pardon?

Signers pull faces completely IN context with what they're expressing. It's an integral part of signing. There's no grammar. The difference between a question and a statement often relies entirely on the facial expression. You might be confused by the way you don't necessarily have to sign in the same word order as the spoken statement being "translated".

When you speak normally, you not only move your lips, you also move your hands, point and pull faces. Signing is just the same, except the hand movements and expressions are more to the fore. But the lip movements are still there.

Have you seen the new Maltesers advert, where the two girls are signing an encounter with a big, stupid dog? "Big" involves not just moving the hands apart, but also puffing the cheeks. And when signing "I was round Theo's", she signs the letter "T" (index finger touching palm), then "house" (fingertips touching at an angle), but at the same time mouths the words "Theo's house", so she doesn't have to laboriously finger-spell T-H-E-O.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYIEAIogarI

They all work together. So if you want to make a deaf person's life easier, even if you know no sign language, try making your lips visible, miming absolutely anything that can be mimed, and pull faces and point.

Very good post, Screaming.

Thanks, Diva.

Important not to think of signing as some inferior attempt at copying the spoken English language. It's a language in its own right, which would exist even if there were no such thing as speaking or hearing. You could argue that the girl in that Maltesers advert expresses how stupid that dog is better by hitting her palm with her fist and semi-rolling her eyes than a hearing person could by using the word "stupid". Mind you, the hearing person would probably still involuntarily roll their eyes at that point.

i am the only deaf signing on here

Very good sfbtw!

I was expecting you to pop up, as we have talked before on our own hearing problems.