Ch 17

               Chapter 17 I found very interesting. In this chapter Pidgin Sign English (PSE) was discussed and described. PSE “is an impromptu blend of American Sign Language and American English signs. It’s commonly used when ASL-Deaf people communicate with hearing (or deaf) people who are not fluent in ASL, but who know some sign and fingerspelling” (119). I think that it is really cool that we have found a way for deaf and hearing people to communicate without either having to be excellent in the others language. By combining a little of both from each language a happy medium is formed and allows people to communicate. The syntax of the language is all very different. As an example:

Signed Exact English: I AM GOING TO THE SCHOOL

Pidgin Sign English: I AM GO TO THE SCHOOL

ASL: SCHOOLTHSAT ONE I GO NOW

Most hearing people never see ASL one hundred percent, because deaf people switch the way they sign according to the person they are trying to communicate too. I myself find it all to be really confusing, but that’s primarily because I am only an ASL 1 student at the moment. I do fin it to be really cool that a deaf person can switch the way they sign in order to communicate. I am glad that I am learning ASL though, I feel like I am grasping the pure language of the deaf community.

 

Works Cited

Morre, S. Matthew, and Linda Levitan. For Hearing People Only. 3rd Ed. Rochester, New York: MSM Productions, Ltd.,2003.Print.