I realize the concept of loud and quiet speech would have little meaning to a deaf person, but is there a way to sign “quietly,” the way a speaker might whisper an aside to someone standing next to him? Or if a deaf person were called upon to sign to a group of people, is there a way to sign “loudly” so every person in the room could see what is being said?
Based on what I’ve seen Signing people do and on a conversation with a deaf BSL linguist, it’s just the same as the difference between the way those of us who are hearing but who speak with our hands use them when we’re talking normally vs. when we’re excited: faster, larger, more emphatic gestures are “louder”. If it’s a matter of making sure everybody can see your gestures, well, just think of all the resources we have to make sure people can see the speaker who’s giving a presentation - they’re the same for a Signing speaker.
One of the BSL linguist’s complaint about BSL as seen on British TV is that it’s so “neutralized” it’s the equivalent of someone speaking in a monotone using language-tape vocabulary; she called the vocabulary “beige”. The interpreter will have almost the same facial expression and use the same speed and amplitude when talking about a natural disaster, a cricket game or the results of the last national elections.
Very interesting, Nava, thanks for the reply. It’s fascinating that you can speak in a monotone in sign! I am especially interested in how one would speak quietly. Hide or shield your hands in some way? Use small, quick signs when you saw the recipient looking right at you? Hmm… I work with a deaf woman, and I was asking her about this concept (I use signs in my story times at the library) but from her responses (we were writing - I don’t sign well enough to converse) I wasn’t sure she ever quite got what I was asking, then I started wondering if the whole concept of volume of speech was absent from signing.
What Nava said. A lot of that is carried in the body language context, like a dancer. Think of how dancers move in small, intimate spaces as opposed to, say, the local football stadium. How they interpret the emotions in music, that sort of thing.
Personally, if I wanted to have a quiet word with someone, I’d probably lean to the side a bit, sign smaller and duck my head a bit (and that’s not even getting to the part about facial nuances). If I didn’t care who heard me, I’d just sit and sign more normally. So yeah, volume is there, just modulated through the size/emphasis of the signs and the body language context rather than a purely aural element only.
Thanks for the replies. I know facial expression is very important in sign. When we have staff meetings I spend my time watching the signer, who is there for Marie, my deaf colleague. I do humorous original songs for company parties, and I always make sure I bring a copy of the lyrics – not for Marie, but for the signer, so she can get the proper inflection and humor into my songs as I’m performing.
Yip, signing is a lot like vocal speech. You can also “sing” with signing. Every action perfectly timed with both the lyrics and the music, almost like a dance. A slow song has very long, slow, graceful movements. A fast one very quick movements. And, of course, dynamics (loudness and softness) are fully at play. The actions can even have that lilt that is often present in comedic songs.
Well, you know that I am taking ASL, Arrendajo. Yes, the responses were right on. Facial expression is so much of it. Our second assignment was to practice certain expression with someone and ask them to guess each one. We had a lot of fun with it.
Re. discreet signing, again think of, say, non-signing people mixing during a cocktail or after a meeting. They form groups, drift, and then Mary taps Josie on the shoulder; if it’s a quick thing, Josie turns a bit around so they’re not looking into the group, they share a few quick, quiet sentences, then Mary leaves and Josie turns back to the group. OK, with signers (again, as seen), Josie does the same and what makes the quick sentences quiet is both the turning away and that, instead of having their hands mostly in the basic torso-long arch, they have them up by their shoulders; the space being used in their speech is a lot smaller. And of course if what Mary needs is too elaborate for that, they simply move aside into a corner.