A BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE.

A BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE. This article by Lou Ann Walker in New York magazine (January 21-28) recounts the recurrent conflicts over American Sign Language. The language of signing has felt under attack since the time of Alexander Graham Bell (an opponent of signing). The issue is whether learning to sign interferes with learning to lip read and oral speech. I have a presumption that more options are better (and that therefore the taking away of signing, even as an alternative language is harmful), but this is a battle that I am not really able to judge (The play CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD explores the issues movingly). It seems evident that reasonable people do differ on this issue. I do admire American Sign Language. Since the full body is used, the participants in a conversation must stand a distance apart. Conversations may not be linear; several ideas may be communicated at once. Lou Ann Walker describes a favorite sign: “Two fists at the forehead that suddenly whoosh out, hands expanding into encompassing arcs. The translation: ‘Mind expanded.’ Or, ‘New world opening up.’ Or, ‘I suddenly take in so much more than I ever could before.’”