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From: liz@umcp-cs.UUCP (Liz Allen)
Newsgroups: net.ai,net.nlang
Subject: Re: Natural Language Deficiencies in Hopi.
Message-ID: <440@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 24-Oct-84 23:43:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.440
Posted: Wed Oct 24 23:43:23 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 27-Oct-84 06:11:41 EDT
References: <12582@sri-arpa.UUCP> <12300003@uicsl.UUCP> <194@oliveb.UUCP> <619@gloria.UUCP> <801@aplvax.UUCP> <2479@rochester.UUCP>
Reply-To: liz@maryland.UUCP (Liz Allen)
Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD
Lines: 51

Gary has brought up one of my favorite subjects -- sign language.

In article <2479@rochester.UUCP> gary@rochester.UUCP (Gary Cottrell) writes:
>> It is well-known that the Hopi (American Indian) language only has a
>> present tense, there are no past or future tenses for their verbs.
>> Surely this is a language deficiency.
>
>The same is true of AMSLAN (AMerican Sign LANguage), but whether you are
>talking about the past or future is clearly communicated by setting up the
>context in advance. For example, one might say "Yesterday, I see Bill.",
>which is perfectly grammatical in AMSLAN. I'll bet there's something similar
>in Hopi.

That's close.  There actually are signs for future and past so you
don't have to be more specific (as in "yesterday").  So, even though
verbs in sign language do not carry tense, the time is not missing.
Word order tends to be: time, object, subject, verb.  But that's only
roughly true since the real rule is to set the scene and then describe
the action.  Gary's sentance should probably read: "Yesterday, Bill I
see."  When I was learning how to change English word order into sign
word order (in a sign language class at Galludet College, in
Washington DC), we found it difficult to come up with the proper word
order, but when the teacher would give it to us, it seemed so right!

Other signs which indicate time in sign language are the signs
meaning "just now" (I'm referring to the sign that most people say
means "recently", but the deaf don't use it that way!!!) and
"finished".  The first is used to indicate something that just
happened.  The second is a very important sign which indicates
completed action.  The next sign language class I would take (if
I ever had the time) takes most of the semester to explain the use
of this one sign! I certainly haven't been able to figure it out...
I have seen it used in situations I wouldn't think appropriate and
not used in other situations I would have thought perfect!

In some ways, I'm not sure that anyone really understands sign
language grammer -- I don't think anyone has really analyzed it
completely.  In the Galludet classes, a lot of the lessons seemed
based more on examples than rules and questions I ask of people
like interpreters will often result in contradictory answers...
It doesn't seem like anyone has really verbalized it -- though it
could be just a lack of understanding on my part.
-- 
				-Liz Allen

Univ of Maryland, College Park MD	
Usenet:   ...!seismo!umcp-cs!liz
Arpanet:  liz@maryland

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:  God
 is light; in him there is no darkness at all" -- 1 John 1:5