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0 pointsactionfromafar1y ago0 comments

Hm, Italian speakers look like what you describe. :-)

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2 comments · 1 top-level

vanderZwan1y ago· 1 in thread

I know you're joking, but since we're among nerds who like technical correctness: what Italians do is known as "gesticulation". It is an important part of their speech, for sure, just like the melody of a spoken language can add layers of depth to a sentence when compared to its written representation. As far as I know this is not, however, a sign language. Sign languages have their own grammar that are not comparable to spoken languages. Italians do not take their gesticulation that far AFAIK.

vanderZwan1y ago

Ok I get that people downvoted my comment being a killjoy, but the point I was trying to make is a serious one: namely that sign languages are real, valid languages, that Deaf people who speak and think in it should be taken seriously, and that the consequences of not doing so are severely damaging for the Deaf.

The Deaf community has suffered a lot of discrimination throughout history, and two of the biggest issues are non-deaf people deciding on their behalf what is best for them, and forcing them to use vocal languages (which makes as much sense as forcing a blind person to communicate via colorful paintings) while denying them access to sign language. Ask any Deaf person about Milan 1880 and why Alexander Graham Bell is so controversial in their community. A major driver in this has always been that people who don't know sign languages tend to think of them as funny interpretive miming.

With that in mind comparing sign languages to "haha Italian gesticulation funny" jokes without being aware of the differences can become a form of infantilization.

[0] https://www.deafhistory.eu/index.php/component/zoo/item/1880

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantilization

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