Frankly, I think that most hearing settlers don’t even realize that ASL and BSL are different and completely unrelated languages, or for that matter that sign languages are natural languages unrelated to spoken languages, or for that matter that the number of extant sign languages in the world is greater than one. Any general-audiences book or article or documentary I’ve read or seen that even touches on Norwegian Sign Language feels like it “babies” Norway’s hearies by assuming that they think that the language is really just a mix of pantomime, gesticulation and fingerspelling, rather than a proper language.
Which is to say that the chances of a hearing settler being aware of the mere existence of PISL, even if thon lives in an area where the language was historically widespread, is unfortunately still pretty slim. There’s a greater chance of a hearing settler being aware of the historical Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language, but even awareness of that is in the toilet. But regardless of the present situation, we can still dream of and work towards a brighter future for PISL and its dialects: once a lingua franca for half the continent, today endangered and obscured, and perhaps tomorrow a lingua franca again, say.
Frankly, I think that most hearing settlers don’t even realize that ASL and BSL are different and completely unrelated languages, or for that matter that sign languages are natural languages unrelated to spoken languages, or for that matter that the number of extant sign languages in the world is greater than one. Any general-audiences book or article or documentary I’ve read or seen that even touches on Norwegian Sign Language feels like it “babies” Norway’s hearies by assuming that they think that the language is really just a mix of pantomime, gesticulation and fingerspelling, rather than a proper language.
Which is to say that the chances of a hearing settler being aware of the mere existence of PISL, even if thon lives in an area where the language was historically widespread, is unfortunately still pretty slim. There’s a greater chance of a hearing settler being aware of the historical Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language, but even awareness of that is in the toilet. But regardless of the present situation, we can still dream of and work towards a brighter future for PISL and its dialects: once a lingua franca for half the continent, today endangered and obscured, and perhaps tomorrow a lingua franca again, say.