AN INTERNATIONAL SIGN LANGUAGE
By SIR RICHARD PAGET
ALL who have had to do with deaf mutes know (1) that they are only mute because they are deaf, and have therefore never learnt to imitate the sounds of speech, (2) that in these circumstances the deaf child naturally tends to express itself by pantomimic gesture, and (:3) that this natural tendency is universal and is found in the deaf of all countries. It follows that a deaf mute of one country has no difficulty in conununica- ting with the deaf mutes of other countries—for they all use the same language--the universal language of signs. It is true that different communities of deaf mutes develop local sign dialects, and use special forms of gestural slang—which other deaf mutes would not under- stand till the meaning had been explained to them. But if tic of mutes of different races were signing to one another, they would drop their local slang, and use only natural pantomime, such as every (leaf mute would understand.
It. is a curious and- as I think—rather discreditable fact that the existence of this universal language of mankind has been almost completely ignored by students of human speech. In the British Museum library there does not appear to be a single book dealing with the universal gesture language of deaf mutes, though there is a large literature devoted to the various methods of teaching the deaf to hp-read, and to speak. and of dis- couraging them from using their natural means of expression.
Besides the deaf mutes, many races of men (of normal hearing) also use sign language. The North American Indians had-- until English became their universal language—a silent sign larg,nage by which all the various tribes, speaking over a lmndred different languages, could communicate with one another. It is interesting to note that the Red Indian sign language was so similar to that of deaf mutes that Red Indians and deaf mutes could understand one another without difficulty. The Ahorigines of North-West-Central Queensland, also have a sign language which, again, is on the same principles as the deaf mutes' and the Red Indians'. Other sign languages have been found—in Russian Armenia and in the Cameroons. Then there are primitive races such as the Xingus of South America who combine speech and gesture—the gesture being an essential part of the word." Indeed, it may be said that almost every. gradation can he found between pure gesture-- such as the sign language of deaf mutes—and gestureless speech —such as that of the more phlegmatic of our own emintrymen.
The fact is—though it is not yet recognised by linguists - - that human speech is only a form of gesture language, a form in which the gestures arc (unconsciously) made with the tongue and lips instead of with the hands. The reason for this remarkable substitution may be found in the fact (noted by Charles Darwin) that there is, in mankind, a natural sympathy of movement between the hands and the mouth. When, therefore, primitive man endeavoured to express himself by bodily pan- tomime he also, unconsciously, pantomimed with his mouth, and the consequent movements of his tongue and lips, coupled with the emotional noises which he made in order to attract attention to his signs, automatically produced speech. Speech, therefore, is sign language made by mouth. It may be imagined that in the be- ginning all signs were accompanied by corresponding speech sounds, and that the bodily signs were gradually dropped out as it was discovered that the signs—and consequently the signer's meaning--could be recognised by ear. Speech had, in fact, several notable advantages over sign language. It could be understood in the dark ; it could be used even when the signer's hands were occupied—and the signer and signet did not need to be in sight of one another.
But we are now faced with very different problems from those which worried our primitive ancestors. The world has become a very small place ; the difficulty is to keep the peace in our over-crowded planet, and above all to avoid misunderstandings between the different nations which people it. We badly want an auxiliary inter- national language by which each individual can, if need be, communicate with individuals of any other race, so that they may understand one another. Esperanto has been tried and found wanting. Basic English is (in my judgement) a far better language than Esperanto and more likely to be acceptable. But Basic English is a form of English, and therefore likely to raise prejudice in the minds of other nationals. The alternative is to revive the natural universal language of mankind, and fall back on sign language. There will, of course, be some spade work to be done before a generally acceptable sign language vocabulary can be worked out. A start has already been made in this direction, and I have been fortunate in getting together a small group who have been actively at work for the past year on the preparation of a systematic vocabu- lary of signs. At present our vocabulary is still in a provisional stage—but even so, it is capable of expressing anything that can be said in Basic English—indeed we have used Mr. C. K. Ogden's Basic English word-list as the basis for our own, and have selected or devised signs for each of his 850 words. The problem of inventing a suit- able notation is also being tackled, and should not, I think, raise any serious difficulties.
The principal advantages theta systematic sign language offers, as an auxiliary international language, are these : (1) It is extremely easy to learn. An intelligent individual can learn about 100 signs in an hour—and remember them ; he could learn the whole vocabulary in one working day. It would, of course, take time and practice to acquire speed and finish, but far less than for any spoken language.
(2) It is universal, and should make an equal appeal to all nations.
(3) It is much richer than speech in its ability to dis- tinguish gradations of meaning, and much more precise in describing actions, forms, spacial relations, &e. (4) It is far more logical and systematic than any spoken language.
The main disadvantages of sign language—namely, that it cannot be understood in the dark, and that it occupies the hands—arc becoming less serious nowadays ; we have artificial light at our desire, and our hands become more and more free as machinery takes the place of hand labour, and telephones, dictaphones, wireless, and, very soon, television—take the place of letter writing. When television comes, it should in future be possible for a single individual to speak in signs so that every nation in the world can understand him. Surely this neglected art of human communication deserves to be studied and tried out.
So far we have not experimented with children, but it would be surprising if they did not prove even better than adults at learning sign language. If so, a beginning might be made in securing a good understanding between all races of men by teaching sign language to the school children of different races, and then sending parties abroad from each country to visit foreign schools. At present interchanges of visits arc being carried out to a limited extent, but the language difficulty hampers their develop- ment. With the use of sign language the language difficulty could, I estimate, be solved in a few hours of systematic instruction in the various schools con- cerned. The experiment seems worth trying.
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