[Wikipedia-l] Re: Re: Re: new request for ASL/English wikipedia (Neil Harris)

[Craig Franklin]

Scríobh Neil Harris:

> ASL is most certainly a first-class language, but it _must be written_
> to be usable in a text-based system like Wikipedia.

I think this is the key here.  Do deaf persons in the United States actually
write ASL in their everyday lives.  A quick bit of Googling and research
seems to indicate that there isn't even a settled orthography for ASL, so
producing material in a written form seems counterproductive.  Half a
million people might "speak" the language on a daily basis, but if only 5%
of people understand the particular form of notation that is used, it's
going to be close to useless for most deaf persons.  We might then run into
a situation similar to the båkmal/nynorsk, or the cantonese/mandarin
fiascos, in which each variant of sign language demands a seperate wiki for
itself.  If we allow an ASL wiki, then how can we say no to an Auslan wiki,
a Gestuno wiki, an ISL wiki, etc.

Sadly, I think that sign languages can, at the present time, be only
classified as being spoken and not written.  If you can show me a commonly
accepted written notation for ASL (that has, for example, 50%+ understanding
from those who use ASL as a spoken language), that can be conceivably used
on the internet, then I'll be the first to call for the wiki's creation.
Unfortunately, I think this is a technical challenge that might not be
possible at the present time (since SignWriting, which seems to be the most
popular of the written notations, doesn't seem to have any Unicode support).

- Craig [[en:Lankiveil]]

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Craig Franklin
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