Dorothy Casterline | |
---|---|
Born | Dorothy Chiyoko Sueoka Casterline April 27, 1928 Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, U.S. |
Died | August 8, 2023 95) Irmo, South Carolina, U.S. | (aged
Citizenship | Pacific Islander[ dubious ] and American |
Occupation(s) | Researcher, educator |
Spouse | James Casterline |
Children | 2 |
Parents |
|
Academic background | |
Education | |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Linguist |
Sub-discipline | American Sign Language |
Institutions | Gallaudet University |
Dorothy Chiyoko Sueoka Casterline (April 27,1928 –August 8,2023) was an American deaf linguist known for her contribution to A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles ,considered a foundational work of sign language linguistics.
Casterline was born Dorothy Sueoka on April 27,1928, [1] [2] to parents of Japanese descent,and she grew up in Honolulu,Hawaii. [3] [4] [5] [6] She became deaf at age 14. [7] After graduating from the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind,then known as the Diamond Head School for the Deaf,she obtained a bachelor's degree in English from Gallaudet University in Washington,D.C. in 1958. [4] [5] [8] She was the first deaf Hawaiian student to graduate from Gallaudet. She married fellow alumnus Jim Casterline,and they remained married until his death in 2012. [9] [10]
While at Gallaudet,she and her colleague Carl Croneberg were recruited by the linguist William Stokoe to contribute to their joint work A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles. [4] [3] [11] Published in 1965,the dictionary is considered a seminal text in the study of ASL,which promoted greater interest in and respect for the language. [4] [5] [11] [12] It was innovative in treating ASL as a real and natural language,rather than a variant of English. [5] [13] Casterline played an important role as a deaf collaborator with the hearing professor Stokoe over the several years it took to produce the dictionary. [5] Stokoe also valued the multicultural makeup of his team,with Casterline's Asian Pacific Islander background and Croneberg's Swedish one. [14] As part of this project,she collaborated with Stokoe and Croneberg beginning in 1960 on a study of the syntax and dialects of American Sign Language under funding provided by the National Science Foundation. [15]
Casterline was living in Laurel,Maryland,as of 1994. [16] In 2022,She was given an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Gallaudet,in recognition of her contributions to ASL linguistics and deaf studies. [8] She died on August 8,2023,at age 95. [1] [7] [17]
American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is expressed by employing both manual and nonmanual features. Besides North America,dialects of ASL and ASL-based creoles are used in many countries around the world,including much of West Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. ASL is also widely learned as a second language,serving as a lingua franca. ASL is most closely related to French Sign Language (LSF). It has been proposed that ASL is a creole language of LSF,although ASL shows features atypical of creole languages,such as agglutinative morphology.
Sign languages are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning,instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign languages are full-fledged natural languages with their own grammar and lexicon. Sign languages are not universal and are usually not mutually intelligible,although there are also similarities among different sign languages.
International Sign (IS) is a pidgin sign language which is used in a variety of different contexts,particularly as an international auxiliary language at meetings such as the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) congress,in some European Union settings,and at some UN conferences,at events such as the Deaflympics,the Miss &Mister Deaf World,and Eurovision,and informally when travelling and socialising.
William Clarence Stokoe Jr. was an American linguist and a long-time professor at Gallaudet University. His research on American Sign Language (ASL) revolutionized the understanding of ASL in the United States and sign languages throughout the world. Stokoe's work led to a widespread recognition that sign languages are true languages,exhibiting syntax and morphology,and are not only systems of gesture.
Deaf culture is the set of social beliefs,behaviors,art,literary traditions,history,values,and shared institutions of communities that are influenced by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. When used as a cultural label especially within the culture,the word deaf is often written with a capital D and referred to as "big D Deaf" in speech and sign. When used as a label for the audiological condition,it is written with a lower case d. Carl G. Croneberg coined the term "Deaf Culture" and he was the first to discuss analogies between Deaf and hearing cultures in his appendices C/D of the 1965 Dictionary of American Sign Language.
The American Manual Alphabet (AMA) is a manual alphabet that augments the vocabulary of American Sign Language.
The history of deaf people and deaf culture make up deaf history. The Deaf culture is a culture that is centered on sign language and relationships among one another. Unlike other cultures the Deaf culture is not associated with any native land as it is a global culture. By some,deafness may be viewed as a disability,but the Deaf world sees itself as a language minority. Throughout the years many accomplishments have been achieved by deaf people. To name the most famous,Ludwig van Beethoven and Thomas Alva Edison were both deaf and contributed great works to culture.
Audism as described by deaf activists is a form of discrimination directed against deaf people,which may include those diagnosed as deaf from birth,or otherwise. Tom L. Humphries coined the term in his doctoral dissertation in 1975,but it did not start to catch on until Harlan Lane used it in his writing. Humphries originally applied audism to individual attitudes and practices;whereas Lane broadened the term to include oppression of deaf people.
Stokoe notation is the first phonemic script used for sign languages. It was created by William Stokoe for American Sign Language (ASL),with Latin letters and numerals used for the shapes they have in fingerspelling,and iconic glyphs to transcribe the position,movement,and orientation of the hands. It was first published as the organizing principle of Sign Language Structure:An Outline of the Visual Communication Systems of the American Deaf (1960),and later also used in A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles, by Stokoe,Casterline,and Croneberg (1965). In the 1965 dictionary,signs are themselves arranged alphabetically,according to their Stokoe transcription,rather than being ordered by their English glosses as in other sign-language dictionaries. This made it the only ASL dictionary where the reader could look up a sign without first knowing how to translate it into English. The Stokoe notation was later adapted to British Sign Language (BSL) in Kyle et al. (1985) and to Australian Aboriginal sign languages in Kendon (1988). In each case the researchers modified the alphabet to accommodate phonemes not found in ASL.
Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL),also known as Hand Talk or Plains Sign Language,is an endangered language common to various Plains Nations across what is now central Canada,the central and western United States and northern Mexico. This sign language was used historically as a lingua franca,notably for trading among tribes;it is still used for story-telling,oratory,various ceremonies,and by deaf people for ordinary daily use.
Thai Sign Language (TSL),or Modern Standard Thai Sign Language (MSTSL),is the national sign language of Thailand's deaf community and is used in most parts of the country by the 20 percent of the estimated 56,000 pre-linguistically deaf people who go to school.
Bilingual–Bicultural or Bi-Bi deaf education programs use sign language as the native,or first,language of Deaf children. In the United States,for example,Bi-Bi proponents state that American Sign Language (ASL) should be the natural first language for deaf children in the United States,although the majority of deaf and hard of hearing being born to hearing parents. In this same vein,the spoken or written language used by the majority of the population is viewed as a secondary language to be acquired either after or at the same time as the native language.
In sign languages,handshape,or dez,refers to the distinctive configurations that the hands take as they are used to form words. In Stokoe terminology it is known as the DEZ,an abbreviation of designator. Handshape is one of five components of a sign,along with location,orientation,movement,and nonmanual features. Different sign languages make use of different handshapes.
Nepalese Sign Language or Nepali Sign Language is the main sign language of Nepal. It is a partially standardized language based informally on the variety used in Kathmandu,with some input from varieties from Pokhara and elsewhere. As an indigenous sign language,it is not related to oral Nepali. The Nepali Constitution of 2015 specifically mentions the right to have education in Sign Language for the deaf. Likewise,the newly passed Disability Rights Act of 2072 BS defined language to include "spoken and sign languages and other forms of speechless language." in practice it is recognized by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Women,Children and Social Welfare,and is used in all schools for the deaf. In addition,there is legislation underway in Nepal which,in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which Nepal has ratified,should give Nepalese Sign Language equal status with the oral languages of the country.
In sign languages,location,or tab,refers to specific places that the hands occupy as they are used to form signs. In Stokoe terminology it is known as the TAB,an abbreviation of tabula. Location is one of five components,or parameters,of a sign,along with handshape,orientation,movement,and nonmanual features. A particular specification of a location,such as the chest or the temple of the head,can be considered a phoneme. Different sign languages can make use of different locations. In other words,different sign languages can have different inventories of location phonemes.
In sign languages,movement,or sig,refers to the distinctive hand actions that form words. In William Stokoe's terminology,it is the SIG,an abbreviation of signation. Movement is one of five components of a sign—with handshape,orientation,location,and nonmanual features. Different sign languages use different types of movement. Some treatments distinguish movement and hold—signs,or parts of signs,that involve motion vs. those that hold the hands still.
Disability culture is a widely used concept developed in the late 1980s to capture differences in lifestyle that are caused or promoted by disability. Disability cultures exist as communities of people around topics of disability. The cultures include arts movements,coalitions,and include but are not limited to:poetry,dance,performance pieces,installments,and sculptures. Steven Brown,in an academic study,wrote,"The existence of a disability culture is a relatively new and contested idea. Not surprising,perhaps,for a group that has long been described with terms like 'in-valid','impaired','limited','crippled',and so forth. Scholars would be hard-pressed to discover terms of hope,endearment or ability associated with people with disabilities." Deaf culture has an older history,having been described in 1965,and Deaf culture can be connected to the larger disability culture,both due to deafness being viewed by others as a disability,and many deaf people being both Deaf and disabled in other ways,which is known as being Deaf plus.
Black American Sign Language (BASL) or Black Sign Variation (BSV) is a dialect of American Sign Language (ASL) used most commonly by deaf African Americans in the United States. The divergence from ASL was influenced largely by the segregation of schools in the American South. Like other schools at the time,schools for the deaf were segregated based upon race,creating two language communities among deaf signers:black deaf signers at black schools and white deaf signers at white schools. As of the mid 2010s,BASL is still used by signers in the South despite public schools having been legally desegregated since 1954.
Ceil (Kovac) Lucas is an American linguist and a professor emerita of Gallaudet University,best known for her research on American Sign Language.
Carl Gustav Arvid Olof Croneberg was a Swedish-American Deaf linguist known for his work on American Sign Language (ASL).