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From: deb5@midway.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Re: sf & language
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References: <5e0tlb$igt$1@darla.visi.com> <331286b9.2270283@nntp.ix.netcom.com> <5evmbg$b0f@fcnews.fc.hp.com> <5f24sf$p6o@netsrv2.spss.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 23:05:05 GMT
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In article <5f24sf$p6o@netsrv2.spss.com>,
Mark Rosenfelder <markrose@spss.com> wrote:
>In article <5evmbg$b0f@fcnews.fc.hp.com>,
>Chuck Buckley <cbuckley@fc.hp.com> wrote:
>>Babylon 5 also had
>>a tendency for the Vorlons to answer a different question than what was
>>meant. A question about "What is that" while pointing at a viewing
>>screen elicited a response of "Efficient". No rewording of the question
>>changed the answer.

Mark Rosenfelder:
>why wouldn't this simply be an error in the translator macguffin?...
[snip]
>Or perhaps it's a pragmatic problem-- perhaps Vorlons don't feel obligated
>to give straight answers to what they consider stupid questions?

In the absence of further data, both are possibilities.

I just thought of an interesting linguistic twist which is immensely
plausible and yet I've never seen in any of these shows:  sign language.
There are any number of reasons why a race would use only signing.  Maybe
their larynx never descended (a problematic event in human evolution).
Maybe their hearing is poor or their planet is noisy.  Or maybe they have
a vocal past but were deafened by disease or a dominating race.  An
interesting variation would be a race using an integrated mix of vocal and
gestural language.  Vococentric races, like humans, would assume they're
getting the whole story, when they're not, and the aliens would wonder why
half of everything they say is totally ignored.

This would also force a refinement of the translator device in the shows
that use this sort of handwaving.  Is it already capable of handling
signed language?  Was deafness eliminated in the societies with it at such
an early date (through neurosurgery and gene therapy) that no one ever
considered adapting it for signed language?  Or do deaf people use other
means (vocalisation chips, improved hearing aids, etc.) to function in
such a way as to make their deafness irrelevant to its functioning?

Given the prominence which ASL had achieved in this country within the
last two decades or so, it's surprising that no one has done much in this
area.

 
-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
