Ursula Bellugi, Pioneer in the World of Sign Language, Dies at 91
April 24, 2022 10:04 PM Subscribe
A pioneer in the study of the biological foundations of language who was among the first to demonstrate that sign language was just as complex, abstract and systematic as spoken language Dr. Bellugi and Dr. Klima, who died in 2008, demonstrated conclusively that the world’s signed languages — of which there are more than 100 — were actual languages in their own right, not just translations of spoken languages.
Non-paywalled
The couple’s work led to a major discovery at the Salk lab: that the left hemisphere of the brain has an innate predisposition for language, whether spoken or signed. That finding gave scientists fresh insight into how the brain learns, interprets and forgets language.
“This was a critical discovery for deaf people, as it verified that our language is treated equally by the brain — just as we must be treated equally by society,” Roberta J. Cordano, the president of Gallaudet, said in a statement.
Until then, sign languages were regarded disparagingly either as crude pantomime, with no rules, or as broken English, and deaf children were discouraged from learning to sign. The couple’s work contributed to a wider acceptance of A.S.L. as a language of instruction and helped empower deaf people as the Deaf Pride movement developed in the 1980s.
The couple’s work led to a major discovery at the Salk lab: that the left hemisphere of the brain has an innate predisposition for language, whether spoken or signed. That finding gave scientists fresh insight into how the brain learns, interprets and forgets language.
“This was a critical discovery for deaf people, as it verified that our language is treated equally by the brain — just as we must be treated equally by society,” Roberta J. Cordano, the president of Gallaudet, said in a statement.
Until then, sign languages were regarded disparagingly either as crude pantomime, with no rules, or as broken English, and deaf children were discouraged from learning to sign. The couple’s work contributed to a wider acceptance of A.S.L. as a language of instruction and helped empower deaf people as the Deaf Pride movement developed in the 1980s.
Until then, sign languages were regarded disparagingly either as crude pantomime, with no rules, or as broken English, and deaf children were discouraged from learning to sign.
WTF? Different times indeed.
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posted by Harald74 at 5:53 AM on April 25, 2022
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posted by pangolin party at 7:08 AM on April 25, 2022
posted by pangolin party at 7:08 AM on April 25, 2022
WTF? Different times indeed.
Still a thing, in some places, with the belief being that if you teach kids to sign, they won't force themselves to learn to lip read and speak out loud. Pretty bonkers.
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posted by praemunire at 7:33 AM on April 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Still a thing, in some places, with the belief being that if you teach kids to sign, they won't force themselves to learn to lip read and speak out loud. Pretty bonkers.
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posted by praemunire at 7:33 AM on April 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Bellugi's work was really important in applying linguistics and cognitive science to sign languages. It's not surprising that sign languages are "real" languages, at least to anyone paying attention to how Deaf people talk to each other. But it is a bit surprising that signed languages are processed in the brain very similarly to how spoken languages are. You'd think that the differences between hearing and vision would have more of an impact on how the rest of the brain processes the language. But mostly, no!
One bit I remember from college classes is how her work showed that the words in sign are formed from components made by the hands and other gestural components just like spoken words are formed from phonemes made by the mouth. And that the brain processes them in the same ways.
For instance the brain processes phonemes into discrete chunks; an English speaker hears B or T and not some confusing sound halfway inbetween even if the actual sound they are hearing is some blend of the two. Similarly a signer will see a straight finger or a 90 degree bent finger and not some ambiguous gesture halfway between. That discreteness is an important early step in processing of sounds or gestures into linguistic meaning. Bellugi established it works in the brain pretty much the same way.
Looking online now for info on this I'm pleased to see her foundational work has paved the way for a lot of new work on sign languages. Ie: machine learning folks using the analysis of "phonemes" (chiremes) in sign languages as a building block for doing computer vision transcription of ASL. Good stuff!
posted by Nelson at 8:27 AM on April 25, 2022 [7 favorites]
One bit I remember from college classes is how her work showed that the words in sign are formed from components made by the hands and other gestural components just like spoken words are formed from phonemes made by the mouth. And that the brain processes them in the same ways.
For instance the brain processes phonemes into discrete chunks; an English speaker hears B or T and not some confusing sound halfway inbetween even if the actual sound they are hearing is some blend of the two. Similarly a signer will see a straight finger or a 90 degree bent finger and not some ambiguous gesture halfway between. That discreteness is an important early step in processing of sounds or gestures into linguistic meaning. Bellugi established it works in the brain pretty much the same way.
Looking online now for info on this I'm pleased to see her foundational work has paved the way for a lot of new work on sign languages. Ie: machine learning folks using the analysis of "phonemes" (chiremes) in sign languages as a building block for doing computer vision transcription of ASL. Good stuff!
posted by Nelson at 8:27 AM on April 25, 2022 [7 favorites]
Still a thing, in some places, with the belief being that if you teach kids to sign, they won't force themselves to learn to lip read and speak out loud. Pretty bonkers.
This is pretty standard in the United States, Canada and Britain. Can't speak to other countries.
posted by Toddles at 12:13 PM on April 25, 2022
This is pretty standard in the United States, Canada and Britain. Can't speak to other countries.
posted by Toddles at 12:13 PM on April 25, 2022
What a beautiful life! I had the wonderful experience to have dinner with her once. Asking how metaphor, rhyme, and poetry were represented in sign... what a conversation it became. Her enthusiasm and kindness were so immediately felt talking to her that its really no surprise that when she encountered patients with Williams Syndrome it became a new passion for her, and with it she recruited the rest of Salk along with her. She'll be missed.
posted by rubatan at 12:51 PM on April 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by rubatan at 12:51 PM on April 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
"That discreteness is an important early step in processing of sounds or gestures into linguistic meaning. Bellugi established it works in the brain pretty much the same way."
That really is amazing. What a great piece of knowledge to bring to the world.
posted by harriet vane at 7:57 PM on April 29, 2022
That really is amazing. What a great piece of knowledge to bring to the world.
posted by harriet vane at 7:57 PM on April 29, 2022
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Aboriginal sign languages have been used for thousands of years
Australian Aboriginal sign languages
posted by greenhornet at 2:25 AM on April 25, 2022