Sign Language and Hand Talk

Sign Language and Hand Talk. Written by Lacey Finn Borgo.

《手语与手势交流》 莱西·芬恩·博尔戈 著

Introduction People have always used their hands to communicate. Today, people still communicate with their hands. A police officer holds up a hand to stop a car. A dad waves his hand to say hello and goodbye. A mom uses her hand to blow her son a kiss.

引言 人类一直都用双手进行交流。 如今人们依然用双手交流。 警察抬手示意车辆停下。 爸爸挥手打招呼、道再见。 妈妈抬手给儿子飞一个吻。

People who are deaf or hard of hearing use their hands to make letters and words. This kind of communication is called sign language. An American named Thomas Gallaudet helped start a school for deaf students in the United States in 1817. The school used French sign language, Native American sign language, and other hand signs to create American sign language.

失聪或者有听力障碍的人会用手比出字母和单词。 这种交流方式就叫做手语。 一位名叫托马斯·加劳德特的美国人协助为失聪学生创办学校，地点在美国，创办时间是1817年。 这所学校融合了法国手语、美洲原住民手语和其他手势，创造出了美国手语。

Learning Sign Language Today, sign language is taught to deaf people from when they are very young. When a deaf child is playing with a ball, a parent uses two hands to make a sign for ball. Then, the parent points to the ball. The sign for ball is called a whole word sign. Deaf children also learn to use their fingers to make letters. They learn each letter of the alphabet. Making these different types of signs is called signing.

学习手语 如今，失聪人士从很小的时候就开始学习手语。 当失聪小孩玩球的时候， 家长会用双手比出“球”的手语。 随后，家长会指向真正的球。 “球”的这种手语叫做全词手语。 失聪儿童还会学习用手指比出字母。 他们会学习字母表中的每一个字母。 做出这些不同类型的手势的行为就叫做打手语。

Deaf children make up ABC stories to practice signing letters. For example, the sign for the letter A looks like an apple. The letter B is flat, like a table. The letter C is like an open mouth. This ABC story might be an apple sitting on a table waiting for a mouth to eat it. As each new letter of the alphabet is learned, a new part of the story is added.

失聪儿童会编ABC故事来练习字母手语。 比如，字母A的手势看起来像一个苹果。 字母B的手势是平的，像一张桌子。 字母C的手势像一张张开的嘴巴。 这个ABC故事就可以是：苹果放在桌子上，等着嘴巴来吃掉它。 每学会字母表的一个新字母， 就可以给故事加一段新内容。

Whole word signs are used to make sentences. Whole word signs are made using hand movements. Body movements and changes in the face also are used. Signers watch people's hands, bodies, and faces. This helps them know what is being communicated.

全词手语可以用来组成句子。 全词手语通过手部动作来完成。 肢体动作和面部表情变化也会被用到。 打手语的人会观察对方的手、身体和面部。 这能帮助他们理解对方想要表达的内容。