On the occasion of the International Week of the Deaf, a study conducted at the University of Haifa reveals that sign language users also have a unique intonation, which sometimes crosses languages and cultures
This week the world celebrates the "Week of the Deaf" and the Sign Language Research Laboratory at the University of Haifa publishes the findings of a new study that finds another similarity between sign language and spoken language: similar to the special "tune" that spoken languages have, it turns out that sign languages also have their own unique "sound", And like spoken languages, this "sound" differs from one community's language to another's, "the fact that we found that sign languages also have a unique intonation shows once again that sign language is similar in its characteristics to any other human language. It turns out that intonation is an essential component of every human language," said Prof. Wendy Sandler, who led the study.
We all know how to recognize French, Italian, Spanish and a long list of languages, without understanding them at all, thanks to the unique "tune" that each language has. Similarly, we can identify different categories in languages we don't know, such as a question sentence, an answer sentence, an imperative, etc. Even in this case, we are able to do this thanks to the unique intonation that joins these categories. Researchers even know that babies distinguish between the language spoken around them and foreign languages, thanks to intonation - the rate of speech and the rise and fall of the voice - which is one of the essential components of the bee language.
In the current study, which she conducted together with doctoral students Svetlana Dachkovsky and Christina Healy, Prof. Sandler, head of the Sign Language Research Laboratory, who has been researching the similarities between spoken languages and sign languages for many years, asked to examine whether sign language also has its own intonation. In addition, she wanted to examine not only whether there is a way in which sign language speakers express the "melody" of their language, but whether there is a difference between the intonations of different sign languages, similar to the difference between the intonation of different spoken languages.
To this end, speakers of Israeli Sign Language and speakers of American Sign Language - which are historically and culturally distant sign languages - were asked to mark a series of sentences, including answers to "yes/no" questions, interrogative sentences, imperative sentences, affinity sentences, conditional sentences, etc.
From the findings, it becomes clear that sign language also has its "melody", which is expressed through facial expressions and head movements. The researchers found that a series of expressions and constant vibrations join the words marked by the hands and they change according to the purpose of the sentence. The researchers also found that while there are categories of the sentence in which the intonation of Israeli and American sign language is similar - for example, "yes and no" questions in both languages are accompanied by raising the eyebrows, raising the eyelid and moving the head forward - there are categories that are completely different in terms of their intonation. "This finding is completely parallel to the languages spoken. In most languages the intonation of question sentences is very similar, a rise of the voice at the end of the question, but in other categories of the sentence there is a different 'tune' for the different languages", said Prof. Sandler.
According to Prof. Sandler, the current study provides further proof that there are universal features between languages, which bridge significant differences in the physical channel through which they are transmitted. "There are various communities around the world where sign language is still growing and developing before our eyes. Our understanding that this is human language for all intents and purposes turns them into 'natural laboratories' for studying the development of human language. Since the ability to communicate through language, whether it is sign language or bee language, is one of the unique characteristics of humans, our understanding of how syntax, intonation, and the rest of the grammatical system developed through the study of sign language can shed light on questions related to the essence of human cognition in general." Prof. Sandler concluded.
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Oh yes..
Also the fact that humans dominate animals and not the other way around, indicates that man is superior to animals.
Robin
You're right in this case.
You should have reminded Nisim and Eyal that:
Once upon a time, our ancestors would kill tigers to live and eat.
and also:
Today we see better (binoculars, telescope, microscope), stronger (weapons), faster (cars and airplanes), smarter (we managed to send people to the moon and objects to the edge of the galaxy), live longer than we did in the past...
In short: technology is part of biological evolution.
Robin, I have to agree with Nisim here, a little modesty wouldn't hurt. We will put you together with a tiger in the same living environment (his, in the jungle) without the technology to protect you and we will see who is inferior and who will survive... The tiger is much stronger and much faster than you, as far as he is concerned you are inferior, as far as he is concerned you are just a piece of food... Even as far as the hawk is concerned, you are inferior, He is able to fly unlike you who are limited to the ground... he also sees much better than you and does not need glasses.
As you are everything is relative, even in mental matters there are animals that surpass us in some areas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMHiOCD-0aI
Our intellectual ability is due to the fact that our minds are more developed (= more neurons) than the brains of all other animals, but this does not mean that in other features they do not surpass us, do not be arrogant.
Robin
Are the animals inferior? Who are you to decide who is inferior and who is not? According to your definition - even an autist is inferior to you... Dahilak, Yom Kippur was yesterday... do you want to ask for forgiveness again? What will ??? 🙂
Inferiority is a concept that we atheists reserve for something that man creates. There are quality carpentry works and there are inferior carpentry works. This concept does not exist beyond that.
In an intelligence test that man invented, man is more successful than other animals. Man is indeed much wiser than other animals, but he is not the fastest, does not see the best, does not hear the best, and believes all nonsense that is told to him.
By the way - where does the data come from that our brain is faster? That is not true at all. A crow thinks much faster than us, for example. Also a cat. And a fly too. Where did you get this figure??
Robin... a little study and a little modesty won't hurt...
The thing that distinguishes us from the animals is that we are smart and they are stupid and inferior... What are you talking about miracles?...
We have a more advanced brain and the ability to think quickly and process information much faster than the rest of the animals... not to mention that animals don't think about the concept of "future" at all, they don't have this concept in their brains - and man learned to use his hands in perfect synchronization with his ability to think... I don't like that you compare us to these inferior creatures. We are much more advanced than them. You tried for a moment to stop holding a dog and talk to him, really try to explain to him in a language that he will understand what you want .... it's like talking to an "autist" sorry for the word but that's the thing. The animals are just stupid, nothing will help.
someone
I'm trying to make my thoughts clear to myself as well...
Maybe Helen Keller's intention was that she didn't think - there was no way to ask, but she could express feelings, like almost any baby.
Is self-awareness related to thinking? From what you say, apparently there really are different levels. A one and a half year old baby seems self-aware, and so do many animals.
But, apparently language allows you to think about things like the future, and especially allows you to convey much more information.
And really, maybe all that distinguishes us from other animals is the transfer of information. Without it, we'd still be running naked in Savannah.
"Is a person without language not aware of himself? Think of a deaf person who does not know sign language"
In my opinion, even if he has some awareness, it is probably very "dimmed" and weak relative to the awareness of a person who has language, perhaps something like the type of awareness that a cat or a monkey has, it is probably not as clear and clear as the awareness of a person who has language.
Besides that, it's a bit strange, because just recently you brought up the example of Helen Keller and said that she said that until she was taught a language she was simply not aware of herself, have you changed your mind?
someone
So - is a person without language not aware of himself? Think of a deaf person who does not know sign language.
I didn't mean it that way. The first investigations of artificial intelligence concentrated on the problem-solving aspect of natural language. Searle's "Chinese Room" talks about exactly that. Look at the brain as a computer running software. Today we look at the brain in a completely different way. It is not at all like a computer.
Obviously, a Turing test requires a language... because that's how it's defined 🙂 But think that a computer as smart as a dolphin will be built. Isn't it clear that without reaching the intelligence of a dolphin we will not reach the intelligence of a person? I generally think that the Turing test is irrelevant, and that is one of the reasons.
Yes, I know the kind of experiments you mentioned, and they seem to really show some level of awareness in animals as well.
But I still think that a high/clear self-awareness like ours requires a language, one that will allow you to "talk to yourself" in your thoughts, that will allow you to look in the mirror and say to yourself "Hey, it's me, I know I exist!", it's hard for me to imagine how this is possible without language verbally.
I don't know what you said about the fact that they once thought that intelligence was only verbal thinking, I think that even back then they were well aware of the wisdom of animals (crows, foxes, cats, monkeys), so it sounds a little strange to me, since these animals demonstrate intelligence/wisdom/ Ability to recognize patterns even without verbal language.
I think that the Turing test is based on verbal reasoning only because its purpose is to show that a computer has reached a level of intelligence and awareness similar to that of a human, and it is difficult to do this without language-based communication.
(How can you ask the computer without language "How are you? How do you feel? What are you thinking about?", "What do you think about the industrial revolution?", this is a test that simply requires language)
someone
The difference is what we mean by the word "thinking". I really mean literal thinking. It is clear that there is also a different way of thinking, which exists in animals, as well as in us. For example - all of our ability to identify. After all, we don't literally go through the list of all those we know and look for the person we meet.
When they started dealing with artificial intelligence, they thought that intelligence was just the verbal thought. The Turing test is an example of this, and also many programs such as ELIZA and PARRY. The investigation of the second thinking (called associative thinking in computer science) started in the field of neural networks. Something interesting that is less known is that Turing also dealt with this field, and even hypothesized that this is how the brain works. It's a shame they don't remember it for him...
Regarding self-awareness - I don't think you need verbal thinking for it. Self-awareness also exists in animals. And even more than that, there is evidence that some animals are aware that other animals are aware 🙂
I forgot to mention about the vibrations of the tongue and vocal cords, maybe this is simply a side effect (as when thinking about some motor action like playing tennis, the areas responsible for movement and moving the body are activated in our mind)
Nissim, maybe I didn't understand you, but the explanation you wrote doesn't make the most sense to me. I think that the thinking mechanism has already begun to develop in what you see as stages 1, 2, 3... (How can information be conveyed, or have a discussion in a group if there is no thinking before that?), I'm pretty sure that even a cat that sneaks up on its prey has some kind of thinking mechanism, just that it is not based on words (perhaps sounds, images and imagination?), when our brains developed and we began to develop a language, our thinking moved to a word-based thinking, and I think shortly after that came self-awareness, the main part of which I think is the ability to "talk to yourself" in your head - in your thoughts (Now I will do this, now I want it, maybe I will prepare something to eat... Is there a God? There is no God?)
someone
I did not know. It is possible to understand this way, perhaps, how the thinking mechanism developed.
First step - hearing. There is an advantage when you hear that there is a predator around.
Second step - playing a voice. That way you can warn others when you hear a threat.
Third step - begin to transfer more complex information to each other. For example - there is a water source behind the hill.
Step four - hold a group discussion. Here comes the issue of grammar. For example, times, belonging, order of things, etc.
Step five - you start talking quietly to yourself... Planning how to get something without revealing to others. A "short" is created out of nowhere between the speech mechanism and the hearing mechanism.
Miracles, it's not just in your eyes.
Thoughts that go through our heads ("quiet self-talk") cause almost involuntary movements of the tongue, pharynx and vocal cords, and it turns out that there are technological developments that try to translate these almost imperceptible movements (with the help of sensitive sensors and suitable software) into real words:
https://www.hayadan.org.il/nasa-no-voice-240304
(Basically this is "mind reading", but in an indirect way)
Eyal
To me, thinking is like talking to yourself. Sometimes you actually feel the tongue moving. Maybe it's the same with deaf people, they feel that the fingers are moving.
interesting.
Eyal
I don't know how many words there are in sign languages, but I do know there are accents, just like in spoken language. For example, in the southern US they signal more slowly...
I also know that they think in sign language, which is amazing.
I have always been interested in how rich (in words) the sign language of deaf people is... that is, if we were to translate a story in sign language to a deaf person (without saying anything) and we would ask him to write the story on a sheet of paper, how well would the writing on the paper correspond to the original story?
(Something along the lines of translating from Hebrew to Chinese using Google Translate, then translating the Chinese translation back into Hebrew and seeing how well it matches the original text...)