Letters: Growth of Sign Language (2 Letters)

To the Editor:

Re ?Pushing Science?s Limits in Sign Language Lexicon? (Dec. 4): I?m surprised that in an article about the nuances of language, ASL was contrasted with ?traditional languages.? ASL is a linguistically complete, natural language, and signed languages have developed organically in schools for the deaf, even when these languages were being actively suppressed in favor of ?traditional? forms of speech.

Leah Anthony Libresco
Washington

To the Editor:

As a biochemistry professor, I once had a deaf student, and his interpreter told me after class that sign language had no terms to distinguish ?uncompetitive? from ?noncompetitive.? These are terms commonly used for types of enzyme inhibition. I had to admit that the terms weren?t useful for anyone, and I now use a distinct, although less common, term for them. Perhaps these can be now added to the science list.

Raymond Ochs
Forest Hills, N.Y.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/science/growth-of-sign-language-2-letters.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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