GESTURE - SIGN: Emergence of Czech Sign Language (on the background of the works of 19th century authors)
Abstrakt
The development of Czech Sign Language was closely associated with the establishment of the first Institute for the Deaf and Dumb in Prague in 1786. Therefore more detailed information on the visual-gestural communication of the deaf can be found in the literature focused on deaf-and-dumb education.
The authors of these texts are predominantly educators (teachers, directors) working in institutes for deaf children (Beran, Frost, Fuchs, Huleš, Kmoch, Kolář, Krs, Malý, Mücke, Škornička, Staněk - see references). Although these texts can be considered as naive and non-linguistic, we can find there interesting information about the origin and the development of sign language.
All authors considered sign language to be the mother tongue of the deaf. The deaf was seen as gifted, almost predestined to create, in interaction with his hearing surroundings, an nearly universal language based on natural gestures: natural sign-gesture speech (přirozené posunování, řeč známková přirozená, přirozená posuňkovou řeč) - home signs in current terminology.
Then the child enters the institute and meets other deaf. New signs emerge at school, based on the convention between the teacher and the pupils, the sign-gesture speech is constantly evolving and transforming, and signs for abstract concepts are also created.
Thus, artificial sign-gesture speech (řeč posunková, posuňková, známková umělá) - sign language in current terminology - emerges and is passed on to future generations of pupils of the deaf Institute. If we look at the current trends in sign language linguistics and gestures studies, we can find some parallels with information contained in texts from the 19th century.