Standardization of sign language and Braille in China ushered in a new milestone.
A few days ago, the National Common Sign Language Glossary and the National Common Braille Program were officially released by the Ministry of Education, state language commission and China Disabled Persons’ Federation, and officially implemented on July 1, 2018. This means that sign language has "Mandarin" and Braille has "standard words".
What is the significance of the publication of Thesaurus and Scheme? How was it developed? What are the characteristics? What problems should be paid attention to in the process of understanding and using? The reporter interviewed the heads of the two specification development teams.
Further safeguard the language rights of the disabled.
"This is an important achievement and a new milestone in the standardization of sign language and Braille in China, which has laid a solid foundation for future application and promotion, basic research, personnel training, discipline construction and social services." The person in charge of the development team of the two specifications said.
In his view, the publication of the Thesaurus and the Program is the enrichment and supplement of the national common language, and it is the guarantee for the language rights of hearing-impaired and visual-impaired people to use sign language and Braille; It provides convenience for them to participate in social life equally and fully and share the development achievements of building a well-off society in an all-round way, which will further accelerate the standardization process of sign language and Braille and greatly promote the prosperity and development of culture and education for the disabled.
The Thesaurus follows the principle of "adding new words, correcting mistakes and deleting old ones", and greatly supplements the number of commonly used words in sign language that reflect the development and changes of modernization, informationization and urbanization, so that it can basically meet the needs of hearing-impaired people in study, work and daily communication; Revise the actions in the original Chinese Sign Language that do not conform to the rules and characteristics of sign language expression for hearing disabled people; Delete obsolete words. After passing the final appraisal in 2015, it was piloted in 15 provincial deaf associations and 18 schools that enrolled deaf students, with thousands of participants.
In 2010, the research on universal Braille was listed as an annual major project of the Twelfth Five-Year Scientific Research Plan of the State Language Committee and the China Disabled Persons’ Federation. The main task of the research is to fully absorb the advantages of existing Braille at home and abroad, adjust the existing rules of Braille transcription, realize comprehensive transcription, and reduce the length through simplification.
Reflect the characteristics of the times and have stronger applicability.
The person in charge introduced that the Thesaurus consists of two parts: one is to explain the scope of application, the definitions of some core terms used, the style and meaning of graphic symbols of sign language action lines, the basic principles of compilation and instructions for use; Secondly, according to the word order, the sign language widely used by the majority of hearing-impaired people in real life is included, which replaces many sign languages that correspond to Chinese characters in the past, greatly reducing the use of finger letters, paying attention to describing the changes of body movements and facial expressions during sign language expression, and focusing on embodying the language characteristics of sign language.
"The Scheme follows the initial consonants, vowels, tones and punctuation marks of the current Braille, without changing, deleting or adding any symbols. It only perfects the current Braille phonetic transcription rules and standardizes the usage of tone symbols, which is the inheritance and development of the current Braille." The person in charge said that the "Program" shows the characteristics of convergence between the old and the new, accurate pronunciation, time-saving and party-saving, and is conducive to informationization.
It is reported that accurate pronunciation is the primary goal of revising the rules of tone adjustment, and the tone of Braille, which is commonly used in the country, must be accurate. The perceptual characteristics of touch determine that Braille, as a tactile character, must be concise and try to improve the reading and writing speed of Braille as much as possible.
Exploration of incorporating sign language norms into national language norms
It is the first time since the reform and opening up 40 years ago that sign language norms have been included in the standard category of language and writing norms of the State Language Committee. The expression of sign language is as rich and flexible as audio language. What content is suitable for standardization and how to standardize it need further study. In this regard, the Lexicon has made a meaningful exploration.
"At this stage, when using the Glossary, we need to grasp four groups of relationships, such as lingua franca and local sign language, life sign language and teaching sign language, sign language lexicology and use, and the Glossary and other countries’ common sign language reference books." The person in charge introduced that in terms of the use of common sign language and local sign language, the sign language actions presented in the Thesaurus are required to be used in official activities, school education, TV media, book publishing and other occasions or fields, as well as in the sign language level assessment held in the country in the future; Local sign language will still be used for a long time. In terms of life sign language and school sign language teaching, the Glossary specifically mentions "seeking common ground while reserving differences" and "beneficial to teaching". If there are regional differences or multiple ways of playing sign language vocabulary expressing the same thing and concept, the Glossary is juxtaposed, and there is no exclusivity. In terms of sign language lexicology and usage, the Thesaurus only shows the sign language actions of words, and the use of these words requires different sentence patterns. Sign language grammar has its own laws and characteristics and needs special study.
"In addition, in terms of promotion, the China Disabled Persons’ Federation is working with the Ministry of Education, the State Language Committee and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television to formulate a national universal sign language and national universal Braille promotion plan, focusing on special education institutions and public services, breaking through the difficulty of hearing and visual disabilities in society, and promoting national universal sign language and Braille step by step through backbone training, offering courses and improving relevant norms." The person in charge said. (Reporter Dong Luyi Long)