concerningwolves:

(and deaf/HoH characters)

An amalgamation of all the questions that have come up repeatedly since the original posts. All the people who wanted to be tagged have been put under the read-more link at the bottom.

“Is it okay to use italicized speech for signed dialogue, even if I describe faces and signs?”

The short answer is a simple no. I’ve been asked this a lot, repeatedly, and I can understand why- other languages are, it’s the common mode of operation for writers when encountering a language their viewpoint character either doesn’t speak, or doesn’t understand. Differentiation between spoken language is needed in this way.

However, signed language is not spoken, and the struggle to have it recognized as a “real languge” has been long. Many people, as the result of a lack of education by no fault of their own, still don’t see it as such. Because of this, using italics to seperate signed and spoken language can do harm for the recognition of signed languages.

Also, signed language is usually in the same language of the spoken variant, while not being the same language at all: although respected as a language of it’s own, sign and spoken language are like cousins living in the same household of language, and so would be treated just like the rest of the family.

“If not using italics, how do I differentiate?”

With the description of sign, and facial expressions. For spoken language, you would write about the sharp tone of Samuel’s voice, the way it rises in tone; for signed language, you would talk about the way that Mark’s fists are tighter and his signs louder (wider).

This kind of differentiation may come naturally to a majority of people who speak signed languages, because many of us can think in signed language, but for people who do not or who use spoken language more frequently, it is understandably more difficult. It will take a little more work at first, but eventually it will come naturally in the flow of signed dialogue.

“How do I describe the tone and non-verbal inflections of sign?”

By facial expressions in combination with the signed words.

I understand that not everyone is able to read facial expressions, for a variety of reasons (I struggle too) so here’s a list of facial expressions as verbal inflections in sign:

• Facial exclamation mark - For amusement, sarcasm, yelling and making points.This is done by an O mouth shape and widened eyes.
  
• Facial question mark - For questions, confusion and when challenging someone. This is done by a simple raise of the eyebrows during the main word of the question. E.g, Name Yours What [raised eyebrows on what].

And some examples of how you might use these:

• Anger - The signs become hard, sharp and fast. The fist isn’t just touched to his chest, it’s slammed in; elbows go everywhere. His face is widened in a facial exclamation mark, brow furrowed, the signs become ungainly and faster, just like speech can become faster and louder.
  
• Fear - You know the expression small voice? Apply that to small signs: Slower actions, eyebrows knitted and arched, perhaps even mistakes are made such as hands knocking together or fingers in the wrong shape, just like people often stutter or trip over their words when afraid.
  
• Agression/Challenging someone - use the facial question mark, but make it harder, more defined. The eyebrows are raised high and the mouth quirks, or twists, and the signs become more agressive in the same way you would write anger.
  
• Joy, enthusiasm and humour - the signs are bigger again, and the character would grin- eyes shining, maybe, and eyebrows raised in the facial exclamation mark for jokes. Also, you know how we use silly voices in verbal language? In sign, we also make the signs really over-exaggerated, like in charades, and accompany that with pulled faces. Examples of these would be the mouth in an overlarge O, eyebrows raised too high, grinning in the middle of the O shape or mocking a grimace, so that the downwards pull of the mouth is forced.
  
• Lying - The facial expression might contradict the sign. Eg, someone who is lying to feel confident may inflect their words with a facial exclamation mark, but their hands may shake (a signed stutter). Facial tells such as quirks of lips could also be present, since people who use signed language as a primary language learn to have naturally expressive faces.
  

“How could I portray signed language in artistic media, eg, comics?”

If the speech can’t be heard, because the signing character is completely deaf and either doesn’t use hearing aids/implants or doesn’t have them, the dialogue bubbles are best left blank. When the speech is signed, it should come from the hands, and facial expressions should be drawn. You wouldn’t need to do the entire sequence of signs, but give important words or phrases their own boxes to highlight them. (I don’t draw comics so I don’t know any of the phrases but i hope this makes sense)

The best example I’ve found is the Hawkeye comics! Blue Ear showed this so well.

Some extra points that have been brought up

• Hearing aids get sweaty, dirty and uncomfortable if worn too long, and stop working so well. They also get clogged with wax and it’s really unpleasant
• Cleaning kits should never be far off, especially in summer
• Aids and implants can also withstand rain, even heavy rain, but sometimes the moulds of aids get clogged with water. They would not survive being submerged (but you can get waterproof ones as far as I know, the NHS just won’t supply them)
  
• Some hearing aids will get through batteries faster than others. My old ones lasted a month if I used the hearing aids every day. With these new aids, the batteries for one last a week and two weeks for the other.
  
• The sticky labels on the back of batteries are really fun but also really annoying, and get stuck on e v e r y t h i n g
  
• Hearing aids and implants are not cure-alls for deafness. In my completely deaf ear, I can only hear a buzz from my hearing aid that vaguely resembles speech; in my semi-hearing ear, the hearing aid still misses some sounds and blurs others.
  
• Some deaf people choose not to get implants, since sign language is available and deafness is widely considered a blessing.
  
• There are huge nuances in the levels of deafness, so percentages are generally not as useful as medical professionals make them sound. This thread covers it very well (plus some other things, such as sunglasses and reliance on facial reading as well as lip reading)
• Lip-Reading is not a skill that everyone has, it’s tricky and, no, I can’t tell you what the kids over at that table are talking about Karen.
  
• On the subject of mouths, it’s important to mouth while signing words. In BSL, the words for battery and aunt are the same. This could get strange if you were asking where to go dispose of your aunt.
  
• So while a character might recognize mouth shapes in connection with signs, they could still be awful at reading lips.
  

 Aaand that was everything I have been asked frequently, collated in one place. If you still have any queries, please do drop an ask!

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This has been a part of my weekly advice uploads. This week I have covered writing queer characters. The lineup for January includes Often Overlooked Points in Writing Period Fiction and Ways to Build up Settings and Scenes. If you need any help in the meantime with related or unrelated writing issues, send me an ask!

Happy writing until then 

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡

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