Deafness is the inability
to hear to the extent that precludes the understanding of speech through the ear
alone, with or without a hearing instrument.The
deaf may, however, rely on Signed English to make themselves understood. This
manually coded system is used to represent spoken English and is considered to
be the least complicated of the manual systems. Developed in 1973 at Gallaudet
University, signed English consists of 3,500 sign words that much match the meaning
of separate words in English, including their various meanings. Sign words do
not represent any sounds or spellings, and, they may be used with any of 14 sound
makers (which are also gestured) that represent the most frequent grammatical
changes (singular, plural, possessive, etc.
One picture is worth a
thousand words, they say, and this beautiful, expressive language is but one tool
the hearing impaired have to further communicate with the hearing world.
P.S. American Sign Language,
often called the language of deaf people, is sometimes used in combination with
Signed English.
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