Cultural Identity and the Production and Understanding of Sign Language Signs - Identifying, Interpreting, and Preserving the Cultural Information in Iconic Signs

Aug 23, 2026

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Explores how cultural identity shapes the production, interpretation, and understanding of sign language signs, correcting two widespread myths about sign languages. Argues against the idea of a single international sign language and against the view that sign languages are only manual equivalents of dominant spoken languages. Uses iconicity as a lens for cross-sign intelligibility while detailing how minority status, education policies, and language-contact dynamics influence language acquisition and identity, focusing on Japan Sign Language and Signed Japanese.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Common myths about sign languages

Minority language status and deaf education in Japan

Cultural identity and language acquisition

Different Signs and Cultures in Different Countries

Iconicity and cross-linguistic intelligibility

Limits of iconic understanding

Cultural Identity and the Production and Understanding of Sign Language Signs: Identifying, Interpreting, and Preserving the Cultural Information in Iconic Signs William J. HERLOFSKY Nagoya Gakuin University 1. Introduction There are two common myths about sign languages that I often encounter in one form or another when I tell someone that I am involved in sign language research. The first myth or assumption that people seem to have is that there is one international sign language that every deaf person knows and uses. The other myth or misunderstanding that many people have, a myth that is somewhat contradictory to the first myth, is that all sign languages are surrogate languages that are merely the manual equivalent of the dominant spoken language in the region where they are used. Though both of these myths are inaccurate, there are reasons for their existence. One reason for the first myth is that, since many of the signs of sign languages are to some extent iconic in origin, a relatively high percentage of signs are somewhat understandable to people from different sign language backgrounds. For example, the sign for TO MEET someone (see figure 1a in the following section), where two extended forefingers on each hand (which are sometimes called classifiers, see Herlofsky, 2007 for discussion), are brought together in an iconic imitation of two people meeting, is understood by most deaf people around the world, because many sign languages use (classifier-like) forefingers coming together in this way to indicate two people meeting. As for the second myth, most sign languages studied so far do seem to have a counterpart that is, more or less, a manual version of the dominant spoken language. This is also the case in Japan as well, where there is a manual version of Japanese called Signed Japanese (SJ, see section 3 for discussion) . Perhaps a few more details on the minority/majority language relationship, and the language-contact-like situation that exists in Japan is in order. Most, if not all, sign languages are minority languages surrounded by majority spoken languages and cultures. On average, only about 0.1% of the general population is deaf, and so, since Japan has a population of a little over 120 million, statistically, there should be more than 100,000 deaf people in Japan (These data and what follows are based on a summary of the information found in Inaba, 2007; Nakamura, 2006; Zen-Nihon-Roa-Renmei, 2007). The definition of deafness, however, is problematic. There is a range of hearing ability, from zero to hard-of-hearing to hearing. There are also people who were born deaf, those who lose their hearing when they were young, and those who lose their hearing, for one reason or another, later in life. And it is estimated that 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, which means only 10%, or about 10,000 deaf children, are born to deaf parents, and acquire their first language, Japan Sign Language (JSL), naturally by observing their parents and those around them. It is also estimated that about 50, 000 people in Japan use JSL as their primary language, and maybe ten times that number, about half a million hearing and hard-of-hearing people (for whom Japanese is a first language) are studying and/or using sign language. It is this large group (which includes interpreters) that might even prefer to use SJ rather than JSL. It is clear, then, that JSL is a minority language in Japan, dominated by a majority hearing culture and spoken language. In addition, deaf children in deaf schools in Japan, until recently, were not allowed to use JSL on school premises (This is still the case unofficially in many deaf schools, although ‘officially’JSL is now allowed.). Deaf children were expected to learn the majority spoken language, Japanese, first, and it was thought that using JSL would interfere with the acquisition of Japanese. The official educational goal was to first have the deaf children be

FAQs

What are the two common myths about sign languages discussed in the introduction?

One myth claims there is a single international sign language every deaf person knows. The other claims all sign languages are merely manual equivalents of the dominant spoken language in their region.

Why do some sign language signs seem understandable across different sign languages?

Because many signs originate from iconicity, making them partly interpretable to users from different sign-language backgrounds, such as signs involving classifier-like forefingers to depict “to meet.”

How does the paper describe the role of education and culture in shaping deaf identity in Japan?

It explains that deaf children were historically discouraged from using JSL at school and expected to prioritize spoken Japanese and lip-reading, which affected both language outcomes (often semi-lingualism) and cultural identity awareness.

Aug 23, 2026

Upload by Asher