Talk:Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language

"without influence from any other language"??
The article says this is a language "which has developed a complex grammar without influence from any other language". This is almost certainly false. First, there are only 150 speakers of this language and they do not live isolated from speakers of other languages. Second, many of those who speak this sign language are themselves bi-lingual in oral Arabic. Third, there is no citation for this not very credible claim. There must be a better way to state the matter. Maybe "A new language has been created in the past 70 years whose grammar is not a mere copy of that of any of the languages with which it had contact." Inter lingua talk email 20:50, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I toned one down time the claim was made and flagged two others. But it's implausible, unsourced, and needs to be removed. Perhaps less hyperbolic claims are made in the actual sources.


 * Incidentally, it appears from reading the article on Nicaraguan sign language that such a claim would be much more plausible if made for that language, since it arose unnoticed by the hearing teachers. But there still could be influence from Spanish. 178.38.73.150 (talk) 17:26, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
 * I saw a news video about ABSL and there is a definite influence from American Sign Language. I only know a little ASL but I recognized several signs that in ASL fit the narration. Particularly, at the end of the video the narrator was translating while someone was signing something to the effect of, "God made you deaf, you should live with it." The last two signs were nearly identical to the ASL signs "deaf" and "finish." That can be translated to English in many ways but all would mean something to the effect of, "(you are) deaf, end of story." If I can find the story again I will add more detail. Rsduhamel (talk) 17:33, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I found the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DzrkopgLfU&t=91s. At the end the caption says "God made you deaf. Accept it." while the man in the video makes signs that look like "deaf, finish" in ASL. Several other signs in the video seem to be similar to ASL but are likely just coincidence. Like pointing to the head for "head" is obvious. Making a horizontal circle with the palm down for "everyone" could have originated independently, but that's awfully close to ASL. Touching the ear for "deaf" would be obvious. However, touching the ear then touching the mouth for "deaf", as in ASL, is less likely to be a coincidence. Flipping out the palms for "finish" is also suspiciously close to ASL. IBSL is clearly it's own language, but it appears that some ASL has cheeped in. Rsduhamel (talk) 18:08, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
 * And the finger spelling is identical to ASL. I think that closes the case about the lack of outside influence. Rsduhamel (talk) 21:19, 29 April 2024 (UTC)

Marked as a stub
It's a decent article on a fascinating subject. But have a look at the article on Nicaraguan Sign Language. This one could and should equal it.

al Sayyid / Bedouin Sign Language is considered very important in linguistics, in the study of language acquisition, and also of language evolution. Certainly the people who conduct research in these areas don't look to Wikipedia for data, however, the larger community can benefit from learning about the world. And Wikipedia is undeniably becoming a central place for laypeople to turn for such information.

To that end, I've marked this article as a stub, in the hopes that qualified people will expand it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.91.201.209 (talk) 19:38, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

al-Sayyid
al-Sayyid Bedouin tribe in the Negev desert of southern Israel they show European features red/blond haired, blue eyed, light skin tone, etc mix with Astraloid features —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.68.154.16 (talk) 19:25, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

talking hands
what about the book "talking hands" by margalit fox that has been written on this community.207.180.150.76 (talk) 21:17, 25 July 2011 (UTC)