The enchanting music of sign language | Christine Sun Kim

Translator: Sui He Reviewer: Alan Watson

Interpreter: Piano, "p," is my favorite musical symbol.

口譯員︰英文單詞「鋼琴」 入邊個「p」係我最鍾意嘅樂符

It means to play softly.

佢嘅意思係輕輕演奏

If you're playing a musical instrument and you notice a "p" in the score,

如果你演奏緊一種樂器 同埋睇到一個「p」符

you need to play softer.

咁你就需要輕輕咁去演奏個音

Two p's -- even softer.

如果係兩個「p」咁就要更加之輕柔

Four p's -- extremely soft.

如果係四個，咁就要極度輕柔

This is my drawing of a p-tree,

呢個係我畫嘅「p 樹圖」

which demonstrates

呢幅圖展示咗

no matter how many thousands upon thousands of p's there may be,

無論圖入邊有幾多個 p

you'll never reach complete silence.

你永遠都唔會做到絕對安靜

That's my current definition of silence:

呢個就係而家我對安靜嘅定義︰

a very obscure sound.

「一個非常之模糊嘅音」

I'd like to share a little bit

我想同大家分享一啲

about the history of American Sign Language, ASL,

關於美國手語（ASL）嘅歷史 同埋我個人嘅經歷

plus a bit of my own background.

French sign language was brought to America during the early 1800s,

喺十九世紀早期 法國手語第一次傳到美國

and as time went by, mixed with local signs,

隨著時間，佢慢慢同當地手語融合

it evolved into the language we know today as ASL.

跟住慢慢演化成 我哋而家熟悉嘅美國手語

So it has a history of about 200 years.

所以佢有將近兩百年嘅歷史

I was born deaf,

我天生失聰

and I was taught to believe that sound wasn't a part of my life.

其他人一直同我講

聲音唔屬於我生活一部分

And I believed it to be true.

所以我都相信係真嘅

Yet, I realize now that that wasn't the case at all.

但係而家我意識到其實事實並唔係咁

Sound was very much a part of my life,

聲音其實係我生活嘅一部分

really, on my mind every day.

講真，佢日日都喺我腦海中浮現

As a Deaf person living in a world of sound,

作為一個失聰嘅人

生活喺有聲音嘅世界裏邊 就好似我生活喺外國一樣

it's as if I was living in a foreign country,

blindly following its rules, customs, behaviors and norms

只有遵守當地規距、習慣、行為同標準

without ever questioning them.

而從來都冇懷疑過

So how is it that I understand sound?

咁我點樣可以理解聲音？

Well, I watch how people behave and respond to sound.

我其實係通過觀察人哋對聲音嘅反應

You people are like my loudspeakers, and amplify sound.

你哋就好似我嘅揚聲器一樣擴大聲音

I learn and mirror that behavior.

我就學到同呼應你哋嘅反應

At the same time, I've learned that I create sound,

同時，我知道我發出咗聲音

and I've seen how people respond to me.

同埋我睇到你哋點樣對我嘅聲音有反應

Thus I've learned, for example ...

所以我就學到好多嘢，譬如話

"Don't slam the door!"

唔好大力關門

"Don't make too much noise when you're eating from the potato-chip bag!"

你食薯條嗰陣唔好俾個袋製造太多噪音

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"Don't burp,

唔好打嗝

and when you're eating,

仲有食飯果陣

make sure you don't scrape your utensils on the plate."

唔好用餐具去刮個碟

All of these things I term "sound etiquette."

所有呢啲嘢 我都叫佢哋做「聲音儀態」

Maybe I think about sound etiquette

或者我會比正常人更加留意聲音儀態

more than the average hearing person does.

I'm hyper-vigilant around sound.

我對聲音超級敏感

And I'm always waiting in eager nervous anticipation

我成日好惊，會成日準備聲音出現

around sound, about what's to come next.

惊有乜嘢會發生

Hence, this drawing.

所以呢，一齊嚟睇下呢幅畫

TBD, to be decided.

TBD 嘅意思係留待決定

TBC, to be continued.

TBC 嘅意思係留待繼續

TBA, to be announced.

TBA 嘅意思係留待宣布

And you notice the staff --

你都可以睇得到

there are no notes contained in the lines.

喺呢三行入邊，係冇音符嘅

That's because the lines already contain sound

原因係呢三行其實通過化開咗嘅鉛筆痕

through the subtle smudges and smears.

就已經包括埋聲音架啦

In Deaf culture, movement is equivalent to sound.

喺聾人嘅世界入邊，動作同聲音係一樣

This is a sign for "staff" in ASL.

呢個係「staff」嘅美國手語

A typical staff contains five lines.

一個典型嘅「staff」有五行

Yet for me, signing it with my thumb sticking up like that

不過我如果用手指做成咁嘅樣 就會好唔自然

doesn't feel natural.

That's why you'll notice in my drawings, I stick to four lines on paper.

呢個就係點解我會喺紙上畫四行

In the year 2008, I had the opportunity to travel to Berlin, Germany,

2008 年，我有機會 以藝術家嘅身份定居柏林

for an artist residency there.

之前呢，我就有一段時間做過做過畫家

Prior to this time, I had been working as a painter.

During this summer, I visited different museums and gallery spaces,

暑假期間 我參觀咗唔同嘅博物館同畫廊

and as I went from one place to the next,

當我喺唔同嘅地方參觀嗰陣

I noticed there was no visual art there.

我發覺呢啲地方都冇視覺藝術

At that time, sound was trending, and this struck me ...

果時，聲音係主流

但我令我好託異嘅係 冇一樣嘢係視覺藝術

there was no visual art,

everything was auditory.

所有嘢都係聽覺

Now sound has come into my art territory.

咁而家聲音嚟到我嘅藝術世界裏面啦

Is it going to further distance me from art?

但佢係唔係會令我遠離藝術呢？

I realized that doesn't have to be the case at all.

我意識到根本就唔係

I actually know sound.

其實我可以聽到聲音

I know it so well

我係非常了解聲音嘅

that it doesn't have to be something just experienced through the ears.

因為我知道聲音唔剩係經耳仔感受得到

It could be felt tactually,

仲可以通過觸摸去感受佢

or experienced as a visual,

可以通過雙眼去睇佢

or even as an idea.

或者甚至通過諗法去感受佢

So I decided to reclaim ownership of sound

所以我決定重新擁有聲音

and to put it into my art practice.

並且將佢融入到我嘅藝術創作當中

And everything that I had been taught regarding sound,

其他人教過我有關聲音嘅嘢

I decided to do away with and unlearn.

我決定揼曬佢哋，將佢哋忘記

I started creating a new body of work.

我決定做一個同聲音有關嘅工作

And when I presented this to the art community,

當我將呢個工作介紹俾藝術社群嘅時候

I was blown away with the amount of support and attention I received.

見到咁多人支持同專心聽，我非常感動

I realized:

我意識到

sound is like money,

聲音就好似錢、權力、控制咁

power, control --

social currency.

呢啲嘅社會話語權

In the back of my mind, I've always felt that sound was your thing,

喺我腦海裏邊，我一直覺得聲音

係屬於你哋可以聽到聲音嘅人嘅物品

a hearing person's thing.

And sound is so powerful

聲音嘅力量好大

that it could either disempower me and my artwork,

佢可以令我同我嘅藝術黯然失色

or it could empower me.

同時佢都可以令到我更加有力量

I chose to be empowered.

我選擇變得更加有力量

There's a massive culture around spoken language.

口語當中包含大量文化

And just because I don't use my literal voice to communicate,

而因為我唔會用我把聲去講嘢

in society's eyes it's as if I don't have a voice at all.

喺社會眼中，就好似我冇得發言一樣

So I need to work with individuals who can support me as an equal

所以我需要同可以平等看待我嘅人 共事、幫我發聲

and become my voice.

And that way, I'm able to maintain relevancy in society today.

通過呢種方式 我可以喺社會裏面繼續發揮影響

So at school, at work and institutions,

所以喺學校同返工嗰陣時

I work with many different ASL interpreters.

我同好多唔同嘅美國手語傳譯員共事

And their voice becomes my voice and identity.

佢哋把聲就係我嘅把聲音同我嘅身份

They help me to be heard.

佢哋幫我，令其他人可以聽到我

And their voices hold value and currency.

佢哋把聲蘊含價值同社會話語權

Ironically, by borrowing out their voices,

諷刺嘅係，通過借用佢哋嘅聲音

I'm able to maintain a temporary form of currency,

我可以暫時擁有呢啲話語權

kind of like taking out a loan with a very high interest rate.

好啲似借高利貸咁

If I didn't continue this practice,

如果我停止呢個實踐

I feel that I could just fade off into oblivion

我就會覺得我會消失咗咁

跟住我嘅話語權就會隨之而消失

and not maintain any form of social currency.

So with sound as my new art medium,

所以當聲音成為我新嘅藝術媒介時

I delved into the world of music.

我沈醉咗喺音樂世界裏面

And I was surprised to see the similarities between music and ASL.

令我訝異嘅係

音樂同美國手語竟然有好多相似之處

For example,

譬如話一個音符

a musical note

cannot be fully captured and expressed on paper.

係冇辦法完全咁用紙紀錄低

And the same holds true for a concept in ASL.

美國手語嘅一個概念都係咁

They're both highly spatial and highly inflected --

佢哋都係立體嘅

同埋字嘅結構會隨著意思唔同 而有所變化

meaning that subtle changes

意思就係一啲細小嘅變化

can affect the entire meaning

都可以改變手語同言語成個意義

of both signs and sounds.

I'd like to share with you a piano metaphor,

我想同你哋分享一個有關鋼琴嘅比喻

咁你哋就可以了解美國手語係點樣

to have you have a better understanding of how ASL works.

So, envision a piano.

我哋係腦海中想像一個鋼琴

ASL is broken down into many different grammatical parameters.

美國手語可以分解成唔同嘅語法參數

If you assign a different parameter to each finger as you play the piano --

如果你將唔同嘅語法參數 分配俾彈鋼琴嘅每隻手指

such as facial expression, body movement,

譬如話︰面部表情、身體動作

speed, hand shape and so on,

速度、手形

as you play the piano --

當你演奏鋼琴陣時…

English is a linear language,

因為英文係線型語言

as if one key is being pressed at a time.

就好似每次只可以表達一種音符 好似獨唱咁

However, ASL is more like a chord --

但係美國手語就更加似合唱

all 10 fingers need to come down simultaneously

十個手指都需要同時演奏

to express a clear concept or idea in ASL.

去表達一個清晰嘅美國手語符號

If just one of those keys were to change the chord,

如果其中一個音符改變咗

咁成個意思都會唔同

it would create a completely different meaning.

The same applies to music in regards to pitch, tone and volume.

音樂嘅音調、音色同音量都係同一道理

In ASL, by playing around with these different grammatical parameters,

喺美國手語當中 通過運用呢啲唔同嘅語法參數

你就可以表達唔同嘅意思

you can express different ideas.

For example, take the sign TO-LOOK-AT.

譬如話用手語表達「睇」呢個意思

This is the sign TO-LOOK-AT.

係咁樣表示嘅

I'm looking at you.

我睇緊你

Staring at you.

盯實你

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Oh -- busted.

噢，冇啦

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Uh-oh.

嗯，哦

What are you looking at?

你睇緊乜？

Aw, stop.

噢！停低

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I then started thinking,

跟住我開始諗

"What if I was to look at ASL through a musical lens?"

如果我從音樂角度 分析美國手語會係點？

If I was to create a sign and repeat it over and over,

如果我發明一個手語 跟住重複做個手語

it could become like a piece of visual music.

咁個動作就會係一首視覺嘅音樂

譬如話呢個係「一日」嘅符號

For example, this is the sign for "day,"

as the sun rises and sets.

代表日出到日落

This is "all day."

呢個就係「成日」嘅意思

If I was to repeat it and slow it down,

如果我重複呢個動作，跟住放慢速度

visually it looks like a piece of music.

睇上去就好似係一首歌咁

All ... day.

成…日

I feel the same holds true for "all night."

我覺得如果表達「成晚」都啱

"All night."

「成晚」

This is ALL-NIGHT, represented in this drawing.

幅畫裏面就有「成晚」嘅意思

And this led me to thinking about three different kinds of nights:

跟住我就唸 「夜晚」三個唔同表達嘅方式

"last night,"

「琴晚」

"overnight,"

「通宵」

(Sings) "all night long."

（手語）「成晚咁長」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I feel like the third one has a lot more musicality than the other two.

我覺得第三個手語比之前兩種 更加有音樂性

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

This represents how time is expressed in ASL

呢個就係點樣用美國手語表達時間

and how the distance from your body can express the changes in time.

你隻手同身體嘅距離 可以反映到時間嘅變化

For example,

舉個例子

1H is one hand, 2H is two hand,

1H 就係一隻手，2H 就係兩隻手

present tense happens closest and in front of the body,

表達現在式時，隻手係最靠近身體

表達未來時，隻手喺身體前面 過去式，隻手就擺喺身後面

future is in front of the body and the past is to your back.

So, the first example is "a long time ago."

所以第一個例子就係「好耐之前」

Then "past,"

跟住係「以前」

"used to"

同「習慣」

and the last one, which is my favorite,

最後一個係我最鍾意嘅

with the very romantic and dramatic notion to it,

因為佢俾人一種好浪漫、好戲劇嘅感覺

"once upon a time."

「曾經」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"Common time"

「普通拍子」

is a musical term

係一個音樂術語

with a specific time signature of four beats per measure.

係話一個特定時間之內打四次拍子

Yet when I see the word "common time,"

而家我睇到「普通拍子」呢個字

what automatically comes to mind for me is "at the same time."

我腦海中自動會出現個字「同一時間」

So notice RH: right hand, LH: left hand.

跟著落嚟，我哋會用左手同右手

We have the staff across the head and the chest.

我哋可以喺頭同胸嘅位置做手語

[Head: RH, Flash claw]

( 頭部︰右手，手成一個爪型 )

[Common time]

( 同一時間 )

[Chest: LH, Flash claw]

( 心口︰左手，手成一個爪型 )

I'm now going to demonstrate a hand shape called the "flash claw."

而家我來展示一下 「flash claw」嘅手語

Can you please follow along with me?

大家可以一齊跟我做嗎？

Everybody, hands up.

大家一齊舉起手

Now we're going to do it in both the head and the chest,

而家我哋將手喺頭同胸嘅位置咁樣擺住

kind of like "common time" or at the same time.

同時擺住

Yes, got it.

啱啦

That means "to fall in love" in International [Sign].

呢個就係國際手語裏面「愛上」嘅意思

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

國際手語就好似一個音符

International [Sign], as a note,

is a visual tool to help communicate

係一種用嚟交流嘅視覺工具

across cultures and sign languages around the world.

令唔同文化同用唔同手語嘅人 都可以溝通到

The second one I'd like to demonstrate is this --

第二個動作我想咁樣做

please follow along with me again.

唔該各位再跟我做多一次

And now this.

係咁樣

This is "colonization" in ASL.

呢個係美國手語「殖民」嘅意思

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Now the third --

而家係第三個手語

please follow along again.

請大家跟住我做多一次

And again.

再嚟一次

This is "enlightenment" in ASL.

呢個係「啟蒙」嘅意思

So let's do all three together.

而家我哋將三個連埋一齊

"Fall in love,"

「愛上」

"colonization"

「殖民」

and "enlightenment."

同埋「啟蒙」

Good job, everyone.

大家都做得非常好

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Notice how all three signs are very similar,

可以注意到呢三個手語係非常之相似

they all happen at the head and the chest,

佢哋都喺頭同胸嘅位置做出來

but they convey quite different meanings.

但係佢哋嘅意思又唔同

So it's amazing to see how ASL is alive and thriving,

所以見到美國手語嘅出現同壯大 係一件好令人感動嘅事

just like music is.

就好似音樂一樣

However, in this day and age,

喺今時今日

我哋生活喺一個聲音嘅世界裏面

we live in a very audio-centric world.

And just because ASL has no sound to it,

因為美國手語喺呢個時間無得發聲

所以佢唔會有社會話語權

it automatically holds no social currency.

We need to start thinking harder about what defines social currency

關於社會話語權 我哋需要仔細考慮佢嘅意思

and allow ASL to develop its own form of currency --

從而幫助美國手語喺冇聲嘅情況下

都可以擁有屬於自己嘅社會話語權

without sound.

And this could possibly be a step to lead to a more inclusive society.

如果可以做到呢一點 我哋嘅社會應該會更加包容

And maybe people will understand

甚至其他人可以明白到

that you don't need to be deaf to learn ASL,

就算唔係聾啞人，亦可以學習手語

就好似失聰嘅人都可以學習聲樂一樣

nor do you have to be hearing to learn music.

ASL is such a rich treasure

美國手語好似一筆巨大財富咁

that I'd like you to have the same experience.

所以我想你哋都可以體會到當中

And I'd like to invite you to open your ears,

我想邀請你哋去打開自己雙耳

to open your eyes,

睜開自己雙眼，融入我哋嘅文化

take part in our culture

and experience our visual language.

體驗我哋嘅視覺語言

And you never know,

你永遠唔會知道

you might just fall in love with us.

你會唔會下一刻就即刻愛上咗我哋

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

多謝

Denise Kahler-Braaten: Hey, that's me.

Denise Kahler-Braaten: 大家好，我就係 Christie 嘅翻譯員

(Applause)

（掌聲）