Interpreter: Piano, "p," is my favorite musical symbol. It means to play softly. If you're playing a musical instrument and you notice a "p" in the score, you need to play softer. Two p's -- even softer. Four p's -- extremely soft. This is my drawing of a p-tree, which demonstrates no matter how many thousands upon thousands of p's there may be, you'll never reach complete silence. That's my current definition of silence: a very obscure sound.
口譯員︰英文單詞「鋼琴」 入邊個「p」係我最鍾意嘅樂符 佢嘅意思係輕輕演奏 如果你演奏緊一種樂器 同埋睇到一個「p」符 咁你就需要輕輕咁去演奏個音 如果係兩個「p」咁就要更加之輕柔 如果係四個,咁就要極度輕柔 呢個係我畫嘅「p 樹圖」 呢幅圖展示咗 無論圖入邊有幾多個 p 你永遠都唔會做到絕對安靜 呢個就係而家我對安靜嘅定義︰ 「一個非常之模糊嘅音」
I'd like to share a little bit about the history of American Sign Language, ASL, plus a bit of my own background. French sign language was brought to America during the early 1800s, and as time went by, mixed with local signs, it evolved into the language we know today as ASL. So it has a history of about 200 years.
我想同大家分享一啲 關於美國手語(ASL)嘅歷史 同埋我個人嘅經歷 喺十九世紀早期 法國手語第一次傳到美國 隨著時間,佢慢慢同當地手語融合 跟住慢慢演化成 我哋而家熟悉嘅美國手語 所以佢有將近兩百年嘅歷史
I was born deaf, and I was taught to believe that sound wasn't a part of my life. And I believed it to be true. Yet, I realize now that that wasn't the case at all. Sound was very much a part of my life, really, on my mind every day. As a Deaf person living in a world of sound, it's as if I was living in a foreign country, blindly following its rules, customs, behaviors and norms without ever questioning them.
我天生失聰 其他人一直同我講 聲音唔屬於我生活一部分 所以我都相信係真嘅 但係而家我意識到其實事實並唔係咁 聲音其實係我生活嘅一部分 講真,佢日日都喺我腦海中浮現 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 只有遵守當地規距、習慣、行為同標準 而從來都冇懷疑過
So how is it that I understand sound? Well, I watch how people behave and respond to sound. You people are like my loudspeakers, and amplify sound. I learn and mirror that behavior. At the same time, I've learned that I create sound, and I've seen how people respond to me. Thus I've learned, for example ... "Don't slam the door!" "Don't make too much noise when you're eating from the potato-chip bag!"
咁我點樣可以理解聲音? 我其實係通過觀察人哋對聲音嘅反應 你哋就好似我嘅揚聲器一樣擴大聲音 我就學到同呼應你哋嘅反應 同時,我知道我發出咗聲音 同埋我睇到你哋點樣對我嘅聲音有反應 所以我就學到好多嘢,譬如話 唔好大力關門 你食薯條嗰陣唔好俾個袋製造太多噪音
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
"Don't burp, and when you're eating, make sure you don't scrape your utensils on the plate." All of these things I term "sound etiquette." Maybe I think about sound etiquette more than the average hearing person does. I'm hyper-vigilant around sound. And I'm always waiting in eager nervous anticipation around sound, about what's to come next.
唔好打嗝 仲有食飯果陣 唔好用餐具去刮個碟 所有呢啲嘢 我都叫佢哋做「聲音儀態」 或者我會比正常人更加留意聲音儀態 我對聲音超級敏感 我成日好惊,會成日準備聲音出現 惊有乜嘢會發生
Hence, this drawing. TBD, to be decided. TBC, to be continued. TBA, to be announced. And you notice the staff -- there are no notes contained in the lines. That's because the lines already contain sound through the subtle smudges and smears.
所以呢,一齊嚟睇下呢幅畫 TBD 嘅意思係留待決定 TBC 嘅意思係留待繼續 TBA 嘅意思係留待宣布 你都可以睇得到 喺呢三行入邊,係冇音符嘅 原因係呢三行其實通過化開咗嘅鉛筆痕 就已經包括埋聲音架啦
In Deaf culture, movement is equivalent to sound. This is a sign for "staff" in ASL. A typical staff contains five lines. Yet for me, signing it with my thumb sticking up like that doesn't feel natural. That's why you'll notice in my drawings, I stick to four lines on paper.
喺聾人嘅世界入邊,動作同聲音係一樣 呢個係「staff」嘅美國手語 一個典型嘅「staff」有五行 不過我如果用手指做成咁嘅樣 就會好唔自然 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, for an artist residency there. Prior to this time, I had been working as a painter. During this summer, I visited different museums and gallery spaces, and as I went from one place to the next, I noticed there was no visual art there. At that time, sound was trending, and this struck me ... there was no visual art, everything was auditory.
2008 年,我有機會 以藝術家嘅身份定居柏林 之前呢,我就有一段時間做過做過畫家 暑假期間 我參觀咗唔同嘅博物館同畫廊 當我喺唔同嘅地方參觀嗰陣 我發覺呢啲地方都冇視覺藝術 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 所有嘢都係聽覺
Now sound has come into my art territory. Is it going to further distance me from art? I realized that doesn't have to be the case at all. I actually know sound. I know it so well that it doesn't have to be something just experienced through the ears. It could be felt tactually, or experienced as a visual, or even as an idea.
咁而家聲音嚟到我嘅藝術世界裏面啦 但佢係唔係會令我遠離藝術呢? 我意識到根本就唔係 其實我可以聽到聲音 我係非常了解聲音嘅 因為我知道聲音唔剩係經耳仔感受得到 仲可以通過觸摸去感受佢 可以通過雙眼去睇佢 或者甚至通過諗法去感受佢
So I decided to reclaim ownership of sound and to put it into my art practice. And everything that I had been taught regarding sound, I decided to do away with and unlearn. I started creating a new body of work. And when I presented this to the art community, I was blown away with the amount of support and attention I received. I realized: sound is like money, power, control -- social currency. In the back of my mind, I've always felt that sound was your thing, a hearing person's thing. And sound is so powerful that it could either disempower me and my artwork, or it could empower me. I chose to be empowered.
所以我決定重新擁有聲音 並且將佢融入到我嘅藝術創作當中 其他人教過我有關聲音嘅嘢 我決定揼曬佢哋,將佢哋忘記 我決定做一個同聲音有關嘅工作 當我將呢個工作介紹俾藝術社群嘅時候 見到咁多人支持同專心聽,我非常感動 我意識到 聲音就好似錢、權力、控制咁 呢啲嘅社會話語權 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 聲音嘅力量好大 佢可以令我同我嘅藝術黯然失色 同時佢都可以令到我更加有力量 我選擇變得更加有力量
There's a massive culture around spoken language. And just because I don't use my literal voice to communicate, in society's eyes it's as if I don't have a voice at all. So I need to work with individuals who can support me as an equal and become my voice. And that way, I'm able to maintain relevancy in society today.
口語當中包含大量文化 而因為我唔會用我把聲去講嘢 喺社會眼中,就好似我冇得發言一樣 所以我需要同可以平等看待我嘅人 共事、幫我發聲 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, I work with many different ASL interpreters. And their voice becomes my voice and identity. They help me to be heard. And their voices hold value and currency. Ironically, by borrowing out their voices, I'm able to maintain a temporary form of currency, kind of like taking out a loan with a very high interest rate. If I didn't continue this practice, I feel that I could just fade off into oblivion and not maintain any form of social currency.
所以喺學校同返工嗰陣時 我同好多唔同嘅美國手語傳譯員共事 佢哋把聲就係我嘅把聲音同我嘅身份 佢哋幫我,令其他人可以聽到我 佢哋把聲蘊含價值同社會話語權 諷刺嘅係,通過借用佢哋嘅聲音 我可以暫時擁有呢啲話語權 好啲似借高利貸咁 如果我停止呢個實踐 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
So with sound as my new art medium, I delved into the world of music. And I was surprised to see the similarities between music and ASL. For example, a musical note cannot be fully captured and expressed on paper. And the same holds true for a concept in ASL. They're both highly spatial and highly inflected -- meaning that subtle changes can affect the entire meaning of both signs and sounds.
所以當聲音成為我新嘅藝術媒介時 我沈醉咗喺音樂世界裏面 令我訝異嘅係 音樂同美國手語竟然有好多相似之處 譬如話一個音符 係冇辦法完全咁用紙紀錄低 美國手語嘅一個概念都係咁 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 意思就係一啲細小嘅變化 都可以改變手語同言語成個意義
I'd like to share with you a piano metaphor, to have you have a better understanding of how ASL works. So, envision a piano. ASL is broken down into many different grammatical parameters. If you assign a different parameter to each finger as you play the piano -- such as facial expression, body movement, speed, hand shape and so on, as you play the piano -- English is a linear language, as if one key is being pressed at a time. However, ASL is more like a chord -- all 10 fingers need to come down simultaneously to express a clear concept or idea in ASL. If just one of those keys were to change the chord, it would create a completely different meaning. The same applies to music in regards to pitch, tone and volume. In ASL, by playing around with these different grammatical parameters, you can express different ideas.
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 我哋係腦海中想像一個鋼琴 美國手語可以分解成唔同嘅語法參數 如果你將唔同嘅語法參數 分配俾彈鋼琴嘅每隻手指 譬如話︰面部表情、身體動作 速度、手形 當你演奏鋼琴陣時… 因為英文係線型語言 就好似每次只可以表達一種音符 好似獨唱咁 但係美國手語就更加似合唱 十個手指都需要同時演奏 去表達一個清晰嘅美國手語符號 如果其中一個音符改變咗 咁成個意思都會唔同 音樂嘅音調、音色同音量都係同一道理 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
For example, take the sign TO-LOOK-AT. This is the sign TO-LOOK-AT. I'm looking at you. Staring at you.
譬如話用手語表達「睇」呢個意思 係咁樣表示嘅 我睇緊你 盯實你
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Oh -- busted.
噢,冇啦
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Uh-oh. What are you looking at? Aw, stop.
嗯,哦 你睇緊乜? 噢!停低
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
I then started thinking, "What if I was to look at ASL through a musical lens?" If I was to create a sign and repeat it over and over, it could become like a piece of visual music. For example, this is the sign for "day," as the sun rises and sets. This is "all day." If I was to repeat it and slow it down, visually it looks like a piece of music. All ... day. I feel the same holds true for "all night." "All night." This is ALL-NIGHT, represented in this drawing. And this led me to thinking about three different kinds of nights: "last night," "overnight," (Sings) "all night long."
跟住我開始諗 如果我從音樂角度 分析美國手語會係點? 如果我發明一個手語 跟住重複做個手語 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 代表日出到日落 呢個就係「成日」嘅意思 如果我重複呢個動作,跟住放慢速度 睇上去就好似係一首歌咁 成…日 我覺得如果表達「成晚」都啱 「成晚」 幅畫裏面就有「成晚」嘅意思 跟住我就唸 「夜晚」三個唔同表達嘅方式 「琴晚」 「通宵」 (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 and how the distance from your body can express the changes in time. For example, 1H is one hand, 2H is two hand, present tense happens closest and in front of the body, future is in front of the body and the past is to your back. So, the first example is "a long time ago." Then "past," "used to" and the last one, which is my favorite, with the very romantic and dramatic notion to it, "once upon a time."
呢個就係點樣用美國手語表達時間 你隻手同身體嘅距離 可以反映到時間嘅變化 舉個例子 1H 就係一隻手,2H 就係兩隻手 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 所以第一個例子就係「好耐之前」 跟住係「以前」 同「習慣」 最後一個係我最鍾意嘅 因為佢俾人一種好浪漫、好戲劇嘅感覺 「曾經」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
"Common time" is a musical term with a specific time signature of four beats per measure. Yet when I see the word "common time," what automatically comes to mind for me is "at the same time." So notice RH: right hand, LH: left hand. We have the staff across the head and the chest.
「普通拍子」 係一個音樂術語 係話一個特定時間之內打四次拍子 而家我睇到「普通拍子」呢個字 我腦海中自動會出現個字「同一時間」 跟著落嚟,我哋會用左手同右手 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." Can you please follow along with me? Everybody, hands up. Now we're going to do it in both the head and the chest, kind of like "common time" or at the same time. Yes, got it. That means "to fall in love" in International [Sign].
而家我來展示一下 「flash claw」嘅手語 大家可以一齊跟我做嗎? 大家一齊舉起手 而家我哋將手喺頭同胸嘅位置咁樣擺住 同時擺住 啱啦 呢個就係國際手語裏面「愛上」嘅意思
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
International [Sign], as a note, is a visual tool to help communicate across cultures and sign languages around the world.
國際手語就好似一個音符 係一種用嚟交流嘅視覺工具 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 -- please follow along with me again. And now this. This is "colonization" in ASL.
第二個動作我想咁樣做 唔該各位再跟我做多一次 係咁樣 呢個係美國手語「殖民」嘅意思
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Now the third -- please follow along again. And again. This is "enlightenment" in ASL. So let's do all three together. "Fall in love," "colonization" and "enlightenment." Good job, everyone.
而家係第三個手語 請大家跟住我做多一次 再嚟一次 呢個係「啟蒙」嘅意思 而家我哋將三個連埋一齊 「愛上」 「殖民」 同埋「啟蒙」 大家都做得非常好
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Notice how all three signs are very similar, they all happen at the head and the chest, but they convey quite different meanings.
可以注意到呢三個手語係非常之相似 佢哋都喺頭同胸嘅位置做出來 但係佢哋嘅意思又唔同
So it's amazing to see how ASL is alive and thriving, just like music is. However, in this day and age, we live in a very audio-centric world. And just because ASL has no sound to it, it automatically holds no social currency. We need to start thinking harder about what defines social currency and allow ASL to develop its own form of currency -- without sound. And this could possibly be a step to lead to a more inclusive society. And maybe people will understand that you don't need to be deaf to learn ASL, nor do you have to be hearing to learn music.
所以見到美國手語嘅出現同壯大 係一件好令人感動嘅事 就好似音樂一樣 喺今時今日 我哋生活喺一個聲音嘅世界裏面 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 關於社會話語權 我哋需要仔細考慮佢嘅意思 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 如果可以做到呢一點 我哋嘅社會應該會更加包容 甚至其他人可以明白到 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
ASL is such a rich treasure that I'd like you to have the same experience. And I'd like to invite you to open your ears, to open your eyes, take part in our culture and experience our visual language. And you never know, you might just fall in love with us.
美國手語好似一筆巨大財富咁 所以我想你哋都可以體會到當中 我想邀請你哋去打開自己雙耳 睜開自己雙眼,融入我哋嘅文化 體驗我哋嘅視覺語言 你永遠唔會知道 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)