Register continued

Yesterday I was asked about frozen register - especially The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States. In English, there is no doubt this is frozen register. Every American from the youngest of school children to those standing to recite it before an Opera in Tulsa is taught what to say:

I pledge allegiance to the flag
Of the United States of America
And to the Republic for which it stands
One Nation, under God, indivisible
With liberty and justice for all.

The problem is, it is not frozen in ASL. Almost every group of Deaf will have their own interpretation - some taught by interpreters, or those with limmited sign skills, some translated by someone truly fluent in both languages.

So, for today's conversation I thought I would try and link you to several examples. One of my favorites is already gone from You-tube, so if another of these links fails, please let me know.

The first example is a pretty common translation. I am not sure it is clear what a Republic is, nor what "for which it stands" means, but it is commonly found in the elementary schools.

Here is another common elementary school translation. It defines Republic as a country, which is helpful, and also gives us a compound sign for liberty.

This one may be my all time favorite found on You-tube. I like because it repeats the concept of "allegiance" clarifying the English conjunction "and". It reminds us that Nation is here. It also defines Under God . Finally, it reminds us that "all" in English implies people. I think as a jumping off place for a civics lesson, it is fabulous!

If you find others and want to ask about them, please feel free to email me or comment.