從「聽人與聽障之文化差異」論「臺灣手語之語言變化現象」

世界上任何語言，無論「有聲口語」抑或「無聲手語」，皆具備「依隨人類社會之生成、發展、死亡」之變化能力。依據皮爾斯「符號功能三分法」，足以分析聽人與聽障不同社群之「文化差異」。其中尤以「認知異同」，係造成聽障與聽人「文化有別」之主因。居處臺灣，無論是聽健大眾有聲漢語，抑或聽障小眾無聲手語，皆能展現其交際任務之功能。臺灣手語之「語言變化」，亦為聽障者歷時性「反映過程中之選擇」。臺灣手語文化形式之選擇，固雖與有聲漢語迥異；然臺灣手語面對社會發展所產生「語言變化」之因素，則與漢語雷同。使用手語雖具有「視覺空間性」之優勢，然聽障社群易受電腦「視窗視訊」、「視窗大小」與「攝影位置固定」制約，故而衍生「網路用語」推移變遷之現象。其實，逐一審查「語言」之定義、內涵、功能與作用，可知手語系統與口語系統之「語言變化」因素，差異雖在「聲音之有無」，卻足以造成不同文化。

關鍵字

文化差異；臺灣手語；語言變化現象；網路用語

並列摘要

Any language, spoken or signed, evolves with the birth, growth and death of the society where it is spoken. Peircean's three philosophical categories can be applied to the analysis of the cultural differences between the hearing and the deaf communities, which bring about the cognitive similarities and differences between these two communities.In Taiwan, the hearing majority and the deaf minority can communicate and socialize through spoken Chinese and sign language, respectively. Language change of Taiwanese sigh language reflects the choice of using sign language for the deaf. Although the cultural form of Taiwanese sign language differs from that of spoken Chinese, both are faced with similar factors which lead to language change.Sign language is visual-spatial, but cyber-speak among the deaf community has been evolving to adapt to the limited computer screen size and the fixed position of the webcam. Through close examination of the definition, content, function, and effect of language, this paper reveals that although the language difference between spoken language and sign language lies mainly in voice and the lack thereof, it is sufficient to bring about cultural differences in the hearing and deaf communities.