常春藤解析英语 102 Martian Sign Language　火星文手语

Martian Sign Language　火星文手语

Just like the hip young people who use "Martian" (newly formed words) online, hearing-impaired kids have slang of their own.

Chiu Man-ying, a teacher at the Taipei School for the Hearing Impaired, says that hearing-impaired students invent signs of their own. These function as a kind of shorthand and build bonds among communities of peers.

Take the sign they use for "embarrassed" for example. The original signs involved holding both hands clasped together beside the mouth while acting like you didn't know what to do with yourself, or using the fingers of both hands to suggest the gnashing of teeth. Then another sign emerged, drawn from the popular 1990s cartoon Chibi Maruko. In the cartoon, three lines would appear on Chibi Maruko's face every time she found herself in an awkward situation. It was cute, and hearing-impaired students adopted it, making three fingers their sign for "embarrassed."

Chiu discovered another sign for "embarrassed" five years ago while taking a group of hearing-impaired painters to Rhode Island for a Taiwan Day event. On the flight there, one of the painters arranged his thumb, index finger, and middle finger like the prongs of a plug and stabbed them forward like the beak of a crow, and made a "caw, caw, caw" sound. Watching him, Chiu realized that the younger generation of hearing-impaired had invented yet another way of expressing "embarrassed." The sign referred to the crow that flies across the screen during awkward moments in the TV version of Chibi Maruko.

本文节录自《台湾光华杂志》九十七年九月第三十三卷第九期

单字小铺

1. Martian a. 火星的 & n. 火星人

2. sign language　　手语

3. hip a. 新潮的

4. hearing-impaired a. 听力受损的

impaired a. 受损的

5. slang n. 俚语(集合名词，不可数)

6. shorthand n. 简略的表达方式

7. bond n. 联系;紧密关系

8. peer n. 同侪

peer pressure　　同侪压力

9. embarrassed a. 尴尬的

10. clasp vt. 握紧

11. gnashing n. 咬牙，磨牙

12. awkward a. 尴尬的，为难的

13. thumb n. 拇指

little finger　　小指

14. index finger n. 食指

15. middle finger n. 中指

ring finger n. 无名指

16. prong n. 叉状物，尖头

17. plug n. 插头

18. beak n. 鸟喙

19. crow n. 乌鸦

精解字词词组

1. of one's own　　(某人)自己的

on one's own　　靠某人一己之力

例: Tim saw John's motorcycle and wanted one of his own.

(提姆看见约翰的摩托车之后，自己也想要一辆。)

例: Mark can do a lot of things on his own, but his parents still treat him like a baby.

(虽然马克可以自己做很多事情，但他爸妈还是把他当作小娃儿般对待。)

2. function as...　　有……的功能;充当……用

= serve as...

例: This umbrella also functions as a cane.

(这把伞也有拐杖的功能。)

3. Take...for example.　　以……为例。

= Take...for instance.

例: All his favorite sports are violent. Take football for example.

(他喜欢的运动全都是激烈型的。美式橄榄球就是一例。)

4. involve vt. 包含;牵涉

例: This project involves a lot of time and hard work.

(这项企划案需要付出许多时间和努力。)

5. emerge vi. 出现;浮现

emerge from...　　从……出现

例: The children emerged from their hiding place.

(那些小孩子从他们躲藏的地方出现。)

6. adopt vt. 采取，采用;领养

例: I was pleased when the boss decided to adopt my idea.

(老板决定采用我的点子时我很高兴。)

例: The little boy's sad story affected us, so we decided to adopt him.

(那小男孩的可怜身世使我们深受感动，因此我们决定收养他。)

7. arrange　vt. & vi. 安排

arrange for sb to V　　安排某人……

例: Leon arranged for his wife to be picked up at the airport.

(里昂为他太太安排接机事宜。)

8. stab vt. 刺，戳

stab sb in the + 身体部位　　刺某人的某身体部位

例: The thug stabbed Andy in the belly and stole his money.

(歹徒用刀刺进安迪的腹部，然后抢走他的钱。)

9. express vt. 表达

express oneself　　表达自己的意见∕思想∕感情等

例: You can express yourself freely in this meeting.

(你可以在会议中自由发表意见。)

10. refer to...　　指的是……;言及……

例: The word "Aussie" refers to a person from Australia.

(Aussie 一字指的就是澳洲人。)

中文翻译

就像时下年轻人流行在网络上使用『火星文』(一种新形成的文字)，新新人类的听障生也有自己的『火星文手语』。

台北市立启聪学校邱满英老师指出，即使是听障生，也会发明一些只在他们之间流通的共同符号，一则可以很快理解，再者代表一种同侪间的感情和默契。

以『尴尬』为例，最早期的比法是双手抓在嘴边，作出手足无措状，或双手手指作出咬牙状。直到10多年前电视节目《樱桃小丸子》火红，小丸子每遇到尴尬时，脸上就挂起『3条线』，可爱模样让听障生有样学样，解释『尴尬』时就用3根手指(食指、中指及无名指)比出『3条线』。

5年前，邱满英带着听障画家前往美国罗得岛参加『台湾日』活动，在飞机上发现一名听障生用拇指、食指和中指，像三叉夹子般往前比出『电视版乌鸦ㄚㄚㄚ』手势，以此代表『尴尬』，她才发现，『尴尬』的手语在听障新人类中又有了新解。这个手势指的是电视版《樱桃小丸子》中，在尴尬的时刻乌鸦会飞过屏幕的样子。