Plains Indian Sign Language
Linguists work hard to try to save many languages from extinction, and one that has come close to that point is Plains Indian Sign Language or PISL. This was once ...
The Spread of PISL
PISL’s origins are unknown ... etc.
We need to translate all text inside tags, including line breaks
, but keep them.
Also need to translate HTML entities like ’ (apostrophe). Should we keep them? The original uses ’ for apostrophe. We can keep them as is, but translation may need to use same entity for apostrophe. We'll keep them unchanged for punctuation.
But we need to translate the text that includes these entities.
For example: "PISL’s origins are unknown since no written records exist in the pre-contact days." Should become "Les origines de PISL’ sont inconnues car aucun registre écrit n’existe à l’époque pré-contact." But we need to keep the entity for apostrophe after PISL. So "PISL’s" becomes "PISL’"? Actually the English "PISL's" uses apostrophe s. In French we would say "les origines de PISL sont inconnues". We could restructure. But we need to keep the same entity for apostrophe? Not necessary; we can rewrite without apostrophe. However we must preserve the entity if we keep apostrophe. But we can avoid using it.
Better to keep the entity for apostrophe if we use it. But we can restructure.
Let's translate each paragraph.
First heading: "Plains Indian Sign Language" -> "Langue des signes des Indiens des plaines" maybe "Langue des signes des plaines indiennes". Let's choose "Langue des signes des Indiens des plaines". Keep same.
Second paragraph: The text:
"Linguists work hard to try to save many languages from extinction, and one that has come close to that point is Plains Indian Sign Language or PISL. This was once one of the most widespread languages in the Americas, and its history predates most European variations of sign language. Today, less than 100 people are believed to know it fluently. How did this happen? "
Translate:
"Les linguistes travaillent d’arrache-pied pour essayer de sauver de nombreuses langues de l’extinction, et l’une d’elles a frôlé ce point : la Langue des signes des Indiens des plaines, ou PISL. Elle était autrefois l’une des langues les plus répandues des Amériques, et son histoire précède la plupart des variantes européennes de la langue des signes. Aujourd’hui, on estime que moins de 100 personnes la maîtrisent couramment. Comment cela s’est‑il produit ?"
Need to keep the trailing space? Not needed.
Third heading: "The Spread of PISL" -> "La diffusion de la PISL" or "La propagation de la PISL". Let's use "La diffusion de la PISL".
Now the long paragraph with many
tags.
We need to preserve the
tags as they appear. The original has
then PISL’s origins ... etc.
We need to translate the text inside each span.
Let's extract the content after the first
.
Original:
PISL’s origins are unknown since no written records exist in the pre-contact days. Some experts claim that signing started in Mexico, where there were many different nations with different languages of their own. Signing was an easy way to facilitate trade and spread information. Signing could also be used when making war or peace.
The earliest recorded instance of PISL’s use was in 1527 by Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca during his journey through what’s now Texas. A more detailed description was made by Francisco Coronado 14 years later. He said that the Comanche could be understood without the need for someone to interpret their words into Spanish. This shows that, even in the 16th Century, PISL was quite commonplace among the nations of what would become the Southwestern United States. By contrast, the first true European sign languages don’t appear until 1620.
By 1620, with the spread of the horse from Mexico northwards, the Plains Sign Language had spread to over 30 different nations from the Rio Grande all the way to the modern Northwest Territories in Canada. Once it reached the Crow Nation in the modern Northwest United States, they spread it around and supplanted the Plateau Sign Language that was prevalent in what’s now Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.
It even spread eastward to the northern shores of Lake Michigan, but it didn’t spread much further east than that in US. In Canada, however, it spread as far east as Labrador. In all, over 2/3 of all of North America’s indigenous peoples had a universal sign language that allowed then to communicate, and it was a language that had not yet been considered by Europeans.
We need to translate each piece.
Let's translate.
First sentence: "PISL’s origins are unknown since no written records exist in the pre-contact days."
Translate: "Les origines de la PISL sont inconnues, car aucun registre écrit n’existe à l’époque pré-contact." We could keep "PISL’s" but we can restructure.
Second sentence: "Some experts claim that signing started in Mexico, where there were many different nations with different languages of their own."
Translate: "Certains experts affirment que la langue des signes a commencé au Mexique, où de nombreuses nations possédaient chacune leurs propres langues."
Third: "Signing was an easy way to facilitate trade and spread information."
Translate: "La langue des signes était un moyen simple de faciliter le commerce et la diffusion d’informations."
Fourth: "Signing could also be used when making war or peace."
Translate: "Elle pouvait également être utilisée lors de la guerre ou de la paix."
Now after
, next paragraph.
"The earliest recorded instance of PISL’s use was in 1527 by Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca during his journey through what's now Texas."
Translate: "Le premier cas enregistré d’utilisation de la PISL remonte à 1527, lorsqu’il fut mentionné par l’explorateur espagnol Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca lors de son voyage à travers ce qui est aujourd’hui le Texas."
Next: "A more detailed description was made by Francisco Coronado 14 years later."
Translate: "Une description plus détaillée fut faite par Francisco Coronado 14 ans plus tard."
Next: "He said that the Comanche could be understood without the need for someone to interpret their words into Spanish."
Translate: "Il déclara que les Comanches pouvaient être compris sans qu’il soit nécessaire de traduire leurs paroles en espagnol."
Next: "This shows that, even in the 16th Century, PISL was quite commonplace among the nations of what would become the Southwestern United States."
Translate: "Cela montre que, même au XVIe siècle, la PISL était assez répandue parmi les nations qui allaient devenir le Sud-Ouest des États-Unis."
Next: "By contrast, the first true European sign languages don't appear until 1620."
Translate: "En revanche, les premières vraies langues des signes européennes n’apparaissent qu’en 1620."
Now after
, next paragraph.
"By 1620, with the spread of the horse from Mexico northwards, the Plains Sign Language had spread to over 30 different nations from the Rio Grande all the way to the modern Northwest Territories in Canada."
Translate: "En 1620, avec la diffusion du cheval du Mexique vers le nord, la Langue des signes des plaines s’était répandue à plus de 30 nations différentes, du Rio Grande jusqu’aux actuels Territoires du Nord-Ouest au Canada."
Next: "Once it reached the Crow Nation in the modern Northwest United States, they spread it around and supplanted the Plateau Sign Language that was prevalent in what's now Wyoming, Idaho and Montana."
Translate: "Lorsqu’elle atteignit la nation Crow dans le nord
The Decline of PISL
As time went by and White settlement expanded westward, the number of PISL users started to drop. As late as 1885, there were still roughly 110,000 people in the United States that could speak the language. However, the rise of native boarding schools and the severe damage they caused to native languages and cultures effectively decimated PISL. By the 1960s, the number was down to under 1,000 people. Today, it’s only used by a handful of deaf people on some reservations.
There are, however, attempts to revive the language. Reservation schools and colleges in the West and the Great Plains now have PISL language courses, and these courses are growing in popularity and awareness. The process to revive this endangered treasure of America’s past will be slow, but the evidence shows that PISL can become a widely-used language among Native Americans once again.
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