Mixing Rice: the dilemma of a multilingual signer

 Yesterday, I made my favourite jollof rice with chicken. The approval was great as always. Scholastica (the academic name for my daughter) ate 3 times… She doesn't eat other foods like that (maybe when she is in a good eating mood, she can eat that much of Banku with a good okro stew). 

Anyway, back to my tantalising jollof story. The academic hubby ate to his full. As for me, I am on diet so I tried to manage my consumption…. Oh yes, I am checking my weight gain. You should believe me 😅. 

The tantalising jollof story entered my dreams. I was in a program with my Deaf friends from Ghana. The language of communication was Ghanaian Sign Language (GSL). I gave a talk in the dream. I don't remember the language used 😕 but I think I had an interpreter. In the dream, the foods served at the program included jollof rice and the organisers told me to keep it safe so that it can be distributed after the event. After the program, I walked to the organisers to let them know I still have the jollof rice with me. Suddenly, I realised I had forgotten the sign for RICE in GSL. I signed RICE using British Sign Language (BSL).

My sign.. RICE (BSL) HAVE (GSL) WITH (GSL) ME

This confused the Deaf ladies. They asked me to fingerspell RICE and I quickly did that using the BSL alphabet. It even confused these Ghanaian ladies the more. They tried to sign the strange alphabet and ended up producing something different. I knew in the dream that they were wrong but I just couldn't lay my fingers on RICE in GSL neither did I realise in the dream that I was signing with the BSL alphabet. 

I was a bit frustrated with the ladies for not signing RICE in GSL for me. Suddenly, I woke up and the first thing I did was to correctly sign RICE (GSL). I wanted to continue the dream…. Not possible right? Just then it occurred to me that I confused the ladies by signing with the BSL alphabet when we were communicating in GSL. . 

The confusion in my dream just reminded me of the confusion that many multilingual signers can face signing in real time. The possibility of mixing different signs from different languages is expected. It reminded me of my PhD research on Ghanaian Sign Language and Adamorobe Sign Language (AdaSL). Among the deaf adults in Adamorobe, a rural community in Ghana, the mixing of GSL and Adamorobe Sign Language (AdaSL) signs is inherent in most of their communications. Most times, these adults are unaware of their code mixing. Language contact between GSL and AdaSL in the past few years is identified as the major cause of this code mixing. . 

As I pondered about my dream on my bed, it just occurred to me that GSL sign JOLLOF RICE is somehow related to the sign CONFUSE 

JOLLOF RICE - RICE + MIX

CONFUSE - THINK + MIX

What a coincidence? Mixing rice and mixing thoughts… Anyway let me go back to bed. We shall talk about this another time. (12/09/2020 @ 6am, Brighton) 

                                                        Jollof rice from my kitchen

     

JOLLOF (GSL)                                           CONFUSED (GSL)

References

Edward, M. (2015). Signing out: Linguistic contact and possible endangerment of the Adamorobe Sign Language. Oral presentation at the BAAL language in Africa SIG annual meeting on 22nd May 2015 at Aston University, Birmingham.

Edward, M. (forthcoming). Iconicity as a pervasive force in language: Evidence from Ghanaian Sign Language and Adamorobe Sign Language. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Brighton, UK

McGuire, C. & Deutsch, C., 2015. Ghanaian Sign Language Dictionary. Second ed. s.l.:Our Talking Hands, Inc.