Words without sound

Babies can tell you they're hungry before they can say a word: here's how

Imagine trying to order your morning coffee when the barista behind the counter doesn't understand a word or a gesture you're making. That's what many deaf people have to deal with every single day. But awareness is changing things: The more all of us learn about sign language and deaf culture, the more welcoming the world gets. Did you know that concerts have interpreters who convey the words and mood of a performance? Or that babies can sign basic words months before they can speak a single one? Here are 10 things about sign language that will surprise you.

Seen it or not, there’s someone off to the side of the stage, signing along with the music with incredible energy. These folks are sign language interpreters, and their job at live events is to make the whole experience accessible to deaf audience members. They not only translate the words, but they also convey the performance rhythm, mood, and emotion.

Imagine you're at a Rolling Stones concert and you're deaf. Without an interpreter, you'd feel the bass in your chest but miss everything else. With one interpreter, you get the full show.

Hearing babies can learn to sign basic words, even months before they develop the muscle control needed to speak. The fine motor skills required for simple signs develop earlier than the complex coordination needed for speech. "Baby sign language" programs have become popular with hearing parents who want to communicate with their infants before they can talk.

Imagine your 10-month-old signing "more" or "milk" instead of just screaming. Parents who've tried it say it dramatically reduces frustration on both sides, and some research suggests it may actually boost spoken language development.

There is no single, worldwide sign language. American Sign Language (ASL) is completely different from British Sign Language (BSL), even though both countries speak English. And there are hundreds of sign languages across the globe, each one developed naturally within its own deaf community, with its own vocabulary, grammar, and even regional slang.

If you learned ASL fluently and then flew to Japan, you'd be starting from scratch with Japanese Sign Language. A deaf traveler visiting a new country has to navigate a whole new language, just like anyone else.

Back in 1817, a French educator named Laurent Clerc traveled to the United States with Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet to help establish the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Clerc brought French Sign Language with him, and it blended with the various signing systems already used by American deaf communities: that mix eventually became American Sign Language.

In spoken language, tone of voice tells you whether someone is asking a question or making a statement, whether they're being sarcastic or sincere. In ASL, facial expressions carry that same grammatical weight. Raised eyebrows can signal a yes/no question. A furrowed brow can indicate a "wh-" question, such as "who" or "where." Without the right face, the meaning can change completely.

Imagine signing "You're going to the store?" with a totally flat expression, without indicating if you’re making a statement or asking a question. To a fluent ASL user, that could read as a very different kind of sentence altogether.

In ASL, signers use the space in front of them almost like a stage. You can assign a spot in the air to a person or object, and then refer back to that spot throughout the conversation to mean "he," "she," "it," or "they." It's a pronoun system built entirely out of space and motion.

Picture telling a story about a disagreement between your neighbor and your boss. You'd set up your neighbor on the left side of the signing space and your boss on the right. Then, every time you refer to each of them, you simply point or direct signs toward those spots.

Many people assume sign language is just English translated into hand gestures, but ASL has its own completely independent grammar. The word order and the sentence structure are different, and many concepts that require multiple words in English can be expressed in ASL with a single sign.

If you wanted to say "I gave the book to her" in ASL, the signs, facial expressions, and spatial positioning would work together in a way that has no direct equivalent in an English sentence structure.

Just like spoken English has regional accents (think Boston versus Georgia versus Texas), ASL has regional variations too. The sign for a particular word in New York might look noticeably different from how it's signed in Los Angeles or Atlanta. Historically, schools for the deaf were major hubs where local signing styles developed and were passed down through generations of students.

There are also cultural variations within the deaf community itself. Black ASL, for instance, developed separately during the era of school segregation in the American South and has its own distinct features, signs, and style that differ from mainstream ASL.

Finger-spelling is the system used in ASL to spell out words letter by letter using hand shapes, one shape for each letter of the alphabet. It comes in handy for proper names, technical terms, or any word that doesn't have its own established sign. Fluent ASL users can finger-spell surprisingly fast, and experienced signers can read it just as quickly.

For a long time, scientists assumed that language was processed by the brain purely through sound. Sign language turned that idea on its head. Studies have shown that ASL is processed in the same areas of the brain as spoken languages. The brain, it turns out, is wired for language, not just speech. It doesn't care whether the signal comes through the ears or the eyes.

This means a child who learns ASL from birth shows the same developmental milestones as a child learning a spoken language. And deaf individuals who suffer a stroke affecting the left hemisphere can lose signing ability the same way hearing people lose speech.

Deathbed statements

Beyond the grave: Take a look at the last words of 12 famous people

Image: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Throughout history, hundreds of historical figures have left their mark on the world through their marvelous achievements. When their lives came to an end, their last words were often a reflection of their lives and ideals. From George Washington and Mark Twain to Frank Sinatra and Leonardo Da Vinci, in this article, we will reveal 12 final words of memorable personalities.

Image: The New York Public Library

After serving two terms as the United State's first president, George Washington retired to his Virginia plantation. In mid-December 1799, he developed a cold and a severe sore throat. Despite doctors' efforts to cure him, the end was imminent.

His long-time secretary, Tobias Lear, was at his side during his last days and documented all the events that transpired, including the former president's last words. According to his account, shortly before he took his last breath George Washington said "Tis well" —an old-fashioned way of saying "everything is okay."

Image: Signal Corps Archive from United States, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noir icon of perpetual elegance and rebellious charisma, Humphrey Bogart is an undisputed legend in cinema history. A Hollywood Golden Age star, Bogart is still remembered today for his scar on his upper lip, his everlasting cigarette, and his perfect portrayal of gangsters and detectives.

At the age of 57 Bogart was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, for which he was hospitalized for several months. According to lore, the legendary star's last words were "I should never have switched from scotch to martinis." However, his wife Lauren Bacall confirmed that the last thing he actually said was "Goodbye Kid. Hurry back," before she left his bedside to get their children.

Image: Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

As one of the greatest American writers of all time, Mark Twain is usually credited with all sorts of great quotes that he often didn't say. For that reason, there are different versions of what his last words were before he died in 1910 at the age of 74.

The most plausible theory can be found in an article published one day after his death. According to this chronicle, Samuel Langhorne Clemens' last words were not spoken aloud but written. The famous humorist and essayist reportedly wrote to his daughter Clara, who accompanied him on his bedside, "Give me my glasses."

Image: MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Joan Crawford, the Oscar winner for Mildred Pierce and one of the greatest stars of Hollywood's golden age, died in 1977 of a heart attack.

The actress, who had a complicated personality, was true to her nature until her last breath. She was so ill that her doctor felt it wasn’t worth taking her to the hospital. One of her nurses began to pray aloud in desperation. Losing her patience, Crawford snapped for the last time and said, "Damn it... Don't you dare ask God to help me."

Image: Municipal Library of Trento, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The year 2024 marked the 700th anniversary of the death of the man who better described remote lands. Marco Polo was a merchant who spent more than 20 years of his life traveling through the Orient and wrote about his adventures in a book that became a bestseller when the printing press wasn’t even invented.

Marco Polo was, and still is, a legend. When, on his deathbed, his wife and friends begged the brave explorer to confess if what he had told in the book was true, he barely whispered: "I have not told the half of what I saw and did."

Image: MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Julius Henry Marx, better known as Groucho Marx, is considered one of the most influential comedians of all time. The man with the bushy black mustache was one of the Marx Brothers. Together they made 13 films, including the classic Duck Soup. After a long and prominent career, Groucho passed away in Los Angeles in 1977 at the age of 86.

His brilliant one-liners are still remembered and replayed to this day, so it is not surprising that not one but several final words are attributed to him. A few close friends have suggested that his last line was "This is no way to live!", while most suggest that his last words were in fact dedicated to his wife: "Die, my dear? Why, that's the last thing I'll do!"

Image: Nicolas de Largillière, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Voltaire, the French writer, philosopher, historian, and lawyer, one of the major figures of the Enlightenment, died in 1778 at the age of 83. Different accounts of his deathbed make it impossible to determine exactly what his last days were like.

One of these stories, however, is consistent with his ideas about God and his well-known criticism of the Church. According to this version, when the priest asked him if he wanted to renounce Satan before he died, Voltaire replied, "This is no time to make new enemies."

Image: William Wallace Denslow, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

L. Frank Baum was a prolific American author. He wrote 55 novels, 82 short stories, and more than 200 poems. However, his most memorable work is his series of children's fantasy books The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

On May 5, 1919, Baum suffered a heart attack. He died the next day, shortly before his 63rd birthday. Disturbed by the imminence of death, he whispered to his wife: "Now we can cross the Shifting Sands," a clear reference to the Land of Oz.

Image: National Archaeological Museum of Athens, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Augustus, the first Roman emperor, is often attributed with the phrase: "Behold, I found Rome of clay, and leave her to you of marble," alluding to the great infrastructural works carried out during his prosperous 40 years of rule.

However, according to other historical accounts, his last words were addressed to the friends who stayed with him on his deathbed: "Have I played the part well? Then applaud, as I exit."

Image: English: Distributed by NBC. Photographer unknown., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

"Darling, you've gone through worse and you can beat this too. You have to fight," implored Barbara Marx, Frank Sinatra's fourth wife, to her beloved on his deathbed. "I'm losing," The Voice whispered through teary eyes.

Barbara recounted the last hours of the singer of such hits as My Way and New York, New York in her memoir Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank. Frank Sinatra, one of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century, pronounced his last words in 1998 at the age of 82.

Image: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Despite being one of the most famous artists of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci was very hard on himself. All his life he challenged his own limits, evident in his paintings and sculptures as well as in his inventions, some of which were truly revolutionary.

Even after a lifetime of success, he wasn’t quite satisfied. When he suffered a stroke at the age of 67, he sent for a priest to receive the Holy Sacrament and, according to historians, his greatest regret was that he hadn’t achieved excellence with his work. In that sense, it is said that his last words were: "I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have."

Image: National Museum of Health and Medicine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Yankee Clipper was one of the greatest baseball players of all time but he is also known for having been married to the iconic American actress Marilyn Monroe. Joe and Marilyn were together for less than three years. In 1955 the actress left him for American playwright Arthur Miller.

DiMaggio was devastated. He never married again, and never got over his one true love. His last words before he died in 1999 at the age of 84 were: "I'll finally get to see Marilyn."