[_nalply]

Interesting.

I talk a Signed Language and I know how to give a 3d image, for example when asking for the location of the toilet, like this: go through this door, then you see the stairs to the left, go down there and then from your point of view return but just one leve lower and the door will be to the right (from your point of view of now).

When asking for directions I am sometimes frustrated by the inability of people to tell me detailed directions. I know their language has limits and they just can't.

Another example, when my boy got on a chairlift the first time, I could tell him in detail what will happen including the change in speed and could include even the typical rattling when taking off. He was then very confident in taking the chairlift.

But I have difficulty imaging how whales communicate 3d situations... Probably by imitating what they experience by sonar and simplifying to the essentials?

[BiteCode_dev]

We convey meaning using words, but it doesn't have to be that way. They may have sounds that map directly into spacial descriptions in a way that light works for us.

[_nalply]

Yeah, for whales by mimicking sonar (caveat emptor).

In Signed Language you can point into a 3D space. If you define a mapping of the world into the 3D space available to Signed Language then you have the world at your fingertips.

[blamestross]

I love sign language for it's "pronoun" system and spatial features, but the reality is we could just a easily "annotate" spoken english with similar spatial context, sign language just does a good job of teaching all parties how to do that be default. By not teaching ASL to everybody who speaks english, we are really missing out on more bandwidth (for detail and redundancy) in communication.

[fouc]

That's really cool, I'm curious if other people that speak in ASL or other signed languages are good at that in general? I feel like even if I was fluent in sign language I wouldn't necessarily be as descriptive but perhaps I'm wrong there.