Talk:Plains Indian Sign Language

message: How many, if any, of these sign languages are still actively used. A few people may still remember some signs, but are there people actively using these languages today? Pete unseth (talk) 12:56, 4 August 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: I believe it's still used among the Crow and some others. Used at least for story telling. No idea how widespread understanding is. — kwami (talk) 23:51, 4 August 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Fascinating. If certain standardized motions are used to accompany certain meanings/events in  storytelling, is that truly a sign language? Fun to ponder, harder to answer.Pete unseth (talk) 19:38, 5 August 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: It doesn't accompany storytelling, it's the mode used for storytelling. I think sometimes oral speech is used as well, but AFAIK that's just to make it accessible to those who do not know sign: the oral mode is not required. (Also, the oral mode may be English: presumably because not everyone knows Crow? Actually, I don't know if sign is ever accompanied by Crow.) — kwami (talk) 21:48, 5 August 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, some still use it. - CorbieVreccan ☊ ☼ 23:52, 8 August 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Currently in use? 

message: The boxes on the side for the list of related languages aren't mentioned anywhere in the document, and the list is long enough that it's interfering with formatting on other sections. Is it reasonable to remove them? Perhaps there could be a section added to the main article addressing these related languages?— Preceding unsigned comment added by Garton kevin (talk • contribs) 
: Are you referring to the dialect list in the infobox? I'm not sure what you mean by the "boxes on the side for the list of related languages". This is a language isolate, meaning there are no "related" languages in the historical linguistics sense of the term. AviationFreak💬 13:12, 27 June 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, I was referring to the dialect infoboxes. It looks like those were removed by you in this update. Thank you, that addresses my concern. Garton kevin (talk) 19:13, 27 June 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Oh haha, I thought you had just recently posted this because it was just recently tagged with  and that's the only talk page diff I saw before responding. Glad it's been fixed! AviationFreak💬 13:25, 28 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Related language subsections 

message: Why does this say North American, and then include Mexico? I'll check the sourcing here but this needs cleanup. I've only seen and heard of Plains people using it. Are editors confusing present-day Mexico with territories that used to be considered part of Mexico but are not part of the U.S.? - CorbieVreccan ☊ ☼ 23:16, 8 August 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: There's a source in the main article contending that PSL may have originated in Northern Mexico and near Texas, but I still need to go back through the books I've read to see what the majority views are. I've definitely seen Mexico mentioned elsewhere, though. I'm currently working on the Phonology section with one more major addition coming in before I start cleaning it up and reorganizing, but I'll be revamping the history section and adding a grammar section after that. FWIW, Mexico is part of North America by most classifications. Aamri2 (talk) 23:47, 8 August 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Region 

message: I just posted a reminder in an edit summary and will note it here again: RS sources, and two of us who are actively editing, have all stated that this sign language is in current use. I am not a fluent speaker, but I know a bit and have seen those with far more ability in it use it in my home. I know those who use it. Indigenous cultures are not always accessible to non-Natives, so there is some understandable ignorance around these topics. Incomplete sources by non-Natives have to be evaluated with this in mind, especially if they are older publications, that were published in an era before Natives were getting mainstream degrees and publishing sources now considered RS. But, we now have RS sources from experts on the cultures, from within the cultures themselves, and these need to be prioritized over those by anthros (or pretendians) who only had limited access (or no access). Thanks. And again, "Indian" is not a slur to many groups and individuals who still use it. If it's the most common name used for something by Natives, and in sources by Natives and in official names of Native-run orgs, for example, please do not change it. - CorbieVreccan ☊ ☼ 21:08, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm all for not past-tensing Indigenous cultures and whatnot; I believe in it firmly, in fact. Still, I do not think it is accurate to say that it is (presently) a lingua franca/inter-tribal language/other such term, because that's not the purpose that it serves anymore according to the sources. It's a sign language that was historically a lingua franca. For example, Italian is a historical lingua franca, but no one would construe that to mean Italian is not a language anymore. I've put in a wording that emphasizes its extant use. How's this? Aamri2 (talk) 21:09, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I've addressed this in recent edits. I think we need to be careful with our use of lingua franca. Linguists know the loanwords, but the general reader may not. We can link it in the body of the article, but the short description should be accessible to the general reader. - CorbieVreccan ☊ ☼ 22:59, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I like this short description, especially since I think peoples emphasizes the multiple distinct groups. Indians doesn't make it the clearest that it is used by more than one Nation. And I agree about avoiding technical words in short descriptions. Thanks! Aamri2 (talk) 23:04, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tense issues - living cultures 

message: I'm at a loss to understand why the Coeur d'Alene, Sanpoil, Okanagan, Thompson, Lakes, Shuswap, and Colville are described as "eastern" here, when they could only be considered so to coastal residents, who don't figure in the article. In relation to the rest of the continent, they're about as western as they could get without getting wet. Laodah 03:49, 12 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title: Eastern nations?