Oh, I recall the beginnings of nouns changing - it had something to do with nasalization, if I recall (nasals are n's, m's and ng's).
Here's what I know about ISL: it uses a one-handed alphabet like ASL, but has a fair amount of vocab in common with BSL. This is because of an interesting quirk in the Deaf education system - girls and boys were taught in different schools, with the boys' education considered more important so they had more emphasis on English and somehow this led to tutors familar with BSL and influence thereof. Girls on the other hand were left alone and allowed to do more signing, and for some reason this system was influenced more by the French (who also influenced ASL). The details are a bit murky to me, but the upshot is that the sign language used by Irish girls and boys was *very* different, at least until the late 20th century when things started to change. So when girls and boys started dating, they had to cobble together a system that was a blend of both. So ISL is weirdly like both ASL and BSL. Forgive me if I got some of the details wrong, but that's the general idea.
Anyway, my family lived in Galway from Sept-Dec 2009. We had a great time. Wish we could have stayed longer.
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Here's what I know about ISL: it uses a one-handed alphabet like ASL, but has a fair amount of vocab in common with BSL. This is because of an interesting quirk in the Deaf education system - girls and boys were taught in different schools, with the boys' education considered more important so they had more emphasis on English and somehow this led to tutors familar with BSL and influence thereof. Girls on the other hand were left alone and allowed to do more signing, and for some reason this system was influenced more by the French (who also influenced ASL). The details are a bit murky to me, but the upshot is that the sign language used by Irish girls and boys was *very* different, at least until the late 20th century when things started to change. So when girls and boys started dating, they had to cobble together a system that was a blend of both. So ISL is weirdly like both ASL and BSL. Forgive me if I got some of the details wrong, but that's the general idea.
Anyway, my family lived in Galway from Sept-Dec 2009. We had a great time. Wish we could have stayed longer.