| Protactile began as a movement for autonomy and a system of tactile communication. Now, some linguists argue, it is becoming a language of its own.  Illustration by Nicholas Konrad / The New Yorker; Source photographs from Getty How do you write about a language that cannot be spoken or seen? That’s the challenge that faces Andrew Leland, who, in a fascinating new piece, explores Protactile, a form of communication used by a growing number of DeafBlind people, and which some experts say is developing the kinds of complex structures that make it a new language unto itself. Protactile calls for its users to “place touch at the center of their lives,” Leland explains. “If a sighted friend pulls out her phone in the middle of a conversation to check a weather alert,” for example, “she should bring her DeafBlind interlocutor’s hand to her pocket as well, to understand where the weather forecast is coming from.” Sign language—as well as gestures used by sighted people, like nodding—are expressed physically onto another person’s body. This kind of speaking requires closeness and intimacy from speakers and listeners, and it challenges wider social ideas about touch, physical space, and how we interact with the world around us. As the poet and activist John Lee Clark, whom Leland follows for this story, has written, “The single most important development in DeafBlind history is in full swing.” —Ian Crouch, newsletter editor If you like the New Yorker Daily, please share it with a friend. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. | 
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