Sign Language around the World

Sign Language around the World

Presently, we have over 300+ different types of sign languages around the world. Some are used locally. The others are used at a national level. Others are used by millions of people across the globe. We celebrate the International Day of Sign Languages on 23rd September every year. Discovering sign languages, their legends, and their finger alphabets requires a global exploration. This is where the adventure to worldwide communication starts!

A visual language based on hand gestures, body language, face emotions, and facial expressions is called sign language. Although sign language is the primary means of communication for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community, it can also be helpful to other groups of people. Sign language can also help people with disabilities including Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, and apraxia of speech communicate.

Sign languages don’t directly aim at translating spoken words into signs. Each sign language is a true language. Every sign language is unique. At the same time, it varies with its own vocabulary, grammar, hand position, and body movement. There is a lot of variation across these languages and across countries. This is because of cultural and geographical reasons. Here is a brief about the most common sign languages around the world.

Basics of Fingerspelling and Alphabetization

Most people begin learning sign language by becoming familiar with the A-Z or sign language version of the alphabet.

“Fingerspelling” is the practice of using the hands to represent individual letters in a printed alphabet. It is a crucial tool that aids signers in manually spelling out the names of individuals, locations, and objects without a recognized sign.

For instance, the word oak may not have a distinct sign in most sign languages, so o-a-k might be finger written to represent that particular meaning. Naturally, not all languages employ the Latin alphabet in sign language the same way that English does. Certain manual alphabets, like ASL and French Sign Language, use one hand, whereas others, like BSL or Auslan, require two hands. Even though some of the various manual alphabets are similar, each sign language is distinct and has its own style and variations.

Indian Sign Language

Indian Sign Language (ISL) is used in the deaf community all over India. It has evolved over the past 100 years. An estimated over 7 million people in India use the ISL.  It is also the most predominant sign language in South Asia. Almost 700 institutes teach ISL in India. The Indian Sign Language has a unique grammar, however, has a lot of regional variations as well.

The Indian Sign Language Dictionary was first launched on 23^rd March 2018 which contained 3000 terms. With the most recent edition, the dictionary now contains almost 10,000 terms. The Indian Sign Language also has many regional dialects throughout India. Some of the dialects of ISL include:

• Bangalore-Madras Sign Language
• Bombay Sign Language
• Calcutta Sign Language
• Delhi Sign Language
• Northwest Frontier Province Sign Language
• Punjab-Sindh Sign Language
• Alipur Sign Language

American Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) is a sign language that is very popular within the United States of America & Canada. It originated in the early 1800s. Presently, almost five hundred thousand ASL users are present in the USA alone. The ASL uses hand signs. It also uses head movements, facial expressions, and body language to convey the required messages.

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Pidgin Signed English

A Pidgin is a language that is derived from one or more than one language. Pidgin Signed English (PSE), is an amalgam of American English and American Sign Language. In other words, this type of variation of the ASL is commonly used and signed by people who are culturally deaf and use spoken English as their primary language.

Arabic Sign Language

Deaf and hard of hearing Arabs communicate visually via Arabic Sign Language (ArSL), which helps them express what they are thinking. Along with spoken languages like Arabic or English, it is a language unto itself. It is produced by the hands, the face, and the body. It is only recently that sign language in the Arab world has been acknowledged and recorded. Numerous attempts have been undertaken to standardize and disseminate sign language among the Deaf population and others in order to establish the language’s use in various nations, such as Jordan, Egypt, Libya, and the Gulf States. Almost as many sign languages as Arabic-speaking nations were established by these initiatives, all using the same sign alphabets.

Signing Exact English

Signing Exact English (SEE), is sometimes referred to as “Signed Exact English”. It is a type of sign language that directly translates into English and includes word endings (suffixes), such as “ed” and “ing,” which are not present in PSE or ASL.

 

British Sign Language

British Sign Language (BSL) originated in the UK in the late 1700s to early 1800s. It has been a widely influential sign language, spreading to Australia and New Zealand. It has a strong and large influence on Auslan, which is known as Australia’s Sign Language, as well as the New Zealand Sign Language. All the above-mentioned sign languages are so similar to one another, that some chose to categorize them as separate dialects of the same language known as British, Australian, and New Zealand Sign Language (BANZL).

Japanese Sign Language (JSL)

Japan uses Japanese Sign Language (JSL) as their sign language. JSL is entirely distinct from ASL, much as Japanese is entirely different from English. JSL use mouthing, for starters, to differentiate between different signs. ASL does not employ mouth movements as much as other languages do. Additionally, JSL uses finger spelling more frequently than ASL. In JSL, finger writing—drawing Japanese characters with the fingers—is occasionally employed. In ASL, finger writing is never utilized.

Both American Sign Language and Spoken Japanese employ the topic-comment pattern of sentence construction, which is also utilized in JSL. JSL is still a distinct language despite its heavy borrowings from spoken Japanese; it is not a signed version of the language.

The sign languages of Korea and Taiwan have some of the same signs as JSL. The cultural exchanges that took place under the Japanese occupation are most likely to blame for this.

French Sign Language

The most popular sign language used in France is the French Sign Language (LSF). Almost one hundred thousand people sign French Sign Language. In addition, having originated in the early 1800s as well, it is one of the earliest forms of sign languages. Above all, it has influenced other sign languages including the American Sign Language, Irish Sign Language (ISL) and Russian Sign Language (RSL), Dutch Sign Language (NGT), Brazilian Sign Language (LSB), German Sign Language (DGS), and many more.

Chinese Sign Language

Chinese Sign Language originated during the late 18^th century in China. It is the official sign language of the Republic of China. Unlike the above languages, it doesn’t have any antecedent language. While being used by millions of people, it is one of the most common sign languages used in the world.  Moreover, the southern dialect of CSL gave rise to the Hong Kong Sign language.

Mexican Sign Language (LSM)

The verb tenses and word order in Mexican Sign Language, also known as “lengua de señas mexicana” or LSM, differ from those in Spanish. Most users of Mexican Sign Language live in Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City. There is a lot of variance in this terminology between religious and age groups.

To conclude, There is no “universal” sign language, much like there are spoken languages. Each nation usually has a distinct sign language that is exclusive to its own culture and geographical area. For instance, British Sign Language (BSL) used in the United Kingdom is not the same as American Sign Language (ASL), nor is Auslan sign language used in Australia the same as BSL. When in Sydney, Australia, a person who is proficient in ASL could find it difficult to comprehend someone using the local form of sign language since the motions and signs differ from the accents or dialects that are evident in spoken language. There are a lot more sign languages than mentioned here. Most importantly, each one is beautiful and unique in its own way. Learn more about the Indian Sign Language click here