Demographic information on sign languages ... - SIL International

<strong>Demographic</strong> Information
On Sign Languages Around the World:
Field Survey Notes 1
SIL International
2007
SIL Electronic Survey Report 2007-021, September 2007
Copyright © 2007 SIL International
All rights reserved
1 The author chooses to be anonymous in this report but would like to thank Matt Benjamin, Ted Bergman, Albert Bickford, Neal
Brinneman, Lois Broughton, Mike and Lind Buus, Shelly Dufoe, Cheri Horak, Hope Hurlbut, Mike and Karla Hurst, Elena Leman,
Steve and Dianne Parkhurst, Thelma Schoolland, Severa Trevino and Susan Van Wynen who helped in various ways during this
survey.

ABSTRACT
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Purpose and Scope Of These Field Notes
1.2 Focus On Schools and Clubs
2 COUNTRIES IN THIS REPORT
2.1 Tabulation of Countries
2.2 Sources
2.3 Extent of the Deaf Population
2.4 Countries
2.4.1 Algeria
2.4.2 Argentina
2.4.3 Australia
2.4.4 Austria
2.4.5 Azerbaijan
2.4.6 Brazil
2.4.7 Chile
2.4.8 China
2.4.9 Cuba
2.4.10 Cyprus
2.4.11 Denmark and Faroe Islands
2.4.12 Egypt
2.4.13 England
2.4.14 Finland
2.4.15 France
2.4.16 Gaza
2.4.17 Germany
2.4.18 Greece
2.4.19 Guatemala
2.4.20 Iran
2.4.21 Iraq
2.4.22 Ireland
2.4.23 Israel
2.4.24 Italy
2.4.25 Japan
2.4.26 Jordan
2.4.27 Kazakhstan
2.4.28 Kenya
2.4.29 Kuwait
2.4.30 Lebanon
2.4.31 Malaysia
2.4.32 Mexico
2.4.33 Mongolia
2.4.34 Netherlands
2.4.35 New Zealand
2.4.36 Norway
2.4.37 Oman
2.4.38 Palestine
2.4.39 Portugal
2.4.40 Puerto Rico
2.4.41 Qatar
2.4.42 Saudi Arabia
2.4.43 Singapore
Contents
2

2.4.44 South Africa
2.4.45 South Korea
2.4.46 Spain
2.4.47 Sweden
2.4.48 Switzerland
2.4.49 Syria
2.4.50 Taiwan
2.4.51 Thailand
2.4.52 Turkey
2.4.53 United Arab Emirates
2.4.54 Uruguay
2.4.55 Uzbekistan
2.4.56 Venezuela
2.4.57 Yemen
ADDENDUM 1: Table of additional countries not listed in original report
ADDENDUM 2: Maps of additional schools in African countries
REFERENCES
3

ABSTRACT
These field notes are part of the same study reported in “The Signed Languages of Eastern Europe”
(Bickford 2005) but feature additional preliminary data not available elsewhere. Information is given for
eighty-three countries. Maps for the countries show the location of Deaf schools and associations. For
many of the countries, dictionaries, some studies, brief histories and notes from interviews are given. A list
has also been made of wordlists that can be requested. There have not been literature searches or thorough
background studies on the languages included, rather the data was gathered with the focus of collecting
preliminary data to show basic sign language differences between countries.
Many of the countries in this report have only a single interview or wordlist collected and this may not be
sufficient to give an accurate or realistic portrayal of the Deaf world or sign language usage in that country.
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Purpose and Scope Of These Field Notes
These field notes are part of the same study reported in “The Signed Languages of Eastern Europe”
(Bickford 2005) 2 but feature additional preliminary data not available elsewhere. The literature has not
been thoroughly checked nor is it intended to be an exhaustive listing of all literature available for each
country. There are numerous articles, books and web resources that are available but not tabulated or cited
in this report.
Future sign language surveyors will want to do more thorough research for the library, web and wordlist
collections for individual countries. Many of the countries in this report only have a single interview or
wordlist collected and this may not be sufficient to give an accurate or realistic portrayal of the Deaf 3 world
or sign language usage in that country. This data was gathered in survey trips done in Europe, Asia and
South America from May 2001 to November 2002. This study was commissioned with the focus of
gathering preliminary data to show basic sign language differences between countries.
1.2 Focus On Schools and Clubs
These field notes focus primarily on schools and clubs. These are the two main areas where Deaf culture
thrives and perpetuates in almost every Deaf community around the world. Most Deaf people know where
the Deaf schools and associations are in their home country. A downloaded Internet map 4 was a very
helpful tool to gather <strong>information</strong>, as was building relationships with Deaf individuals, so that time
permitting, a wordlist could be requested and/or obtained. The hope is that this preliminary and, at times
incomplete, demographic <strong>information</strong> can help other surveyors analyze the language situation in depth
within each country.
Wordlists gathered are listed in Table 1. These wordlists are available for study and research but not for
publication or display, as signed informed consent of signers was not obtained during this trip. If one
wishes to obtain a wordlist for research or private study contact the SIL archival office at
Archive_Dallas@sil.org for more <strong>information</strong>.
2
The reader is directed to read: The Signed Languages of Eastern Europe by J. Albert Bickford. Found at
http://www.sil.org/silesr/abstract.asp?ref=2005-026.
3
The uppercase “D” in the word “Deaf” refers to a specific distinct people group while lowercase “d” in deaf indicates a physical
audiological condition.
4 Most of the field maps came from online: http://www.mapquest.com.
4

2 COUNTRIES IN THIS REPORT
2.1 Tabulation of Countries
Some of the demographics have been discussed in other reports and some are not discussed at all, merely
listed in Table 1, so that the archival <strong>information</strong> could be listed. The wordlists are available primarily for
research purposes and may not be published.
[The author has sent maps with <strong>information</strong> on schools and clubs for 26 additional countries
of Africa. Since these were received just prior to publication, I am including these as an
addendum…TGB, ed.]
Table 1: List of countries referenced in this report
Country <strong>Demographic</strong>s/Map Archived Wordlist
01 Albania See Bickford's Paper 5 ---
02 Algeria 2.4.1 ---
03 Argentina 2.4.2 ---
04 Australia 2.4.3 1 Short, 1 Long Wordlist
05 Austria 2.4.4 1 Short, 4 Long Wordlists
06 Azerbaijan 2.4.5 ---
07 Belarus See Bickford's Paper ---
08 Bolivia --- 1 Long Wordlist
09 Bosnia and Herzegovina See Bickford's Paper ---
10 Brazil 2.4.6 2 Short, 7 Long Wordlists
11 Bulgaria See Bickford's Paper 1 Long Wordlist
12 Chile 2.4.7 ---
13 China 2.4.8 ---
14 Croatia See Bickford's Paper 1 Short Wordlist
15 Cuba 2.4.9 1 Long Wordlist
16 Cyprus 2.4.10 ---
17 Czech Republic See Bickford's Paper 3 Long Wordlists
18 Denmark and Faroe Islands 2.4.11 1 Long Wordlist
19 Egypt 2.4.12 1 Short Wordlist
20 England 2.4.13 1 Long Wordlist
21 Estonia See Bickford's Paper 1 Short, 1 Long Wordlist
22 Finland 2.4.14 1 Short, 1 Long Wordlist
23 France 2.4.15 1 Long Wordlist
24 Gaza 2.4.16 ---
25 Germany 2.4.17 1 Long Wordlist
26 Greece 2.4.18 1 Short Wordlist
27 Guatemala 2.4.19 ---
28 Hong Kong --- 1 Long Wordlist
5 The Signed Languages of Eastern Europe by J. Albert Bickford. Found at http://www.sil.org/silesr/abstract.asp?ref=2005-026.
5

29 Hungary See Bickford's Paper 1 Short, 2 Long Wordlists
30 India --- 11 Short Wordlists
31 Iran 2.4.20 ---
32 Iraq 2.4.21 ---
33 Ireland 2.4.22 1 Long Wordlist
34 Israel 2.4.23 ---
35 Italy 2.4.24 1 Short Wordlist
36 Japan 2.4.25 1 Short, 1 Long Wordlist
37 Jordan 2.4.26 ---
38 Kazakhstan 2.4.27 1 Short Wordlist
39 Kenya 2.4.28 ---
40 Kuwait 2.4.29 ---
41 Latvia --- 1 Short Wordlist
42 Lebanon 2.4.30 ---
43 Lithuania See Bickford's Paper ---
44 Macedonia See Bickford's Paper ---
45 Malaysia 2.4.31 1 Long Wordlist
46 Mexico 2.4.32 ---
47 Moldova See Bickford's Paper 1 Long Wordlist
48 Mongolia 2.4.33 2 Short Wordlists
49 Montenegro See Bickford's Paper ---
50 Netherlands 2.4.34 1 Long Wordlist
51 New Zealand 2.4.35 ---
52 Norway 2.4.36 ---
53 Oman 2.4.37 ---
54 Palestine 2.4.38 ---
55 Poland See Bickford's Paper 2 Short Wordlists
56 Portugal 2.4.39 ---
57 Puerto Rico 2.4.40 ---
58 Qatar 2.4.41 ---
59 Romania See Bickford's Paper 5 Long Wordlists
60 Russia See Bickford's Paper 2 Long Wordlists
61 Saudi Arabia 2.4.42 ---
62 Serbia See Bickford's Paper ---
63 Singapore 2.4.43 ---
64 Slovakia See Bickford's Paper 3 Long Wordlists
65 Slovenia See Bickford's Paper ---
66 South Africa 2.4.44 1 Short Wordlist
67 South Korea 2.4.45 ---
68 Spain 2.4.46 1 Long Wordlist
69 Sweden 2.4.47 ---
6

70 Switzerland 2.4.48 1 Long Wordlist
71 Syria 2.4.49 ---
72 Taiwan 2.4.50 ---
73 Thailand 2.4.51 2 Short Wordlists
74 Turkey 2.4.52 2 Short Wordlists
75 Ukraine See Bickford's Paper 1 Long Wordlist
76 United Arab Emirates 2.4.53 ---
77 Uruguay 2.4.54 ---
78 USA --- 5 Long Wordlists
79 Uzbekistan 2.4.55 ---
80 Venezuela 2.4.56 ---
81 Yemen 2.4.57 ---
2.2 Sources
There are some resources available online in addition to the Ethnologue (Grimes, 2000). 6 The three
websites cited in this report demonstrate language and culture vitality. One site originates in Germany at
the University Of Hamburg. 7 This site has a specialized listing of publications, which are written about
Deaf, Deaf culture and sign language. Another website that has sign language <strong>information</strong> originates from
Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. (Harrington, 2002). 8
2.3 Extent of the Deaf Population
The extent of the Deaf population in any given country is usually unknown. A rough approximation of any
Deaf population is one out of 1,000 people are pre-lingually Deaf. 9 Thus if one obtains the government
population figures for any given country, multiply that figure by 0.001 to show an estimate of the prelingually
deaf estimate.
2.4 Countries
2.4.1 Algeria
The Ethnologue lists Algerian Sign Language but has no other significant <strong>information</strong>. The Hamburg
website does not list any bibliography for Algeria. Neither Harrington nor Carmel list any dictionaries or
studies. Note in Figure 1 the one school that is identified is in the capital city of Algiers. There may be
other schools but they were not identified. 10
6
Grimes, Barbara F., ed. 2000. Ethnologue, online: http://www.ethnologue.com, 20 January 2004. This author is cited through this
whole report without giving the reference after each citation.
7
The University of Hamburg website is located at: http://www.sign-lang.uni-hamburg.de/BibWeb/ and is cited through this report
without giving the reference after each citation.
8
The Gallaudet University website is located at http://library.gallaudet.edu/dr/faq-world-sl-name.html and is cited through this report
without giving the reference after each citation.
9
See http://gri.gallaudet.edu/<strong>Demographic</strong>s/ for more <strong>information</strong> about Deaf populations.
10
All maps in this report indicate schools by showing a box around the city name. Known Deaf clubs are listed by city name. One can
reasonably assume that there are also Deaf associations where there are schools and that a good survey strategy would be to find the
Deaf schools in any country to locate the "hidden" Deaf population.
7

Figure 1: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Algeria 11
2.4.2 Argentina
The Ethnologue reports that some Deaf schools were started as early as 1885. Harrington (2002) reports the
following dictionary and study for Argentine Sign Language:
DICTIONARY: Massone, Maria Ignacia (1993). Lengua de Señas Argentina diccionario bilingüe
(Argentine Sign Language: primer - first bilingual dictionary). Buenos Aires: Editoria Sopena
Argentina.
STUDY: Massone, Maria Ignacia (1994). Lengua de Señas Argentina: análisis y vocabulario
bilingüe. Buenos Aires: Edicial.
The map <strong>information</strong> in Figure 2 was gleaned from a previous survey done by the Hursts in 1999 (Hurst,
1999).
11 Most of the maps in this paper were generated by a volunteer, Cherie Horak, with heartfelt thanks from the author for the hundreds
of hours of work that went into producing these maps. Any mistakes are the sole responsibility of the author.
8

Figure 2: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Argentina
2.4.3 Australia
Brelje reports that Australian Sign Language was introduced to the country in 1860 by two Deaf men who
founded two large state schools in Sydney, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria. These two men
used a variant of British Sign Language which included the two-handed British finger-spelling developed
in Britain (Brelje, 1999:3–4). Later two Catholic schools were established in Waratah, New South Wales in
1875 and in Castle Hill, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales in 1922 (van Cleve, 1987:57). These two
Catholic schools used Irish Sign Language, which uses a one-handed finger spelling system. These two
Catholic schools became "oral" after World War II and later emphasized the use of cued speech.
In the 1980s the Australian Sign Language Development Project was started and has been active to
promote the use of Signed English. In 1975 an Australian Sign Dictionary committee was formed and later
the National Authority for the Accreditation of Translators and Interpreters accepted Auslan as a
"community language" (van Cleve, 1987:5729). This gave governmental recognition to the Deaf
community and recognized sign language as an official language.
Grimes lists Australian Sign Language and reports that it is related to British Sign Language, with some
influence also from Irish and American sign languages. Grimes also reports several variations of Aboriginal
Sign Language. Hearing Aborigines may use a specialized form of signing as part of mourning or hunting
rituals. Mourning rituals of silence may last as long as a year or more.
The University of Hamburg website lists over 180 entries in its bibliography and the following dictionaries:
A picture dictionary of Australasian signs for young children. Adelaide: Education Dept. of S.
Australia 1990 - 122 p.
Bernal, Brian / Wilson, Lyn (eds): The VSDC dictionary of Auslan: English to Auslan.
Melbourne: VSfDC 1998 - xviii, 530 p.: mit CD-ROM.
Hyde, Merv / Power, Des: The use of Australian Sign Language by deaf people. Petersham NSW:
Deafness Resources Australia 1991 - 21 p.
9

Jeanes, Raymond C. / Reynolds, Brian E / Coleman, Bernadette C.: Dictionary of Australasian
Signs for communication with the deaf. Melbourne: Victoria School for the Deaf 1989 - 342 p.
Johnston, Trevor / Royal N.S.W. Institute for Deaf and Blind Children: Signs of Australia on CD-
ROM: a dictionary of Auslan (Australian Sign Language). North Rocks, NSW: North Rocks Pr.
1997 (Software).
Johnston, Trevor: AUSLAN Dictionary. A dictionary of the sign language of the Australian deaf
community. Victoria: Aust. Print Group 1989 - 546 p.
Johnston, Trevor: Auslan: The sign language of the Australian deaf community. Vol. 2: Dictionary
Part one. 1989 – pp. 374–623: Univ. of Sydney Dissertation.
Johnston, Trevor: Auslan: The sign language of the Australian deaf community. Vol. 3: Dictionary
Part two. 1989 - pp. 624–867: Univ. of Sydney Dissertation.
Johnston, Trevor: Signs of Australia: a new dictionary of Auslan (the sign language of the
Australian deaf community). rev. ed. North Rocks, NSW: North Rocks Pr. 1998 - 603 p.
MacDougall, James C.: The development of the Australasian signed English system. In:
Australian Teacher of the Deaf 29 (1988) - pp. 18–36.
Parker, David / Schembri, Adam: Technical signs for computer terms: A sign reference book for
people in the computing field. Sydney: North Rocks Pr. 1996 - 228 p.
Harrington reports the following studies for Aborigines but all of these studies may not be applicable to the
Deaf community within the Aborigine culture.
Roth, Walter E. (1978). "The expression of ideas by manual signs: a sign-language," in Aboriginal
sign languages of the Americas and Australia. New York: Plenum Press, v.2, pp. 273–301.
Berndt, R. M. (1940). "Notes on the sign-language of the Jaralde tribe of the Lower River Murray,
South Australia," in Aboriginal sign languages of the Americas and Australia. New York: Plenum
Press, v.2, pp. 397–402.
Meggit, Mervyn (1978). "Sign language among the Walbiri of Central Australia," in Aboriginal
sign languages of the Americas and Australia. New York: Plenum Press, v.2, pp. 409–423.
Miller, Wick R. (1978). "A report on the sign language of the Western Desert (Australia)," in
Aboriginal sign languages of the Americas and Australia. New York: Plenum Press, v.2, pp. 435–
440.
Carmel (1992:233–252) reports these dictionaries:
Australian Catholic Schools for the Deaf. 1943 How to Converse with the Deaf in Sign Language
(Compiled by the Teachers of the Schools at Waratah and Castle Hill, NSW.) Newcastle:
Australia. Davies and Cannington Pty., Ltd., Printers, 132 p. with drawings.
Jeanes, Diane R., et al. 1972 Aid to Communication with the Deaf. Carlton. Australia: A. H.
Massina and Co., 149p. Photographs. Jeanes, Raymond C. and Brian E. Reynolds.
1982 Dictionary of Australasian Signs for Communication with the Deaf. Revised edition. Port
Melbourne, Australia: A.H. Massina and Co., 270 p. with drawings.
Note that the map in Figure 3 is not exhaustive. It is likely that there are other Deaf associations which are
not listed.
10

Figure 3: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Australia
2.4.4 Austria
Historically Abbe de l’Epee’s (1712-1789) scholastic methods were promoted initially in Austria (Lane,
1989:112), which supported the use of sign language to communicate. The Congress of Milan in 1880 12
caused educators to promote oralism. This also affected the use of sign language in Austria and around the
world at that time.
Grimes (2002) lists Austrian Sign Language and reports that Austrian Sign Language appears to be related
to both French and Russian sign language. The University of Hamburg website lists over 55 entries in its
bibliography. Carmel (1992:233–252) reports the following dictionaries:
Maier, Ludwig, und Prof. Helmet Rosenberg 1985 Die Sprache der Haende. Band 1. Graz-
Andritz, Austria: Gehoerlosen-Kultur- und Jugendzentrum. 264 p. with both photographs and
drawings.
1986 Band 2. 184 p. Photographs and drawings.
1987 Band 3. ? p. Photographs and drawings. [to be published]
Currently, at the university in Klagenfurt, Austria, an extensive sign language dictionary is being analyzed
and compiled. Figure 4 shows seven schools in Austria.
Krammer, Klaudia et al: The Klagenfurt database for sign language lexicons. In: Sign language
and linguistics 4:1/2 (2001), pp. 191–201.
12 The 1880 Congress of Milan decided that the oral method was the only "proper" training for Deaf and decreed that signs should not
be used with the Deaf as it "destroyed" the child's ability to speak.
11

Figure 4: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Austria
2.4.5 Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan Sign Language is not listed by Grimes, Harrington or Carmel. There is no mention of any
bibliography on the Hamburg website. Figure 5 shows the location of some schools and Deaf clubs. Clearly
more on-site research is needed.
Figure 5: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Azerbaijan
12

2.4.6 Brazil
Brazilian Sign Language is said to have been started in 1855 by a deaf Frenchman named M. Hernest Huet.
He had the support of the Emperor, Don Pedro II, to start a school in Rio de Janerio. Some of the first Deaf
associations were started in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.
Brazilian Sign Language is officially known as LIBRAS (Língua Brasileira de Sinais, Linguagem das
Mãos). There are 27 states in Brazil and, according to the Brazilian constitution; each state is responsible
for the education of the deaf in their state. Most states receive funding from the federal government. Only
in the past few years has there been a shift away from oralism (lip-reading and verbal skills) to Total
Communication (verbal skills and signs together) in a few of the states. Laws have been passed to promote
closed-captioning on TV, but there are few programs that are closed-captioned.
The Ethnologue (Grimes 2000) reports one main sign language in Brazil. It is called LIBRAS. There is also
a description of the Urubu-Kaapor Sign Language by J. Kakumasu (1986) who states that in a remote
Amazon tribe he found seven Deaf individuals in a tribe of 500. Those seven Deaf had very similar
language use.
The University of Hamburg website has over 60 references and reports the following dictionaries:
Capovilla, Fernando C. (ed): Dicionário Enciclopédico Ilustrado Trilingüe da Lingua de Sinais
Brasileira. Vol. II. Sinais de M a Z. São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo 2001.
Capovilla, Fernando C. / Raphael, Walkiria D. (eds): Dicionário Enciclopédico Ilustrado Trilingüe
da Lingua de Sinais Brasileira. Vol. I. Sinais de A a L. São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São
Paulo 2001 - 832 p.
Oates, Eugênio: Linguagem das Mãos. [Language of Hands]. Aparecida, SP: Editora Santuário
1992 - 326 p.
Staff of Evangelical Elaborators: Linguagem de Sinais. [Sign Language]. Cesário Lange, SP: Soc.
Torre de Vigia de Biblias 1992 - 336 p.
Staff of Evangelical Elaborators: O Clamer do Silêncio - Manual de Sinais Biblicos. [The Clamer
of the Silence - handbook of Biblical Signs]. Rio de Janeiro: M.N. da Convenção Batista Bras.
1991 - 146 p.
Harrington reports the following dictionary and study:
DICTIONARY: Capovilla, Fernando César (2001). Dicionário enciclopédico ilustrado trilíngüe da
Língua de Sinais Brasleira. São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo.
STUDY: Coutinho, Denise (1998). Libras língua brasileira de sinais e língua portuguesa:
semelhanças e diferenças, 2a ed. Paraíba, Brasil: João Pessõa.
Carmel (1992:233–252) reports sign language dictionaries from 1875 to 1983.
Gama, Flausino Jose da. 1875. Iconographia DOS signaes DOS surdosmudos (Iconography of
Signs for the Deaf-Mute). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Typographia Universal de E. and H. Laemmert,
pp. 1–43.
Hoemann, Harry W., Fr. Eugênio Oates and Shirley A. Hoemann. 1983. Linguagem de sinais do
Brasil (Sign Language of Brazil). Porto Alegre, Brazil: Editora Pallotti, pp. 1–200.
Oates, Eugênio, C.SS.R. 1969. Linguagem das maos (Language of Hands). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:
Grafica Editora Livro S. A., pp. 1–325.
Oates, Eugênio, C.SS.R. 1971. No Silencio da fe (In the Silence of Faith). Aparecida, Brazil:
Editora Santuario, pp. 1–75.
Oates, Eugenio, C.SS.R. 1983. Linguagem das maos (Language of Hands). Second edition.
Aparecida, Brazil: Editora Santuario, pp. 1–325.
13

The only secondary school for the Deaf is located in Rio Grande do Sul. When deaf people have the
economic support, usually from their families, they have been able to attend Brazilian universities with
interpreters and achieve some professional status. The schools listed in Figure 6 are not an exhaustive list.
Figure 6: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Brazil 13
2.4.7 Chile
The Hursts 14 report that, historically, Chilean Sign Language may have been influenced from German Sign
Language. There is a boarding school for deaf children in Temuco that was started by Anglican
missionaries. Oralism is the educational philosophy for the Deaf. Grimes lists Chile but does not provide
further <strong>information</strong>.
The Hamburg website lists nine entries plus this dictionary:
Pilleux, Mauricio, Cuevas, H., Avalos, E. (eds): El lenguaje de Señas. Valdivia: Univ. Austral de
Chile 1991 - 151 p.
Harrington reports the above dictionary and this study:
STUDY: Pilleux, Mauricio; Hernán Cuevas; and Erica Avalos (1991b). El lenguaje de señas:
análisis sintáctico-semántico. Valdiva: Universidad Austral de Chile.
The map <strong>information</strong> in Figure 7 is collected from a previous survey done by the Hursts in 1999. Note: this
list is not exhaustive and it is reasonable to assume that there are other Deaf associations in other cities.
13 Personal communication from Lois Broughton.
14 Mike and Karla Hurst in personal communication.
14

Figure 7 Schools and Deaf associations reported in Chile
2.4.8 China
Annetta Thompson Mills, a teacher at the Rochester School for the Deaf in New York, established the first
deaf school in China in 1887 at Teng-chou, Shandong province. Later, the school was moved to Yantai.
Most schools were established in large cities. By 1948 there were 23 schools for Deaf children. After the
establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949 and sweeping educational reform there
were over 300 schools established for the Deaf across China (van Cleve, 1987:181–182).
Grimes lists Chinese Sign Language and states that the Shanghai dialect is the most influential.
The Hamburg website lists these two dictionaries:
Yau, Shun-Chiu: The Chinese signs: Lexicon of the standard sign language for the deaf in China.
Hong Kong, Paris: Ed. Lang. Croisés 1977 - 130 p.
Yau, Shun-Chiu: Les signes chinois –gestuel standard des sourds chinois. Hong Kong, Paris: Ed.
Lang. Croisés 1978 - 130 p.
Harrington lists the following dictionaries and studies:
DICTIONARY: Chung-kuo lung jen hsieh hui pien chi (1990). Chung-kuo shou yü. Beijing: Huahsia
chu pan she.
STUDY: Yau, Shun-Chiu (1991). "La langue des signes chinoise," Cahiers de linguistique Asie
Orientale, 20:1, pp. 138–142.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists the following dictionary:
Fu, Ziwei et al., eds. 1990. Chinese Sign Language. Beijing, China: Hua Xia Publishing Company.
697 p. Drawings.
15

Only a few of the Deaf associations were reported for China in Figure 8. Another source claimed over 300
schools reported for China it is highly likely that there are more Deaf clubs than those listed in Figure 8.
Figure 8: Schools and Deaf associations reported in China
2.4.9 Cuba
The Ethnologue (Grimes 2000) does not list Cuban Sign language. However, Cuban Sign Language is
called Lengua de Señas Cubanas. Harrington (2002) reports the following dictionary of Cuban Sign
Language:
DICTIONARY: Meneses Volumen, Alina (1993). Manual de lengua de señas cubanas. Habana,
Cuba: ANSOC.
The University of Hamburg website does not list a bibliography for Cuba, nor does Carmel.
Figure 9 gives only a partial listing of associations in Cuba. Unfortunately, none of the schools were
identified during the interview.
16

Figure 9: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Cuba
2.4.10 Cyprus
Neither the Ethnologue nor the Hamburg websites mention sign language for Cyprus. The country itself has
a mixture of spoken Greek in the southern part of the island and Turkish in the northern part of Cyprus.
Figure 10 shows the location of the Deaf schools and reports at least four Deaf clubs none of which were
identified on the map.
Figure 10: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Cyprus
17

2.4.11 Denmark and Faroe Islands
The first Deaf classroom was established in Denmark in 1806. It had eight pupils who were tutored in sign
language (Brelje, 1999:60). In 1866 a Norwegian Deaf person told a group of Danish Deaf about an
association in Berlin, Germany and thus the first Danish Deaf association was formed (Widell, 1994:212).
The key leader in forming this Deaf association was a man named Ole Jorgensen. At his insistence the Deaf
association taught the manual alphabet, thus starting the first school. This school was even favored by the
royal family. This association was also foundational in helping hundreds of Deaf who came to Copenhagen
enter into the work place and become integrated into Danish Deaf culture.
In 1986 a 2-year full-time formal program was started at the College of Trade and Business Administration
in Copenhagen in cooperation with the Center for Total Communication in Copenhagen and is under the
auspices of the Ministry of Education (Bergman, 1994:437). This is a program to train full-time sign
language interpreters using the Total Communication method. The Center for Total Communication in
Copenhagen has done research, published dictionaries, teaching tapes and books and set up intensive weeklong
courses to introduce DSL to teachers and parents (Hansen, 1994:606). This center has been
instrumental in introducing Total Communication into the classroom for Deaf children and elevating the
status of sign language in Denmark. There are at least two interpreter schools in the cities of Arhus and
Copenhagen.
Grimes lists Danish Sign language in the Ethnologue and states that there is French influence and that it is
intelligible with Swedish and Norwegian SL but not Finnish SL. There has been much research on Danish
sign language and the Hamburg website lists over 130 references to Danish Sign language as well as the
following dictionaries:
Anderson, Lloyd B.: A morphophonemically structured dictionary of Danish Sign Language. 1981
Manuscript (unpubl.).
Døves Center for Total Kommunication (ed): Tegn til børn. Tegnordbog for forældre og
pædagoger. København: DCTK 1992 - 138 p.
Engberg-Pedersen, Elisabeth / Pedersen, Annegrethe: 30 tegn fra døves tegnsprog. [30 Signs From
Deaf Sign Language]. København: DCTK 1985 - 90 p.
Guldberg, Eia / Lytting, M.: Blæksprutter prutter - Tosserier med Tegn. København Ø: Center for
Tegensprog og Tegnstøttet Kommunikation 1996 - 41 p.
Hansen, Britta / Skov Hardell, Anne: 198 tegn omkring seksualitet. København: DCTK 1984 - 31
p.: in BD 57(3) engl. Übersetzung.
Jørgensen, Johs: Ordbog de døvstummes tegnsprog. Copenhagen: Herm. Rolsteds Bogtr. 1926.
Petersen, Annegrethe / Hansen, Britta: Den lille Tegn- Dansk Ordbog. 243 Basistegn. København:
DCTK 1982 - 81 p.
Plum, O.: Handbog i tegnsprog. Kopenhagen: Danske Doves Landsforbund 1967.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists the following dictionaries:
Jorgensen, Johs. 1907 De dovstummes Haandalfabet og 280 af de almindeligste Tegn. 'The hand
alphabet for the Deaf and 280 general signs. Copenhagen, Denmark: Alfred Jacobsens. 32 p.
Descriptions and Drawings.
Plum, Ole Munk 1967 Handbog i Tegnsprog (The sign language Handbook). Copenhagen,
Denmark: Danske Doves Landsforbund. 367 p. Photographs. - - - -, et al.
1979 Dansk-Tegn Ordbog (The Danish Sign Language Dictionary). Copenhagen, Denmark:
Danske Doves Landsforbund. 382 p. Photographs.
von der Lieth, Lars 1967 Dansk Dove-Tegnsprog. (The Danish Sign Language for the Deaf.)
Copenhagen, Denmark: Akademisk Forlag.175 p. Photographs, Description and Drawings.
18

Brelje reports three residential schools for Deaf in Copenhagen, Frederica and Aalborg (Brelje, 1999: 64),
which are also shown in Figure 11.
Figure 11: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Denmark
In an interview with a man who grew up on the Faroe Islands which is part of Denmark, he mentioned that
there are approximately 35 Deaf people now living on these islands and Figure 12 shows the location of the
Deaf clubs and school.
Figure 12: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Faroe Islands 15
15 Personal communication about Faroe Islands is from a Deaf man while in Denmark, June 2001.
19

2.4.12 Egypt
There are 26 administrative regions in Egypt and 35 schools for the Deaf, covering all but two of these
regions. Education is under the auspices of the National Ministry of Education through the Special
Education Department. In 1968 a public law was passed mandating education for the handicapped which
really helped start the process of forming schools for the Deaf (Brelje, 1999:70).
There are a few residential schools for the Deaf. Deaf children who have to take more than two buses each
day to go to a Deaf school get preferential admission status to these schools (Brelje, 1999:72). In 1991 the
Al-Azhar University was the first university to begin a program for teachers of Deaf and hard-of-hearing
(Brelje, 1999:75).
Grimes does not list Egyptian Sign Language but Harrington lists this dictionary:
DICTIONARY: Suwayd, Abd al-Hamid (1984). Al-Qamus al-ishari. [Cairo, Egypt?]: [s.n.].
The Hamburg website lists only the reference, which is the book by William Brelje cited in the preceding
paragraph. Carmel does not list any dictionaries. One short wordlist was obtained from a Deaf man who
grew up in Egypt but moved to Hungary later in life and has been in Hungary for more than ten years.
Clearly more on-site survey is needed.
Figure 13 lists the official government Deaf schools in Egypt (Brelje, 1999:77). Cairo has nine separate
schools for the Deaf. Brelje lists this <strong>information</strong> for the official schools taught in Egypt. However the
nomadic Bedouin tribes generally do not attend the official government schools partly due to cultural
conflict, different spoken language and partly due to the nomadic lifestyle. The Deaf population within this
subpopulation is reputed to be approx 20,000. 16 The Deaf Bedouin children may attend the same schools
that the hearing children attend, but the quality of education the Deaf children actually receive is
questionable. Further survey work to analyze the Deaf situation and sign language among this minority
group is needed.
Figure 13: Schools reported in Egypt
16 Personal communication with a hearing Bedouin guide, April 2004.
20

2.4.13 England
Grimes reports that British Sign Language was used before 1644. Deaf schools were established in the late
18th century. There is a long history of how the Deaf in Britain came to use signing in the classroom. This
is of particular interest because the oral method was so prevalent in England till the 1970s.
The Hamburg website reports over 450 entries for British Sign Language including the following
dictionaries:
Brien, David (ed): Dictionary of British Sign Language/English. London: Faber and Faber 1992 -
1084 p.: Paperback.
BSL works. The British Sign Language CD-ROM. Sunbury-on-Thames: Microbooks 1997
(Software).
Chubb, Richard: Lifting holy hands. A dictionary of signs used in church services. London:
Advisory Board of Ministry 1994 - 82 p.: Spiral-bound.
Colville, Martin D.: Signs of a sexual nature. Northwich, Cheshire: Cheshire Society for the Deaf
1988 - 127 p.: Paperback.
Deaf Professionals in Mental Health (ed): Sign language in mental health. London: British Society
for Mental Health and Deafness 1997 - x, 138 p.
Deaf world. The British Sign Language CD-ROM. Sunbury-on-Thames: Microbooks 1997
(Software).
Goodridge, Frank: The abridged edition of the language of the Silent world. Carlisle: British Deaf
Association 1963 - 32 p.
Lee, John / Lee, Carol: Simple signs in a do-it-yourself store: A vocabulary of signs from British
Sign Language. Nuneaton: The Sign Language Video People 1999 (Video 60min).
Lee, John: Simple signs at home: A vocabulary of signs from British Sign Language. Nuneaton:
The Sign Language Video People 1999 (Video 69min).
Lee, John: Simple signs at school: A vocabulary of signs from British Sign Language. Nuneaton:
The Sign Language Video People 1999 (Video 115min).
Lee, John: Simple signs at the department store: A vocabulary of signs from British Sign
Language. Nuneaton: The Sign Language Video People 1999 (Video).
Lee, John: Simple signs in a supermarket: A vocabulary of signs from British Sign Language.
Nuneaton: The Sign Language Video People 1999 (Video 80min).
Robinson, Kathy: Simple signs CD-ROM.: Sign Communique 2000 (Software).
Royal National Institute for the Deaf: Sign and say. Book 1. London: Royal National Institute for
Deaf People 1981 - 89 p.: Paperback.
Royal National Institute for the Deaf: Sign and say. Book 2. London: Royal National Institute for
Deaf People 1984 - 71 p.: Paperback.
Sign away! The British Sign Language CD-ROM. Sunbury-on-Thames: Microbooks 1997
(Software).
Sign now! The British Sign Language CD-ROM. Birmingham: Microbooks 1996 (Software).
Smith, Cath: Communication link. A dictionary of signs. revised edition. Middlesbrough,
Cleveland: Beverley School for the Deaf 1988 - 208 p.: Spiral-bound.
Smith, Cath: Communication link. Third ed. Middlesbrough, Cleveland: Beverley School for the
Deaf 1998 - xii, 226 p.
Smith, Cath: Sign language companion. A handbook of British signs. London: Souvenir Press
1996 - 144 p.
Smith, Cath: Sign language link: a pocket dictionary of signs. Stockton-on-Tees: Co-Sign Books
UK 1998 - 144 p.
21

Smith, Cath: Signs of health: Pocket guide to medical signs. Stockton-on-Tees: Co-Sign Books
UK 1999 - 160 p.
The CD-ROM British Sign Language dictionary. Epsom Downs, Surrey: Specialty Software 1996
(Software).
Carmel (1992:233–252) reports the following dictionaries:
Deuchar, M. 1984 British Sign Language. England: Routledge and Kegan Paul. ? p. Drawings?
Photographs?
Jones, Harry 1968 Sign Language. London, England: The English Universities Press Ltd.180 p.
Photographs? Drawings?
Jones, Harry, and Lisle Willis 1972 Talking Hands: An Introduction to Communicating with
People who are Deaf. London: Stanley Paul and Co. Ltd. 96 p. Drawings. Royal National Institute
for the Deaf
1968 Conversation with the Deaf. Chichester, Sussex, England: Chichester Press Ltd. Booklet
Number 491 (8th edition). 41 p. Photographs. [1 st edn. 1954]
1981 Sign and Say. Book One. Chichester, Sussex, England: Chichester Press Ltd. 89 p.
Photographs.
1984 Sign and Say. Book Two. Chichester, Sussex, England: Chichester Press Ltd. 71 p.
Photographs.
Figure 14: Schools and Deaf associations reported in England
2.4.14 Finland
Deaf education in Finland began in 1840 and went through the oralism period 17 until 1983 when national
legislation was passed allowing sign language to be a valid method to educate Deaf. Later in 1987 a
nationwide curriculum was set up for bilingualism in Deaf education and this helped the status of sign
language in Finland (Tillander, 1994:558).
17
The Oralism Period started after the Milan conference of 1880, which decreed that sign language usage was discouraged and
considered to be inferior.
22

The Finnish Association of the Deaf reports 18 schools for the Deaf, four residential and 14 day schools.
There is no mainstreaming at the high school level, if a Deaf person wants an advanced education they may
go to Turku. There are three vocational schools for the Deaf in Finland. The first class of ten Deaf teachers
just recently graduated (early 2000s) from the university, so that will help foster the use of Finnish Sign
Language in the schools rather than a mixture of Pidgin Signed Finnish.
Grimes lists Finnish Sign Language and The Hamburg website has a listing of over 300 references to Finish
SL and the following three dictionaries:
Malm, Anja (ed): Suomalaisen viittomakielen perussanakirja. Helsinki: Libris Oy 1998 - 798 p.
Sano se käsin. Helsinki 1974.
Viittomakielen kuvasanakirja. Helsinki 1973 - 440 p.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists the following dictionary:
Finnish Association of the Deaf (Kuurojen Liitto) 1973 Viittomakielen kuvasanakirja (Sign
Language Picture Book). Helsinki, Finland: Finnish Association of the Deaf. 440 p.
Figure 15: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Finland
2.4.15 France
Abbe Charles Michel de l'Eppe (1712–1789) was a priest who started teaching the Deaf in 1760. He taught
both speech and sign language and up to 70 pupils at a time for 29 years (Karacostas, 1994:162). His
successor Abbe Sicard carried on his work after his death. Their philosophy of using sign became known as
the "French method." Laurent Clerc was the pupil of Abbe Sicard that Thomas Gallaudet recruited to go to
America to teach the Deaf. Laurent Clerc was foundational in starting sign language use in America.
During the French Revolution of 1789 Deaf students held demonstrations and protests several times to get
Abbe Sicard freed from prison because of his Royalist connections so that the work of the school could
continue (Karacostas, 1994:166). Eventually Abbe Sicard was freed to work with the Deaf.
The first Deaf sports club was founded in 1911. Then in 1918 the Sports Federation was started and French
Deaf were pioneers in the initiation of the International Silent Games (Truffaut, 1994:173).
23

The Milan Conference in 1880 banned signing as "inferior" and dictated the oral method which continued
in France till 1979 when the Bossuet School in Paris decided to try a "bilingual" method in which there still
is much controversy of which form of "bilingual education" to use (Brelje, 1999:100):
Oralism
Oralism + Cued Speech 18
Oralism + Signed French (FS)
Oralism + Signed French (FS) + Cued Speech
French + French Sign Language (LSF)
French + French Sign Language (LSF) + signed French (FS)
French + French Sign Language (LSF) + signed French (FS) + Cued Speech
A TV program called "It's My Hands Turn To Speak" first aired in 1979. It ran on the air for about ten
years and was instrumental in raising awareness that hearing French and LSF are both valid languages with
their respective cultural values (Abbou, 1994:369). Today in France there are over 200 Deaf Associations
and 30 Deaf clubs.
Grimes reports that French Sign Language may have had influence or been influenced by sign languages
from Austria, Czech Republic, Italy and the USA. The Hamburg site lists over 300 bibliography references
including these dictionaries:
Anderson, Lloyd B.: Families of related signs and patterns of word formation in the French Sign
Language of Poitiers. 1983 Manuscript (unpubl.).
Blanchet, A.L.: Dictionnaire de mimique et de dactylologie. 1850.
Brdys, Maria-Agnès / et al.: Les mains qui parlent: Eléments de vocabulaire de la langue des
signes. Poitiers 1984 - 203 p.
Ferrand, J.: Dictionnaire des sourd-muets. Paris: J.-B. Baillière et fils 1897 - 267 p.
Girod, Michel / Vourc'h, Agnès / Dufour, Anne-Catherine: La langue des signes 1. Le corps. Paris:
I.V.T. 1992 - 72 p.
Girod, Michel / Vourc'h, Agnès / Dufour, Anne-Catherine: La langue des signes 2. La santé Paris:
I.V.T. 1993 - 165 p.
Girod, Michel / Vourc'h, Agnès / Dufour, Anne-Catherine: La langue des signes. 3. l'éducation.
Paris: I.V.T. w/o year - 202 p.
Girod, Michel et al: Dictionnaire bilingue. Français / langue des signes pour enfants. Paris: I.V.T.
1994 - 116 p.
Initiation à la langue des signes. Didacticiel multimedia de langue des signes française. Paris:
Langue des Signes Editions Publications 1998 (Software).
Pélissier, Pierre: Iconographies des signes, avec des notes explicatives faisant partie de
l'enseignement primaire des sourds-muets mis à la portée de tout le monde. [Iconography of signs
with explanatory notes]. Paris: Paul Dupont 1856 - 46 p.
Rémi-Valade, Y.-L.: Études sur la lexicologie et la grammaire du langage naturel des signes à
l'usage des instituteurs de sourds-muets. Paris: Lagrange 1854.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists these dictionaries:
Anon. (Livre realise par un groupe de trravail et de recherches) 1982 Les mains qui parlent:
Elements de vocabulaire de la langue des signes. Poitiers, France: Nouvelles impressions
graphiques a Poitiers. 203 p. Drawings and photographs.
18 Cued speech is a method of sign where fingers are placed upon the face as a hint of the sound that is occurring. For example, the
"m" handshape versus the "n" hand shape near the mouth to differentiate between "m" and "n" vocalization.
24

Moody, Bill, Dominique Hof and Serge DuMartin 1983 La langue des signes (The Language of
Signs). Paris, France: Ellipsesd. 398 p. Drawings and photos.
Oleron, Pierre 1974 Elements de repertoire du langage gestuel des sourdsmuets. Paris, France:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. 174 p. Photographs.
Pelissier, P. 1856 Iconographies des signes, avec des notes explicatives (Iconography of Signs
with Explanatory Notes). Paris: Paul Dupont. 46 p. Drawings.
Figure 16: Schools and Deaf associations reported in France
2.4.16 Gaza
Grimes does not list Gaza Sign Language. The Hamburg website does not list any bibliography for Gaza.
Neither Harrington nor Carmel list any dictionaries or studies. There is one Deaf school, Atfaluna, reported
in Gaza City. See 2.4.39: Palestine for further <strong>information</strong> on a probably related sign language.
Figure 17: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Gaza
25

2.4.17 Germany
Samuel Heinicke (1728–1790) established the "oral method" or otherwise known as "German method" of
"demutement" of deaf people by teaching them how to speak. He established a school in Leipzig (List,
1994:220). This was in direct competition and opposition to the "French method" of signing established by
Abbe de l'Epee. This strong oralist movement continued for 200 years until after WW II. In 1848 the first
German association of the Deaf was started in Berlin (Brelje, 1999:130).
After brutal suppression during the Nazi regime, 24 new schools were established in 1945. But the trend
was to mainstream hard-of-hearing students into regular classrooms (Brelje, 1999:122).
Grimes lists German Sign language and reports that there may be more than one dialect in Eastern
Germany. The Hamburg website lists over 425 articles in its bibliography relating to German Sign
Language or Signed German.
Harrington reports the following:
DICTIONARY: Maisch, Günther, and Fritz-H. Wisch (1987–1989). Gebärden-Lexikon.
Hamburg: Verlag hörgeschädigter Kinder.
STUDY: Rammel, Georg (1974). Die Gebärdensprache: Versuch einer Wesenanalyse. Berlin-
Charlottenburg: Marhold.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists the following dictionaries:
Jussen, Heribert, and Michael Krueger 1975 Manuelle Kommunikationshilfen bei Gehoerlosen:
Das Fingeralphabet (Manual Communication Aids Among Deaf People: The Finger Alphabet).
Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany: Carl Marhold Verlagsbuchhandlung. 171 p. Drawings.
1977 Die Gebaerden der Gehoerlosen: Ein Hand-, Lehr- und Uebungsbuch (The Sign Language of
the Deaf: A Handbook, Teaching Book and Exercise Book). Hamburg, West Germany: Pergamos-
Druck Heidrich and Bender. 479 p. Drawings.
1988 Band 2: Mensch (Sign Language Dictionary Volume 2: Person). 360 p. Photographs.
1990 Band 3: Natur. (Sign Language Dictionary Volume 3: Nature). 460 p. Photographs.
Maisch, Guenter, and Fritz-H. Wisch 1987 Gebaerden-Lexikon Band 1: Grundgebaerden (Sign
Language Dictionary Volume 1: Basic Signs). Hamburg, Germany: Horgeschaedigte Kinder
GmbH. 317 p. Photographs.
Reschke, Helga 1985 Lehr- und Uebungsbuch der Gebaerden Gehoerloser (Sign Language Book
for Teaching and Exercises). Berlin, DDR: Gehoerlosen- und-Schwerhoerigen-Verband der DDR.
204 p. Photographs. Starcke, Hellmuth, and Guenter Maisch.
26

Figure 18: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Germany
2.4.18 Greece
In 1907 Charalambos Spiliopoulos laid the groundwork for the first Deaf school in Athens. The school did
not actually start until after his death in 1937. The history of this Deaf school is that there was an
organization called Near East Relief Organization that hired a teacher named Helen Palatidou to help ten
Deaf orphans in a group of refugees. She went to the Clark School for the Deaf in the United States to learn
how to teach Deaf (Lampropoulou, 1994:240–241).
The school Helen Palatidou started later became the foundation of the National Institute for the Deaf (NID)
in Greece in 1970 (Brelje, 1999:160). Lampropoulou lists these cities as locations of schools: Athens
(Argiroupoli, Philothei, Paraskevi) , Chalkis, Ioannina, Kriti, Patra, Serres, Thessaloniki, and Volos. In
1984 the NID board accepted the philosophy of Total Communication for the Deaf in the schools
(Lampropoulou, 1994:240-241).
Grimes lists Greek Sign Language and reports that there may be influence from American, and French Sign
languages and various other indigenous sign languages from the 1950s. The Hamburg website lists over 15
articles including these dictionaries:
Let's sign together: a basic course of Greek Sign Language lessons to facilitate communication
with deaf people in the educational and in the work environment. Athen: Kek-Mit Sa Vocational
Training Center 1997 (Software).
Logiadis, M.: Lexiko Noematikes glossas. (Dictionary of Greek sign language). Athens: Potamitis
Pr. 1985 - 177 p.
NOEMA - a dictionary of the Greek Sign Language. 2002 (Software).
Harrington lists this dictionary:
Triantaphullides, Georgios (1987). Systema hellenikon neumaton. Thessalonika: Hoi Philoi Ton
Kophalalon Thessalonikes.
27

Figure 19: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Greece
2.4.19 Guatemala
The Ethnologue (Grimes, 2000) does list Guatemalan Sign language. There has been a dictionary produced
on LENSEGUA, the official name of Guatemalan Sign language. The Hamburg website does not list any
items for Guatemala. There is at least one established Deaf school in the capital city of Guatemala. This
school teaches in the oral tradition. One can assume that there are also Deaf clubs and churches in the
country although this author does not have a list of them.
Figure 20 Schools and Deaf associations reported in Guatemala
28

2.4.20 Iran
Grimes lists Iranian Sign Language as Persian Sign Language but has no other <strong>information</strong>. The Hamburg
website lists one item in their bibliography:
Hadadian, Azar: Beyond the national boundaries: History of deaf education in Iran. In: Fischer,
Renate / Vollhaber, Tomas (eds): Collage: Works on international deaf history. (International
Studies on Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf; 33) Hamburg: Signum (1996) - pp.
117–116.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists this dictionary:
Islamic Republic of Iran 1984 Persian Sign Language for the Deaf. Tehran, Iran: Islamic Republic
of Iran's Welfare Organization. 68 p. Drawings.
There appears to be little <strong>information</strong> available about sign language in Iran. Figure 21 shows some of the
Deaf clubs for Iran; unfortunately none of the schools were identified.
Figure 21: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Iran
2.4.21 Iraq
Grimes does not list Iraqi Sign Language. The Hamburg website does not list any bibliography for Iraq.
Harrington lists Iranian Sign Language as having the same name as Persian Sign Language. Carmel does
not list any dictionaries or studies. Note the seven schools listed in Figure 22. There are seven schools in
the capital of Baghdad.
29

Figure 22: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Iraq
2.4.22 Ireland
The first deaf school in Ireland was started in 1857 (O'Leary, 1994:142). Then a Catholic school, St. Mary's
School, for girls opened in Dublin in 1846 and a Catholic boys school, St. Josephs in Dublin in 1857 (van
Cleve, 1987:100–101). Both of these Catholic schools used sign language until 1946 when they became
oral. This lead to a different set of signs used at each school due to the segregation of the sexes until the
pupils graduated and started intermingling. Since the 1970s two more schools have opened and there are
many mainstream classrooms. The Deaf school in Cork adopted Total Communication in 1988. All five
Deaf schools are under the auspices of the Irish government.
The real awakening of the Irish Deaf community came in 1981 as a result of the United Nations sponsored
Year of the Disabled. Since then the Rehabilitation Training Centers and a government agency are
providing vocational training for Deaf and some interpreter training courses. In October 1988 a television
program called "Signs of the Times" began to be aired once a month. O'Leary states that there is a great
need for more research into sign language and training on all levels for Deaf and hearing about Deaf
cultural issues (O'Leary, 1994:142–146).
Grimes lists Irish Sign Language and reports a British influence but that there is also influence from French
Sign Language. The Hamburg website lists over 40 bibliography references and the following dictionaries:
Foran, Stanislaus J.: The Irish Sign Language. revised edition. Dublin: National Association for
Deaf People 1996 - 103 p.
ISL dictionary. The Irish Sign Language CD-ROM. Sunbury-on-Thames: Microbooks 1998
(Software).
Sign away! The Irish Sign Language CD-ROM. Sunbury-on-Thames: Microbooks 1998
(Software).
Sign on. Basic signs used by Irish deaf people. 2nd. edition. Dublin: Sign Language Association of
Ireland 1995 - 170 p.
Harrington lists these dictionaries and studies:
DICTIONARY: ISL dictionary [CD-ROM] (1997). Middlesex, England: Microbooks.
30

STUDY: Burns, Sarah E. (1998). "Irish Sign Language: Ireland's second minority language," in
Lucas, Ceil, ed., Pinky extension and eye gaze: language use in deaf communities. Washington,
DC: Gallaudet University Press, p. 233–273.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists this dictionary:
Nicholas, O. P., Sister M., et al. 1979 The Irish Sign Language. Dublin, Ireland: The National
Association of the Deaf. 120 p. Photographs.
Figure 23: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Ireland
2.4.23 Israel
In 1932 Mr. R. B. Hexter who was from Germany, and used the oral method prevalent at that time,
established the first school for the Deaf in Jerusalem. After WW II, Mrs. B. Miller started a Deaf school in
Tel Aviv. In the early 1950s Dr. Tzelyuk established another school in Haifa (Brelje, 1999:193). In the
1970s and 1980s the trend was to mainstream into the classroom wherever possible with special tutoring
paid for by the Ministry of Education. In the late 1980s the worldwide trend became Total Communication
and this is now being used in some Israeli schools today (Brelje, 1999:195). In 1977 the signed Hebrew
alphabet was created (van Cleve, 1987:104).
Grimes lists Israel Sign Language and reports little influence from other sign languages. The Hamburg
website lists over 45 bibliography references including these dictionaries:
Namir, Lila et al: Dictionary of sign language of the deaf in Israel. Jerusalem 1977 - 221 p.
Schlesinger, Izchak M.: Dictionary of Israeli Sign Language. The Hague: Mouton w/o year.
Shunary, Jonathan: Signs for mechanical terms and private names. (Working paper; 7) Jerusalem:
Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem 1968.
Harrington reports these studies and dictionaries:
DICTIONARY: Savir, Hava, ed. (1992). Sha'ar li-´sefat simanim Yi´sra'elit = Gateway to Israeli
Sign Language. Tel Aviv: The Association of the Deaf in Israel.
31

STUDY: Schlesinger, Izchak M., and Lila Namir (1976). "Recent research on Israeli Sign
Language," in Report on the 4th International Conference on Deafness, Tel Aviv, March 18–23,
1973. Silver Spring, Md.: National Association of the Deaf, 114 p.
Figure 24: Schools reported in Israel
2.4.24 Italy
In 1782 Pasquale Di Pietro sent Abbe Tommaso Silvestri to Paris to learn from Abbe De l'Epee. Silvestri
came back to Rome, started the first Deaf school, and taught for the next five years until he died in 1789.
Abbe Mariani carried on the "methodical signs" (i.e. French method) of teaching for the next 42 years
(Pinna, 1994:196). Then, the Milan Conference in 1880 profoundly influenced the teaching method. A
period of "pure oralism" in Italy began at that time and still influences the educational system today. If a
child goes to a separate Deaf school, signs are used. Otherwise, the child is usually mainstreamed into a
public school with varying degrees of support from special assistants.
Corazza (1994:187) reports in Table 2 a record of the earliest schools in Italy. The earliest was in 1784 in
Rome.
Table 2: Record of earliest schools started in Italy
City Year
1 Rome 1784
2 Napoli 1786
3 Genova 1802
4 Milano 1806
5 Torino 1816
6 Modena 1821
7 Parma 1826
8 Siena 1828
9 Cremona 1829
10 Verona 1829
11 Ferrara 1829
12 Palermo 1834
13 Rento 1842
14 Bologna 1850
32

Grimes lists Italian Sign Language and states that it is partially intelligible with French Sign Language. The
Hamburg website lists over 120 bibliography references as well as these dictionaries:
Angelini, Natalia et al.: I primi 400 segni: piccolo dizionario della Lingua Italiana dei Segni per
communicare con i sordi. Firence: La Nuova Italia 1991 - 253 p.
Magarotto, Cesare (ed): Vocabolario della lingua gestuale italiana dei sordi. Rom: Armando 1996
- 304 p.
Puricelli, Emilio et al.: Anch'io voglio comunicare: manuale dei principali segni religiosi. w/o year
- 88 p.
Radutzky, Elena (ed): Dizionario della lingua italiana dei segni. Roma: Edizioni Kappa 1992 -
1011 p.
Romeo, Orazio: Dizionario dei segni - La Lingua Dei Segni in 1400 immagaini. 2. Aufl. Bologna:
Zanichelli 1992 - xv, 192 p.
Harrington reports these dictionaries and studies:
DICTIONARY: Dizionario bilingue elementare della lingua italiana dei segni (1992). Roma:
Kappa.
STUDY: Pigliacampo, Renato (1998). Lingua e linguaggio nel sordo: analisi e problemi di una
lingua visivo-manuale. Roma: Armando Editore.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists these dictionaries:
Radutzky, Elena, ed. 1989? Dizionario della lingua italiana dei signi (Dictionary of Italian Sign
Language). Bologna, Italy: Zanichelli. Drawings and photographs.
Volterra, Virginia 1987. La lingua italian ana dei: La comunicazione visiuo-gestuale dei sordi.
Bologna, Italy: ll Mulino. 270 p. Drawings and descriptions.
Folchi, a Deaf woman, wrote her personal opinion of the signing situation in Italy. She feels that 80% of
the signs in any given area are different from the signs in any other area. Figure 25 shows her view of the
sign language situation in Italy (Folchi, 1994:410–413). Figure 26 shows the list of Deaf schools and
associations gleaned from interviews during the survey trip.
33

Figure 25: Folchi opinion of the sign language situation in Italy
Figure 26: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Italy
2.4.25 Japan
In ancient times Deaf people were viewed as a sign of misfortune and disfavor and that God was punishing
people for misdeeds. Thus, the treatment of the Deaf was often harsh and unforgiving to the point of
abandonment so that death would occur. After 1858 when Commodore Matthew C. Perry overthrew the
Shogunate rulers in Japan a Japanese businessman Yozo Yamo went to England in 1863 and learned that
deaf people could become productive workers. Therefore, he went back to Japan and worked on behalf of
Deaf. In 1872 laws were passed requiring that every child attend official primary schools. By 1950 this
became a reality. The opinion was that the deaf were often overlooked and considered uneducable.
However in 1875, a man named Taishiro Furukawa in Kyoto began teaching two deaf children in his
34

classroom and the first official school for deaf and blind pupils was established. The first official school for
Deaf and Blind was started in 1878 and the second was started in 1880 (Tsuchiya, 1994:65–66).
During the years from 1910 to 1920 there were many debates about the most desirable teaching method.
Alexander Graham Bell influenced the educators in Japan to for emphasize speech therapy. There was
much pressure for a deaf person to identify with the group-conscious hearing majority and to behave "as
normally as possible" (Tsuchiya, 1994:67). In the 1930s there were at least 50 oral classes. After World
War II, with the advent of hearing aids, the oral classes became even more popular and today there are 107
schools for Deaf in Japan (Brelje, 1999:60).
The Hamburg website reports at least 135 bibliography references including the following dictionary:
Honna, Nobuyuki et al (eds): An English dictionary of basic Japanese signs. 1991.
Harrington lists these dictionary and studies:
DICTIONARY: Nihon Shuwa Kenkyusho hen (1997). Nihongo Shuwa jiten. Tokyo: Zen Nihon
Roa Renmei.
STUDY: Takashi, Tanokami, and F.C. Pang (1976). Shuwa o megutte = On the nature of sign
language. Hiroshima, Japan: Bunka Hyoron Shuppan.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists this dictionary:
Japanese Federation of the Deaf 1969- Watashi tachi no tebanashi (Our Hands). Tokyo, Japan:
1980s Japanese Federation of the Deaf. 10 volumes. More than 1000 p. Drawings.
Figure 27: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Japan
2.4.26 Jordan
A Deaf school was started in the city of Salt in 1964. Today it is a residential boarding school that also has
a vocational training program. The only Deaf interpreter-training program today is found in Salt. There
may be some language influence on Jordanian Sign Language from the neighboring countries but this has
35

not been documented yet. There is a small amount of signing on national news. 19 There is some effort today
to try to standardize Arabic signs, but the majority of the Jordanian Deaf have rejected this effort.
Grimes mentions Jordanian Sign Language but has no other <strong>information</strong>. The Hamburg website lists three
items in its bibliography list including this dictionary:
Kabatilo, Ziad Salah: A pilot description of indigenous signs used by deaf persons in Jordan. Ann
Arbor: U.M.I. 1982 - 192 p.: Michigan State Univ. Dissertation.
Harrington lists the above-mentioned dictionary also:
STUDY: Kabatilo, Ziad Salah (1982). A pilot description of indigenous signs used by deaf
persons in Jordan. Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University.
There has been a recent publication of Jordanian Sign Language:
Hendriks, B. (2004) An introduction to the grammar of Jordanian Sign Language. Balqa'
University, Salt, Jordan.
Figure 28: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Jordan
2.4.27 Kazakhstan
Neither Grimes, Carmel, Brelje nor Harrington list any <strong>information</strong> about Kazakhstan. Figure 29 shows
some of the Deaf associations in Kazakhstan, unfortunately none of the schools were identified.
19 Personal communication with a student at the University of North Dakota, Summer of 2002.
36

Figure 29: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Kazakhstan
2.4.28 Kenya
Grimes reports that, according to the 1990 census, there are 200,000 deaf people in Kenya. There are about
2,600 children attending 32 primary schools for the Deaf. All schools are under the auspices of the Kenya
Institute of Education. Figure 30 shows the language situation as reported by Grimes. Note the variety in
sign language usage.
Figure 30: Schools Reported By Grimes
Grimes also reports that of the four churches in Nairobi:
2 churches use KIE (Kenya Signed English)
1 church a mixture of KIE (Kenya Signed English) and KSL (Kenya Sign Language)
1 church uses a mixture of Korean, American and Kenyan Sign Languages
37

Kenyan Sign Language may not be standardized through the whole country due to the variety in the
educational systems. Kevin Long, a volunteer in Kenya for three months, reported in a personal anecdote
"…despite the fun I was having the first week I made a disturbing discovery. I was one of the most fluent
teachers in KSL, Kenyan Sign Language, on the entire staff! In America I am comfortable with sign
language but far from fluent. As I spent more time observing throughout the school days I realized that lack
of proper training and resources for the teachers were serious problems" (Long, 1997:7). This apparent lack
of qualified teachers does have a direct impact on sign language usage in Kenya because it is the schools,
which help promote, protect and perpetuate Deaf culture, which includes the use of sign language.
The Kenya National Association of the Deaf was registered as a formal society in Kenya in 1987.
(Araranga, 1994:86) There is also a Kenyan Sign Language Research Project started at the University of
Nairobi in 1991 (Araranga, 1994:87). This may help the sign language to become more standardized within
the country.
The Hamburg website lists over 35 bibliography references for Kenya as well as the following four
dictionaries:
Akach, Philemon A. O.: Kenyan Sign Language dictionary. Nairobi: KNAD 1991 - 580 p.
KSL vocabulary pamphlets: animals. Nairobi: KNAD 1998 - 11 p.
KSL vocabulary pamphlets: family. Nairobi: KNAD 1998 - 11 p.
KSL vocabulary pamphlets: time. Nairobi: KNAD 1998 - 19 p.
Harrington reports these references:
DICTIONARY: Akach, Philemon A.O. 1991. Kenyan Sign Language dictionary. Nairobi: Kenya
National Association for the Deaf.
STUDY: Akach, P.A.O. 1992. "Sentence formation in Kenyan Sign Language", in The East
African Sign Language Seminar, Karen, Nairobi, Kenya, 24th–28th August 1992. [Copenhagen?]:
Danish Deaf Association, p. 45–51.
Figure 31 reports the results of a single interview with a deaf person from Kenya. Note that there is a
difference between the cities listed by Grimes and those from this interview. This discrepancy could be due
to any number of reasons such as closure of schools, change in the political situation or a lack of awareness
about the current Deaf situation in Kenya.
38

Figure 31: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Kenya
2.4.29 Kuwait
Grimes does not list Kuwait Sign Language. The Hamburg website does not list any bibliography for
Kuwait. Neither Harrington nor Carmel list any dictionaries or studies. Note the one school listed in Al
Kuwayt. It is very likely that there are other schools and Deaf clubs in the country.
Figure 32: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Kuwait
2.4.30 Lebanon
Grimes does not list Lebanon Sign Language. The Hamburg website lists four entries in the bibliography
for Lebanon. Neither Harrington nor Carmel list any dictionaries or studies. This <strong>information</strong> is very
incomplete and more research is needed.
39

Figure 33: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Lebanon
2.4.31 Malaysia
The first school for the Deaf was started in 1954 in Penang and was known as the Federation School for the
Deaf (FSD). It is a residential and day school 20 that, until the 1980s, followed an oral program. In 1977 the
Ministry of Education formally adopted the Total Communication philosophy. The second school, the
Selangor School for the Deaf (SSD), was started in Kuala Lumpur in 1969. In 1976 there was a joint
venture of the Society of the Deaf in Selangor and the Federal government to develop a system of manually
coded 21 Malaysian Sign for use in the school system. 22
There appears to be a strong ASL (American Sign Language) influence in Malaysian Sign. In 1976 a
professional team from Gallaudet went to Malaysia and began to teach the teachers of the Deaf school in
Kuala Lumpur. Today there are clubs in 11 of the 13 states, excepting the states of Sabu and Surawak.
There are no formal interpreter training programs. There is a TV news program that uses interpreters on the
screen but the figure is small and uses a manually coded Malaysian Sign. Because of these factors the
program is not popular with the Deaf. 23
Hope Hurlbut has done an intelligibility survey of Malaysia and reports that each state has its own dialect,
with one possible exception. She states that there are at least four sign languages in Malaysia: Malaysian
Sign Language (the language of wider communication), Penang Sign Language (developed by the children
in the only school for the Deaf in the 1950s) which has a related language called Selangor Sign Language
by the Deaf, and Chinese Sign Language which may be one or several languages. Chinese Sign Language
is not indigenous, as all the Chinese who use it have learned it overseas, usually in Singapore or Taiwan.
Grimes reports Malaysian Sign Language is also known as Bahasa Malaysia Kod Tangan. There are two
notable regional variations of Malaysian sign in the cities of Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Malaysian Sign
20
Residential school programs are where children essentially live at the school and go home on holidays and in the summer time. A
day school program is where a child lives at home and commutes to school.
21
Manually coded signs are signs made up by educators to help teach deaf students the host-country language. For example in
English there is SEE (Signed Exact English) which has a way of putting suffixes such as "s" or "ed" or "ing" on signs to help teach the
English word order. These suffixes are ignored in ASL.
22
Personal letter from Malaysia to the librarian of National Center of Deafness Library at the California State University, Northridge
1980.
23
Personal communication from Hope Hurlbut who was interviewed in the summer of 2002.
40

Language has been in development by the Ministry of Education since 1978 and is used in government
programs (Grimes, 2000).
The Hamburg website reports five entries in its bibliography and Harrington reports these studies and
dictionaries:
DICTIONARY: Speaking with signs = Sike kuni shuwa ziten, rozin shuwa (1984). 3d ed.,
vocabulary version. Osaka, Japan: Osaka YMCA. [Quadrilingual sign language dictionary
includes some Malaysian signs.].
STUDY: Guan, Tan Chin (1987). "Malaysian Sign Language," in Van Cleve, John V., ed.,
Gallaudet encyclopedia of deaf people and deafness. New York: McGraw-Hill, v.3, pp. 93–94.
Figure 34: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Malaysia
2.4.32 Mexico
A Deaf Frenchman, M. Hernest Huet, who had also started Deaf schools in Brazil started a school in
Mexico City in 1866. It has been said he most likely was influenced by Abbe de l’Epee’s (1712–1789)
scholastic methods, which promoted the use of sign language to communicate. (Van Cleve, 1987).
The Ethnologue (Grimes 2000) reports two distinct sign languages in Mexico, one of which is used by a
small select group on the Yucatan Peninsula called Yucatec Maya Sign Language. 24 However, the vast
majority of Mexicans use Mexican Sign Language, also known by a variety of names including:
El Lenguaje Mexicano De Los Manos
El Lenguaje Manual De México
La Lengua Manual Mexicana
El Lenguaje De Señas Mexicanas (LSM)
Lenguaje de Signos Mexicano
24 This report can be found at: http://www.sil.org/mexico/lenguajes-de-signos/lenguajes-de-signos.htm.
41

There may be a growing consensus among Deaf and hearing Mexicans to call their language by the name
of El Lenguaje De Señas Mexicanas (LSM). 25
Harrington (2002) reports the following dictionary and study of Mexican Sign Language:
DICTIONARY: Serafín García, Esther (1990). Comunicación manual. México, D.F.: SEP.
STUDY: Eatough, Andy (1992). Mexican sign language grammar. Student paper, Washington,
D.C.: Gallaudet University. 26
Carmel (1992:233–252) reports the following dictionary of Mexican Sign:
Guzman, Luis Luna, and Juan Carlos Miranda Santiago. 1987. Lenguaje de manos para
sordomudos. First edition. Mexico City, Mexico. 1987:1–234.
The map in Figure 35 shows the 13 Deaf schools and multiple Deaf associations.
Figure 35 Schools and Deaf associations reported in Mexico
2.4.33 Mongolia
Grimes lists Mongolian Sign Language and states that it is different from Russian Sign Language. Personal
communication with a deaf man at Deaflympics in Rome stated that Mongolian Sign Language was
25 Personal communication with Shelly Dufoe.
26 Personal communication with Andy Eatough: He wrote the paper while at the University of North Dakota.
42

developed to be different from both Russian and Chinese sign languages because those signs had been
forced on the Deaf for political reasons. Because of the forced political occupation, the Mongolians dislike
both Russia and China. The Hamburg website lists one bibliography reference:
Dyssegaard, Birgit: Emerging educational programs for deaf students in Mongolia and Nepal: A
special report. In: Spencer, Patricia E. / Erting, Carol J. / Marschark, Marc (eds): The deaf child in
the family and at school: Essays in honor of Kathryn P. Meadow-Orlans. (2000) - pp. 239–254.
Harrington lists this dictionary:
DICTIONARY: Mongolyn dokhiony khelnii tol' = Mongolian sign language dictionary (1995).
[S.l.: s.n.].
Two short wordlists were collected from one signer who was late in getting accepted by the school. He
used much more gesture in his descriptions of the pictures rather than using a single sign 27 . This is an
indication of a lack of schooling. Clearly, more research is needed to determine the extent of the Deaf
population and viability of the language in this country of 2,650,952 people according to the National
Statistical Office, Mongolia. 28
Figure 36: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Mongolia
2.4.34 Netherlands
In 1784 the Reverend Henri Daniel Guyot went to Paris, France, was taught by Abbe De L'Epee, came back
to the Netherlands, and established the first Deaf school in Groningen in Northern Holland. In 1830 a priest
named Marinus van Beek started the second school for the Deaf in St. Michielsgestel (Eindhoven). In 1988
the third Deaf school, Effatha, was started at Voorburg, a suburb of The Hague. In 1911 in Amsterdam the
J. C. Ammanschool for the Deaf was established. After the Milan conference, the oral method gained
popularity until the early 1980s (Knoors, 1994:250).
27 For example, egg was "BIRD-LAY-ROUND SHAPE-BREAK-ROUND SHAPE-DRINK." The second signer probably had a high
percentage of "home signs" which are signs that are recognizable in a family system but not outside of the immediate home. In the
language comparison scale he was only 46% the same as the other signer from Mongolia.
28 Population figures from Global Statistics Online: http://www.xist.org/cd/ixcd.htm.
43

Today the schools in Groningen, Voorburg and St. Michielsgestel are residential and the schools in
Amsterdam and Rotterdam are day schools. All of the schools except St. Michielsgestel use Total
Communication and some form of signed communication of either Signed Dutch or Sign Language of the
Netherlands (SLN) (Knoors, 1994:252). St. Michielsgestel uses a form of stressed imitation and correction
of reproduction of sounds called the "maternal reflective method" which strives to model the principles of a
mother and child interaction.
Grimes lists Dutch Sign Language and reports influence from French Sign Language. The Hamburg
website lists over 315 bibliography references including these dictionaries:
Andrea, Pat / De Boer, Herman Pieter: Nederlands gebarenboekje. (Elseviers literaire serie)
Amsterdam: Elsevier Manteau 1979 - 160 p.
Andrea, Pat / De Boer, Herman Pieter: Nieuw Nederlands gebarenboekje. Amsterdam (u.a.):
Manteau 1982 - 151 p.: Keine NA.
Bos, Heleen F.: Communiceren met gebaren. 400 Basisgebaren voor gehoorgestoorde geestelijk
gehandicapten en andere niet-sprekenden. [Communicating with signs. 400 basic signs for hearing
impaired mentally retarded individuals and other non-speaking persons] 1984.
Bouwmeester, Anne et al: Gebaren woordenboek. Kerk en geloof. Groningen: Inst. voor Doven
"H.D. Guyot" 1987.
Bouwmeester, Anne: Gebaren woordenboek. Groningen: Inst. voor Doven "H.D. Guyot" 1983 -
142 p.
Buyens, Maurice: Vlaams Gebarenwoordenboek. Leuven: Garant 1995.
CD-ROM Dovengebaren. Ledeberg-Gent: COI 1996 (Software).
Computer Gebarenwoordenboek. Amsterdam: RNR w/o year (Software).
Fed. Ned. Dovenvereinigin (ed): Woord en gebaar. 1200 Dovengebaren. Gent 1985 - 322 p.
Gebaren voor de geestelijke gezondheidszorg. Bunnik: Nederlands Gebarencentrum 2002
(Software).
Gebaren-cdi. Voorburg: Chr. Inst. voor Doven "Effatha" 1998 (Software).
Gebarenlexicon Thema: Gevoelens. Voorburg: Chr. Inst. voor Doven "Effatha" 1995 - 50 p.
Gebarenlexicon Thema: Kerk en Geloof. Voorburg: Chr. Inst. voor Doven "Effatha" 1994 - 55 p.
Gebarenlexicon Thema: Rekentaal. Voorburg: Chr. Inst. voor Doven "Effatha" 1994 - 60 p.
Gebarenlexicon Thema: Sexualiteit. Voorburg: Chr. Inst. voor Doven "Effatha" 1994 - 43 p.
Gebarenwoordenboek Kerk en Geloof. Haren: Inst. voor Doven "H.D. Guyot" w/o year.
Gevoelens gebarenlexicon. Voorburg: Chr. Inst. voor Doven "Effatha" 1994 (Video 180min).
Gronings Gebarenwoordenboek. Haren: Inst. voor Doven "H.D. Guyot" w/o year.
Groot Gebarenboek. Ermelo: 's Heeren Loo-Lozenoord 1995.
Kerk en Geloof gebarenlexicon. Voorburg: Chr. Inst. voor Doven "Effatha" 1994 (Video 60min).
KOMVA (ed): Basis-Gebarenschat. En beknopt gebarenwoordenboek. Amsterdam: NSDSK 1989
- 139 p.
KOMVA (ed): Handen uit de mouwen. Gebaren uit de Nederlandse Gebarentaal in kaart gebracht.
Amsterdam: NSDSK 1988.
KOMVA (ed): Handen uit de mouwen. Gebaren uit de Nederlandse Gebarentaal in kaart gebracht.
Vol. 2. Amsterdam: NSDSK 1988.
Lexicon Nederlandse Gebarentaal. Band 1 to 8. St. Michielsgestel: Inst. voor Doven 1997 (Video
62min).
NSDSK (ed): Educatieve CD-ROM, Nederlandse Gebarentaal. Natuur en Milieu. Maarssen: The
Bright Side of Life 1997 (Software).
NSDSK (ed): Gevoelsgebaren uit de Nederlandse Gebarentaal. Twello: Van Tricht 1993 - 139 p.
44

NSDSK (ed): Nederlandse Gebarentaal op CD-ROM. Communiceren met dove kinderen, deel 1.
Maarssen: The Bright Side of Life 1996 (Software).
Rekentaal gebarenlexicon. Voorburg: Chr. Inst. voor Doven "Effatha" 1994 (Video 30min).
Sexualiteit gebarenlexicon. Voorburg: Chr. Inst. voor Doven "Effatha" 1994 (Video).
Standaard lexikon Nederlandse Gebarentaal. Deel 1. Bunnik: Nederlands Gebarencentrum 2002
(Software).
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists these dictionaries:
Janssen, Ruud 1986 Het Handalfabet (Officieel Nederlands Handalfabet van Doven). Nederland:
A.W. Bruna and Zoon. 160 p. Photographs and drawings.
Komva-Team 1989 Basis-gebarenschat (Basic Treasures of Sign Language). Amsterdam, The
Netherlands: NDSK.139 p. Photographs.
Figure 37: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Netherlands
2.4.35 New Zealand
In 1880, Gerrit Van Asch established the first Deaf school, the Sumner School, in Christchurch, New
Zealand. He followed the oralist philosophy and refused admission to children who knew sign language. He
forbade using signs in the classroom. However, from the time the school opened, Deaf children used a form
of home signs when the adults could not see them signing (Collins-Ahlgren, 1994:336). In 1942, in the time
of World War II, the New Zealand army needed the dormitory space so the children from the southern
island were temporally displaced. After the war the Deaf returned to the Sumner School. The children from
the northern island were moved to a school near Auckland where a permanent residence was later
established. The geographical variations between the two schools grew and eventually in 1998 a formal
New Zealand dictionary was printed (Collins-Ahlgren, 1994:340).
Van Cleave reports that New Zealand had many episodes of rubella, 29 a serious epidemic in 1964–1965
resulted in the development of extensive facilities for deaf pupils within hearing schools (van Cleve,
1987:240). Total Communication was started in some classrooms, using the British Sign Language manual
alphabet.
29 Rubella is a type of measles. If the mother contracts this disease during pregnancy, the child will most likely be deaf.
45

Grimes lists New Zealand Sign Language and reports some influence from British Sign language. The
Hamburg website lists over 40 bibliography references including this dictionary:
Kennedy, Graeme et al: A dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language. Auckland: Auckland Univ.
Press 1998 - xlii, 755 p.
Harrington lists these dictionaries and studies:
DICTIONARY: A dictionary of New Zealand sign (1998). Auckland: Auckland University Press:
Bridget Williams Books.
STUDY: Collins-Ahlgren, Marianne (1989). Aspects of New Zealand sign. Ph.D. dissertation.
Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists this dictionary:
Levitt, Dan 1986 Introduction to New Zealand Sign Language. Auckland, New Zealand: New
Zealand Association of the Deaf. 168 p. Photographs.
There was also a comparative study done by David McKee and Graeme Kennedy. This was a comparison
of signs for American, Australian, British, and New Zealand Sign Languages. This can be found in this
study:
McKee, David, and Graeme Kennedy. 2000. Lexical comparison of signs from American,
Australian, British, and New Zealand Sign Languages. In: Emmorey, Karen, and Harlan Lane, The
Signs of Language Revisited. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 49–76.
Figure 38: Schools and Deaf associations reported in New Zealand
2.4.36 Norway
Andreas Christian Moller started the first school for the Deaf in Trondheim in 1825. He had gone to school
at the Royal Institute for the Deaf in Copenhagen, Denmark. He started with 30 deaf pupils from the age of
seven upwards. Then, in 1848, Fredrik Glad Balchen founded the first private school in Oslo. He had
studied in Germany and advocated oralism. Other schools were started after that. Oralism became the
method used by all schools except in northern regions where the lack of sun and light in the winter made
46

lip-reading difficult. Thus the oral method was declared “inapplicable and useless" in this part of the
country (Arnesen, 1994:274).
In 1881 Parliament passed a law stating that "abnormal children" including blind, deaf and mentally
retarded were entitled to eight years of education, which meant that Deaf could get an education. At that
time a law was passed saying essentially only one method would be used in each school, either oralism or
sign to educate children. A mixture of both would not be tolerated. In 1970 this law was abolished and now
a mixture of both is allowed in the same school (Arnesen, 1994:274).
Since 1976 there has been a strong push to integrate deaf children into mainstream classrooms and in 1987
the Federal Norwegian Parliament turned over the mandatory special education to the local regional
governments, which has alarmed many educators and parents of the Deaf. The reason for this concern is
that unless the Deaf schools can prove that their services are superior to local schools the Deaf schools will
be closed. If the Deaf schools are closed it means that Deaf culture will be directly impacted and many
Deaf will struggle with the education provided by the local public school system.
Grimes lists Norwegian Sign Language and states there is some similarity to both Swedish and Danish sign
language. Grimes also states that Norwegian Sign Language is intelligible with Danish and Swedish sign
languages with only moderate difficulty, but not intelligible with Finnish Sign Language. The Hamburg
website lists over 90 bibliography references and Carmel (1992:233–252) lists these dictionaries.
Doves Forlag 1988 Norsk Tegnordbok (Norwegian Sign-Word Book) . Bergen, Norway: Doves
Forlag. 288 p. Photographs.
Norske Doves Landsforbund 1973 Kurshefte 1 for Tegnsprak-kurs. Bergen, Norway: Norske
Doves Landsforbund. 72 p. Photographs.
Figure 39: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Norway
2.4.37 Oman
Grimes does not list Oman Sign Language. The Hamburg website does not list any bibliography for Oman.
Neither Harrington nor Carmel list any dictionaries or studies. Note there is only one school reported in
Masquat but it is likely that there are more in the country.
47

Figure 40: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Oman
2.4.38 Palestine
Grimes does not list Palestine Sign Language. The Hamburg website lists five entries in the bibliography
for Palestine. Carmel does not list any dictionaries or studies, however Harrington lists this study:
STUDY: Strauss-Sameneh, Nicole (2001). "Namensgebärden in der Palästinensischen
Gebärdensprache." Das Zeichen v. 15 no. 56 pp. 288–297, v. 15 no. 57 pp. 442–447, v. 15 no. 58
pp. 594–601.
Note the six schools listed in the Palestine area. There are also likely to be many Deaf clubs.
Figure 41: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Palestine
48

2.4.39 Portugal
Grimes lists Portugal Sign Language and states there is some similarity to Swedish Sign language. The
Hamburg website reports 13 bibliography references including these dictionaries:
Ferreira, António Vieira / Fernandes, Adalberto: Gestuário: Lingua Gestual Portuguesa. Porto:
Orgal 1991.
Martins, Maria Raquel Delgado et al: Dicionário de lingua gestual portuguesa. 1997 (Software).
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists this dictionary:
Prata, Maria Isabel 1980 Maos que falam (Hands That Talk). Lisboa, Portugal: Laboratorio de
Fonetica da Faculdade de Letras/Universidade de Lisboa and Direccao Geral do Ensino Basico.
109 p. Photographs and drawings.
Figure 42 lists only two of the seven or eight schools reported for Portugal. The deaf person who was
interviewed did not know the location of the other Deaf schools.
Figure 42: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Portugal
2.4.40 Puerto Rico
Formal education of the Deaf started in the early 1900s when the Catholic bishop, Monsignor James F.
Blenk, invited the Sacred Heart missionaries to Puerto Rico to educate the deaf population. This work later
was taken over by the Franciscan Sisters of Spain, who came from Spain, Chile, Peru, and Venezuela, and
promoted the oral method. They acquired land in Puerto Nuevo. Later another protestant mission
organization started a school in Luquillo, which closed due to financial deficits (Rodriguez Fraticelli,
1994:208–211). In 1987 the official Puerto Rico Interpreters Association Inc. was founded.
The Ethnologue (Grimes 2000) reports a mixture of coded signed Spanish. Grimes reports that the Spanishspeaking
Deaf use coded Spanish in some of the school settings. More survey is needed to see the extent of
such Spanish-speaking when signing, but since ASL is used widely in the Puerto Rican Deaf community, it
is likely that the Spanish speakers are also fluent in ASL. This study has only one Puerto Rican signer and
49

the percentage scores ranged from 66% to 75% when compared to the ASL signers; thus there appears to
be much language similarity.
Harrington (2002) reports the following study of Puerto Rican Sign Language:
STUDY: Frishberg, Nancy (1987). "Puerto Rican Sign Language," Van Cleve, John V., ed.,
Gallaudet encyclopedia of Deaf People and Deafness. New York: McGraw-Hill, v. 3, pp. 104–
105.
Note that the map is not exhaustive and it is likely that there are other Deaf associations, which are not
listed.
Figure 43: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Puerto Rico
2.4.41 Qatar
Grimes does not list Qatar Sign Language. The Hamburg website does not list any bibliography for Qatar.
Neither Harrington nor Carmel list any dictionaries or studies. Note only one school listed, in the capital
city of Doha.
50

Figure 44: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Qatar
2.4.42 Saudi Arabia
Deaf education was the result of King Abdulaziz’s unification of the country in 1932 and institution of a
formal educational program for both Deaf and hearing. The first two institutes for the Deaf were
established in 1964 in Riyadh, one for boys and one for girls. All education is under the auspices of the
state, which provides a free education for all at all levels to citizens and residents (Al-Muslat, 1994:275–
276). If a child's hearing loss is over 50 db and the IQ is greater than 70 then the child may qualify to attend
one of the residential schools for the Deaf. Otherwise the child is mainstreamed with an emphasis on
speech training. Today there are more than nine residential schools for the Deaf in Saudi Arabia.
Grimes lists Saudi Arabian Sign Language but has no other <strong>information</strong>. Neither Carmel nor Harrington
report any dictionaries or studies. The Hamburg website lists only the reference to Brelje and his list of
schools is summarized in Figure 45 (Al-Muslat, 1994:327).
51

Figure 45: Schools reported in Saudi Arabia by Brelje
In 1968 there was a six-month training course to help prepare teachers for the Deaf. Since that time there
have been periodic monthly courses to help educate the teachers to special education needs. Grants have
been provided for teachers to study abroad and return to Saudi Arabia with this specialized training. The
Kingdom is also one of the founders and a current active member of the Arab Federation for Deaf Welfare
in Damascus (Al-Muslat, 1994:280).
Figure 46 lists the Deaf clubs gleaned in an interview with a deaf person in Rome.
Figure 46: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Saudi Arabia
2.4.43 Singapore
Grimes lists Singapore Sign Language but no other <strong>information</strong>. The Hamburg website has no references.
Harrington list this dictionary:
DICTIONARY: Singapore Association for the Deaf Sign Language Committee (1990). Sign for
Singapore. Singapore: Time Books International.
52

There are three schools listed in Figure 47.
Figure 47: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Singapore
2.4.44 South Africa
Simons (Erting, 1994:78–84) reports the following history of sign language in South Africa. The sign
language situation in South Africa is based partly on the different ethnic groups in the country. There are at
least two groups of “White people,” two groups of “Colored,” and one group of Indian. All these ethnic
groups use a combination of English and/or Afrikaans as the medium of education and communication.
The history of signing in South Africa started when the Roman Catholic Church established the first school
for deaf white children in Cape Town in 1863. It was first called the Dominican School and later renamed
the Grimley School for the Deaf. Bishop Grimley, who brought nuns from Ireland to help him teach the
Deaf, started this school. Thus, the first sign language in South Africa was Irish Sign Language and the
one-handed finger-spelling system 30 was used at that time. Before the 1937 compulsory educational law
was passed, all three ethnic groups attended this school. However, when the attendance increased there was
a lack of classroom space and the non-white students were transferred to the Wittebome School south of
Cape Town.
In 1881 the Rev. G de la Bat of the Dutch Reformed Church opened the first Deaf school for white
Afrikaans- speaking children east of Cape Town. English was taught as a second language and the British
two-handed alphabet was used. In 1954 the second Afrikaans-speaking school, the Transoranje School for
the Deaf, was started in Pretoria. In 1884 a group of German Dominican nuns in King William's Town
started teaching deaf children who lived in Eastern Cape Province. English was used although the
instruction was mostly oral. 31
Later in 1934, Miss Jessica Davis and the Dominican Sisters jointly started a school in Johannesburg and
used a variety of British Sign Language. Several schools were started between 1933 and 1988 for the
Colored, Indian and Black Deaf communities. In 1969 the first school for 200 Indian deaf children opened
in Durban and a second school just north of Durban was opened when it was needed. A third school for
Indian deaf was opened in 1984 in the Transvaal and also serves deaf Indian children from
30 A one-handed finger spelling system means the alphabet can be spelled with one hand. The two-handed finger spelling system
requires the use of both hands for the alphabet and is in use in some countries today such as England, India, and Australia.
31 Oral refers to the use of speech only, without signs. Children are expected to lip-read. The average lip reader can only understand
about 30% of the words formed by the lips so miscommunication or misunderstanding often happens.
53

Bophuthatswana, Swaziland and Lesotho. Here the signing is loosely based on a mixture of British and
American Sign Language.
Education for Black deaf students started with the mandatory educational law passed in 1937 and today
there are 18 well-established schools for the different ethnic groups. Most of these schools have developed
their own sign language system independently of one another. Oral education was favored in Europe and
the United States from 1940 to 1980 32 so signing for White deaf children was restricted. In the Black Deaf
community signing flourished because it did not have the same restrictions as in the White community.
Today there is a scarcity of qualified teachers available to teach deaf children.
Jones (Erting: 1994:698–699) reports that today the majority of the schools for the deaf in South Africa are
using the Total Communication philosophy 33 and that the South African National Council for the Deaf
(SANC) has launched an aggressive Deaf awareness program including:
Deaf Achiever's Award
Television: an 18-week TV series
Posters: For promoting Deaf awareness
Silent Messenger: A magazine for Deaf
Leadership Courses: To raise up deaf leaders
All of these activities should help solidify and standardize language use and provide support to the Deaf
community in South Africa. The sign languages seem to be flourishing. The University of Hamburg lists
over 50 references in its bibliography including these dictionaries:
Janes, Christopher P.: Puo ea sesotho ka Matsoho. [Sotho language of the hands]. Maseru,
Lesotho: Epic Printers 1991 - 85 p.
Penn, Claire et al: Dictionary of Southern African signs for communicating with the deaf. Vol. 2.:
Human Science Research Council 1993 - xii, 695 p.
Penn, Claire et al: Dictionary of Southern African signs for communicating with the deaf. Vol. 3.:
Human Science Research Council 1994 - xii, 637 p.
Penn, Claire et al: Dictionary of Southern African signs for communicating with the deaf. Vol. 4.:
Human Science Research Council 1994 - xii, 587 p.
Penn, Claire et al: Dictionary of Southern African signs for communicating with the deaf. Vol. 5.:
Human Science Research Council 1994 - xiv, 503 p.
Harrington lists these dictionaries and studies:
DICTIONARY: Penn, Claire (1994). Dictionary of Southern African signs for communicating
with the deaf. [s.l.]: Human Sciences Research Council.
STUDY: Penn, C., and Timothy Reagan (1994). "The properties of South African Sign Language:
lexical diversity and syntactic unity." Sign language studies, 85:317–325.
32
Signs were looked on with disfavor by educators as being "second class" and inferior. Thus the use of signs was forbidden in
schools.
33
The Total Communication philosophy is the system of using signs while verbally speaking the host country language at the same
time. The goal is to educate children in the host country language with sign language to improve the level of comprehension of both
languages.
54

Carmel (1992:233–252) lists this dictionary for South Africa:
Nieder-Heitmann, Norman 1980 Talking to the DeaVPraat met die dowes: A Visual Manual of
Standardized Signs for the Deaf in South Africa. Pretoria, South Africa: Government Printer-
Staatsdrukker/Republic of South Africa. 229 p. Photographs and drawings.
It is clear that there is a large Deaf population in South Africa and a need for more research to determine
how much intelligibly there is between the various ethnic groups. Figure 48 shows the <strong>information</strong> given in
a single interview in Rome.
Figure 48: Schools and Deaf associations reported in South Africa
2.4.45 South Korea
Grimes lists Korean Sign Language, South and states it is distinct, but related to Japanese and Taiwanese
sign languages. Korean Sign Language has been used since 1889. The Hamburg website has ten references
but no dictionaries.
Harrington lists these dictionaries and studies:
DICTIONARY: P`yojun Suhwa Sajon P`yonch`an Wiwonhoe p`yonjo (1982). P`yojun suhwa
sajon = Korean standard sign language dictionary. Seoul: Kumok Haksul Munhwa Chaedan.
STUDY: Hong, Sung-Eun (2001). Empirische Erhebung zu Klassifikatoren in koreanischer
Gebärdensprache. Diploma Thesis. University of Hamburg.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists these dictionaries:
Cheon-Sik Son 1983 Woo Ri Deul Eui Su Wha (Korean Sign Language for Everybody). Seoul,
Korea: Jae-Won Leem. 379 p. Drawings.
Korean Welfare Association of the Deaf 1982 Soo Wha Kyo Shill (Korean Sign Language for
You and Me). Seoul, Republic of Korea: Chon San SA Publisher. 202 p. Photographs.
Won-Jae Son. 1988 Su Wha Eui Kil Jap I (Korean Sign Language for the Guide). Seoul, Korea:
Jeon-Yong Choi. 290 p. Drawings.
55

Figure 49: Schools and Deaf associations reported in South Korea
2.4.46 Spain
The first teacher of the Deaf was Fr. Pedro Ponce de Leon who started teaching two boys of nobility in
North Central Spain in the region of Burgos. There is no record of how he did his teaching but later Manuel
Ramirez de Carrion (1570–1652) taught Deaf in the Province of Cordova and Madrid using his method.
Later Juan Pablo Bonet (1579–1633) published a book the first in the world of its kind. It was about the
education of the Deaf, Reduction of Letters and Arts to Teach the Mute to Speak. In 1795 Lorenzo Hervas-
Panduro wrote a book called Spanish School of Deaf Mutes and is reportedly the first person to use the
phrase deaf mutes (Balanzategui, 1999:344–345).
In 1805 the Royal School for Deaf-Mutes opened and was operated by three teachers. Jose Miguel Alea,
Tiburcio Hernandez, and Roberto Pradez. Roberto Pradez was deaf and reportedly the first deaf teacher in
all of Spain (Plann, 1994:204).
There is a long history of oralism reinforced by the philosophy that speech is equated with intelligence and
the use of cued speech to learn Spanish (Balanzategui, 1999:348). Today in Spain there is a trend towards
Total Communication in the 21 Special Education Centers of the Deaf (Balanzategui, 1999:353). In 1882
the Law of Social Integration of the handicapped was passed making it possible for Deaf themselves to
become teachers of the Deaf (Balanzategui, 1999:350).
Grimes reports two major languages in Spain, Catalonian and Spanish Sign Language. The Hamburg
website lists over 90 bibliography references and these dictionaries:
Diccionario de Neologismos de la Lengua de Signos Española. (DILSE) Diccionario en formato
informático. Madrid: C.N.S.E. w/o year (Software).
Grupo de Investigacion de Lenguaje de Señas Cordoba: Diccionario de lenguaje de señas,
Cordoba. 1993 - 399 p.
López, Joaquin Rodrigo: Signos 97–98. Alicante: Cubic Informática 1999 (Software).
Meo-Zilio, G. / Mejia, S.: Diccionario de gestos: España y Hispanoamérica. Vol. I: A-H. Bogotá:
Inst. Caro y Cue 1980 - 190 p.
Meo-Zilio, G. / Mejia, S.: Diccionario de gestos: España y Hispanoamérica. Vol. II: I-Z. Bogota
1983.
Pinedo Peydro, Felix-Jesus: Nuevo diccionario gestual Español. Madrid: C.N.S.E. 1989 - 853 p.
56

Carmel (1992:233–252) reports these dictionaries:
1981 Diccionario mimico espanol (Dictionary of Spanish Sign Language). Madrid, Spain:
Federacion Nacional de Sordos de Espana. 581 p. Photographs.
Cabiedas, Juan Luis Marroquin 1975 El lenguaje mimico (The Sign Language). Madrid, Spain:
Tall. graficos de la Fed. Nac. de Soc. de Sordomudos de Espana. 76 p. Drawings. Peydro, Felix
Jesus Pinedo
Steve and Dianne Parkhurst did extensive sign language survey in Spain and wrote several papers on their
findings for Spain. Contact the Parkhursts at steve-dianne_parkhurst@sil.org for copies of their work.
Figure 50: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Spain
2.4.47 Sweden
Mr. Par Aron Borg started the first Deaf school in the country in Stockholm in 1809. It was called the
Manila School and the original aim of the school was vocational train for Deaf in tailoring, shoemaking,
carpentry, weaving, sewing and other suitable jobs. Mr. Borg and his fellow teachers, some of whom were
deaf, were influenced by the French method of using sign language to instruct pupils. In 1889 "The
Education of the Deaf and Dumb" law was passed which required regional schools to provide eight years of
education for the Deaf. This was totally reorganized in 1938 by the Swedish National Board of Education
and two national vocational schools were established. In 1967 the National Special Secondary School for
the Deaf was started and gradually replaced these other vocational programs for the Deaf. Then in 1969, the
Uniform School Curriculum Act of 1967 helped standardize the education process (Heiling, 1999:363–
364).
In 1874 formal courses to prepare teachers to teach the Deaf were started in Stockholm but Deaf were not
admitted since "disabled" persons were not considered to have adequate ability. This changed after 100
years and today Deaf can attend the University of Stockholm and can be admitted to the formal teacher
training program (Heiling, 1999:364).
Today there are five schools for the Deaf located in different parts of the county. Many hard-of-hearing
pupils are mainstreamed if possible. Video programs produced by the Swedish Association for the Deaf are
also used widely in the classrooms (Heiling, 1999:359–360). Many of the teachers who work with deaf
57

pupils are competent in sign language; this is a requirement to work with the Deaf (Heiling, 1999:361). In
1982 the new national curriculum mandated bilingual education for the Deaf as a systematic exposure to
both Swedish Sign Language and Swedish either signed, written and spoken and all deaf students are
required to have Swedish Sign Language as their first language (Edenas, 1994:616) .
The Stockholm Deaf club was founded in 1868 and today has a membership of over 1,000. This club is
very proactive in offering regular programs of lectures, teaching programs and workshops for deaf
participants (Andersson, 1994:517).
Grimes lists Swedish Sign Language and states it is intelligible with Norwegian and Danish sign languages,
with only moderate difficulty, but not intelligible with Finnish Sign Language. Evidently Swedish Sign
Language has influenced Portuguese and Finnish sign languages to a certain degree. The Hamburg website
lists over 640 references in the bibliography including these dictionaries:
Hedberg, Tomas: Personentecken. Deras härkomst, bildningssätt och användning. (Forskning om
Teckenspråk; XVI) Stockholm 1989 - 63 p.
Sveriges Dövas Riksförbund (SDR) (ed): Teckenboken. Leksand: SDR 1978 - 221 p.
Sveriges Dövas Riksförbund (SDR): Teckenordbok. Borlänge: SDR 1971 - 103 p.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists these dictionaries:
1978 Teckenboken (Dictionary of the Signs). Leksand, Sweden: Sveriges Dovas Riksforbund. 221
p. Photographs.
Bjurgate, Anne Marie and Marianne Nilsson 1968 Teckensprak for Dova (Sign Language for the
Deaf). Stockholm, Sweden: Skoloverstyrelsen in cooperation with the Swedish and Nordic
Associations of the Deaf. 229 p. Photographs.
Fondelius, Elsa 1971 Teckenordbok (Dictionary of the Signs). Borlange, Sweden: Sveriges Doves
Riksforbund. 103 p. Photographs.
Osterberg, O. 1916 Teckenspraket (Sign Language). Uppsala, Sweden: P. Alfr. Persons Forlag.
102 p. Photographs, drawings, descriptions.
Figure 51: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Sweden
58

2.4.48 Switzerland
Boyes Braem reports that because of the strong regional differences between French, German, Italian and
Romansch governmental areas there is no one central sign language and within each regional area there are
different dialects. Oralism is the educational method of choice throughout most of Switzerland. Sign
language courses began in 1979 in several cities in the Swiss-French area and in 1985 in the Swiss-German
cities of Bern and Zurich. Interpreter training programs started in 1983 (Boyes Braem, 1994:382–385).
Grimes lists Swiss-French, Swiss-German, Swiss-Italian Sign Language in the Ethnologue. The Hamburg
website lists over 55 bibliography references. Harrington reports these studies and dictionaries:
For Swiss-French SL: Switzerland:
STUDY: Boyes Braem, Penny et al. (1989). "Une comparison de techniques pour exprimer des
rôles sémantiques et des relations locatives dans les langues des signes suisse-française et
italienne," in Quertinmont, Sophie, and Filip Loncke, eds., Études européennes en langues des
signes. Bruxelles: EDIRSA, pp.111–140.
For Swiss-German SL: Switzerland:
DICTIONARY: Illustration der grundgebärden der deutschweizerischen gebärdensprache (1992).
Zürich: Schweizerischen Gehörlosenbund Region Deutschschweiz.
STUDY: Boyes Braem, Penny (1984). "Studying Swiss German sign language dialects," in
Loncke, Filip; Boyes Braem, Penny; and Lebrun, Yvan, eds., Recent research on European sign
languages: proceedings of the European Meeting of Sign Language Research, held in Brussels,
September 19–25, 1982. Lisse: Swets and Zeitlinger, pp. 93–103.
Figure 52: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Switzerland
2.4.49 Syria
Grimes does not list Syrian Sign Language. The Hamburg website lists one entry in the bibliography for
Syria. Neither Harrington nor Carmel list any dictionaries or studies. Note the seven schools reported and it
is likely that there are other Deaf clubs and organizations not shown on this map.
59

Figure 53: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Syria
2.4.50 Taiwan
Van Cleve reports that after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1947 there were at least
two Deaf schools established in Taiwan. In 1987 there were three public residential schools in Taiwan
located in Taipei, Taichung and Tainan and one private elementary school located in Kaohsiung. In Taipei,
the earliest and first deaf principal of the school was a man by the name of Lin Wen-sheng. He was
educated between 1904–1917 at the Tokyo School for the Deaf. The Tainan School for the Deaf began in
1890 under the influence of an English Presbyterian Mission. This means that the language influence in
these four schools is a mixture of Old Taiwan Sign Language before Japanese occupation, Japanese Sign
Language and Mainland Chinese Sign Language which all have been introduced over the last 40 years (van
Cleve, 1987:185–186).
Today Taiwan has two distinct sign languages, one based on Shanghai Sign Language, and one based on
Japanese Sign Language. 34
Grimes reports that there are two major dialects in Taiwan. One dialect started with the Japanese
occupation from 1895 to 1946. The other dialect started from Mainland Chinese Sign Language and was
brought by refugees in 1949 and by later refugees from Hong Kong. Taiwanese Sign Language is 50%
different from Japanese Sign Language and not at all similar to Chinese Sign Language. There is also a
variety of Signed Mandarin (Wenfa Shouyu).
The Hamburg website reports 20 references in its bibliography while Carmel (1992:233–252) lists this
dictionary:
Smith, Wayne H., and Ting Li-fen, eds. 1979 Shou neng sheng chyau (Your Hands Can Become a
Bridge). 1. English edition. xxxiv and 33 p. 2. Chinese edition. 282 p. Peitou, Taipei, Taiwan: The
Sign Language Club and Training Classes. Drawings.
The most recent sign language dictionary was done by the president of the Deaf College Student and
Alumni Association in Taipei, Taiwan (Chao, 1994:349).
Chao, C. H. Chu and C. Liu. 1988. Taiwan Natural Sign Langue. Taipei, Taiwan: Deaf Sign
Language Association of the Republic of China.
34 Personal email communication from Hope Hurlbut 8/30/01.
60

Figure 54: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Taiwan
2.4.51 Thailand
The first Deaf school was established in 1951, in Bangkok by R. Sermsri after she received her MA degree
from Gallaudet University. A second school was opened in Northern Bangkok, Dusit School for the Deaf,
now called Sethsatian School. A true pioneer, Mrs. Kamala Krairiksh supervised the building of most of the
other schools for the Deaf, wrote the book Sign Dictionary for Teachers, Book One, and invented the Thai
manual alphabet. Then in 1969 she founded the Center for Deaf Alumna the predecessor to the current
organization Thailand National Association of the Deaf (Reilly, 1999:367–398).
Thailand has six residential schools for the Deaf, one residential school for the hard-of-hearing and two day
schools that board some students. All schools permit signing and now use the Total Communication
philosophy. There are six schools in Bangkok which mainstream 35 deaf children into regular classrooms
(Reilly, 1999:373). See Figure 55 for a listing of schools reported by Brelje in Thailand.
35 Mainstream refers to the policy of placing a deaf child in a regular classroom with or without a sign language interpreter. The goal
is to educate the child through normal "oral" methods of speaking.
61

Figure 55: Deaf Schools as reported By Brelje
Thailand National Association of the Deaf is providing sign language instruction to Deaf and hearing
thanks to grants from the Department of Public Welfare. This organization also has helped provide
interpreters on TV, which has helped raise the status of the sign language.
Many hearing parents are ashamed of their deaf children and feel that this is a direct result of their own
wrong deeds (Karma) and thus in the rural areas deaf children are hidden and used as field hands (Reilly,
1999:377). Courses in sign language have started at the Ramkamhaeng University and two editions of the
Thai Sign Language Dictionary have been produced.
Grimes reports that there appear to be two major dialects in Chiangmai and Bangkok. Thai Sign Language
may be related to Laos and Vietnamese sign languages. James Woodward has done some research in
Thailand and reports four different sign languages. These are summarized as:
Modern Thai Sign Languages (found in urban areas in Thailand, used by all signers under 40 and
some signers above 40)
Original Chiangmai Sign Language (found in Metro Chiangmai, signers above 45)
Original Bangkok Sign Language (found in Metro Bangkok, signers above 45)
Ban Khor Sign Language (certain rice farming villages in Ban Khor, of all ages).
The Hamburg website lists 15 references including these two dictionaries:
Suwanarat, Manfa / Reilly, Charles B. (eds): The Thai Sign Language dictionary. Book One.
Bankok: Thai Wattana Pahanich Press 1986 - 384 p.
Wrigley, Owen et al (eds): The Thai Sign Language Dictionary. revised and expanded edition.
Bangkok: NAD in Thailand (NADT) 1990 - 1382 p.
Carmel (1992:233–252) lists these dictionaries:
Bangkok, Thailand: National Association of the Deaf in Thailand and International Human
Assistance Programs/Thailand. 384 p. Drawings and descriptions.
Suwanarat, Manfa, Charles Reilly, et al. 1986 The Thai Sign Language Dictionary. Book One.
62

Suwanarat, Manfa, Charles Reilly, et al. 1988 The Thai Sign Language Dictionary. Book Two.
In addition James Woodward has published this <strong>information</strong> about SL in the following sources:
1996. Modern Standard Thai Sign Language, influence from ASL, and its relationship to original
sign language in Thailand. Sign Language Studies 92:227–252.
2000. Sign languages and sign language families in Thailand and Viet Nam. In: The Signs of
Language Revisited: An anthology in honor of Ursula Bellugi and Edward Klima, ed. Karen
Emmorey and Harlan Lane, pp. 23–47. Mahwah, N.J.: Erlbaum.
2003. Sign Languages and Deaf Identities in Thailand and Viet Nam. In: Many Ways to be Deaf:
International Variation in Deaf Communities. ed. Leila Monaghan, Constanze Schmaling, Karen
Nakamura, and Graham H. Turner. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.
Figure 56: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Thailand
2.4.52 Turkey
Grimes reports the name of Turkey Sign Language but has no other <strong>information</strong>. The Hamburg website
reports six bibliography references including this dictionary:
Yetiskinler için Isaret dili Kilavuzu [Türkisches Gebärdenlexikon]. Ankara 1995 - 399 p.
Harrington also reports the above dictionary and no other <strong>information</strong>.
63

Figure 57: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Turkey
2.4.53 United Arab Emirates
Grimes does not list United Arab Emirates Sign Language. The Hamburg website does not list any
bibliography for United Arab Emirates. Neither Harrington nor Carmel list any dictionaries or studies. Note
there is only one school listed but it is likely that there are other schools and Deaf clubs.
Figure 58: Schools and Deaf associations reported in United Arab Emirates
2.4.54 Uruguay
Luis Behares has published research on Uruguayan Sign Language (LSU). He has done some phonological,
grammatical, lexical and sociolinguistic work on LSU (Hurst 1999). The Ethnologue (Grimes 2000) reports
that sign language has been in use since 1910.
64

Harrington (2002) reports the following study for Uruguay:
STUDY: Behares, Luis Ernesto (1986). Cuatro estudios sobre la sociolingüística del lenguaje de
señas Uruguayo. Montevideo, Uruguay: Instituto Interamericano del Niño.
Figure 59 shows only a partial listing of schools, and <strong>information</strong> is gleaned from the previous survey done
by the Hursts. Note that this list is not current, and it is likely that there are more Deaf associations than
those listed.
Figure 59 Schools and Deaf associations reported in Uruguay
2.4.55 Uzbekistan
There is scant <strong>information</strong> available on Uzbekistan. Neither Grimes, Harrington, Carmel nor the Hamburg
website lists any <strong>information</strong> about the country. Figure 60 shows the list of Deaf clubs in the country.
65

Figure 60: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Uzbekistan
2.4.56 Venezuela
Venezuelan law states that children have the right to have effective communication in their own language.
Venezuelan Sign Language is known as LSV.
The Ethnologue (Grimes 2000) reports schools for the Deaf since 1937. Harrington (2002) reports the
following dictionary and study of Venezuelan Sign Language:
DICTIONARY: Solano, Josefina (1983). Manual de señas. [S.l.: s.n.].
STUDY: Oviedo, Alejandro (1996). Contando cuentos en Lengua de Señas Venezolana. Mérida,
Venezuela: Universidad de Los Andes, Consejo de Publicaciones: Consejo de Desarrollo
Científico, Humanístico y Tecnológico.
Figure 61 shows some of the specific Sports Associations of the Deaf in Venezuela. (Federacion
Venezolana Polideportiva De Sordos 1997:4). Unfortunately, no <strong>information</strong> was gathered about other
types of associations or the deaf schools.
66

Figure 61 Schools and Deaf associations reported in Venezuela
2.4.57 Yemen
Grimes does not list Yemen Sign Language. The Hamburg website does not list any bibliography for
Yemen. Neither Harrington nor Carmel list any dictionaries or studies. Note the five schools listed in
Figure 62. It is likely that there are other Deaf schools and clubs.
Figure 62: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Yemen
67

ADDENDUM 1: Table of additional countries not listed in original report
Country Figure
01 Botswana Figure 63
02 Burkina Faso Figure 64
03 Cameroon Figure 65
04 Central African Republic Figure 66
05 Djibouti Figure 67
06 Democratic Republic of the Congo Figure 68
07 Eritrea Figure 69
08 Ethiopia Figure 70
09 Ghana Figure 71
10 Lesotho Figure 72
11 Madagascar Figure 73
12 Malawi Figure 74
13 Mali Figure 75
14 Mozambique Figure 76
15 Namibia Figure 77
16 Niger Figure 78
17 Nigeria Figure 79
18 Senegal Figure 80
19 Somalia Figure 81
20 Sudan Figure 82
21 Swaziland Figure 83
22 Tanzania Figure 84
23 Togo Figure 85
24 Uganda Figure 86
25 Zambia Figure 87
26 Zimbabwe Figure 88
68

ADDENDUM 2: Maps of additional schools in African countries
Figure 63: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Botswana
Figure 64: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Burkina Faso
69

Figure 65: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Cameroon
Figure 66: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Central African Republic
70

Figure 67: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Djibouti
Figure 68: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Democratic Republic of the Congo
71

Figure 69: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Eritrea
Figure 70: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Ethiopia
72

Figure 71: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Ghana
Figure 72: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Lesotho
73

Figure 73: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Madagascar
Figure 74: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Malawi
74

Figure 75: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Mali
Figure 76: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Mozambique
75

Figure 77: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Namibia
Figure 78: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Niger
76

Figure 79: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Nigeria
Figure 80: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Senegal
77

Figure 81: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Somalia
Figure 82: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Sudan
78

Figure 83: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Swaziland
Figure 84: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Tanzania
79

Figure 85: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Togo
Figure 86: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Uganda
80

Figure 87: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Zambia
Figure 88: Schools and Deaf associations reported in Zimbabwe
81

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