Finnish Sign Language
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2008-06-23T01:25:26Z
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{{language
|name=Finnish Sign Language
|nativename=''Suomalainen viittomakieli''
|states=[[Finland]]
|signers=5,000 (estimate)
|family=related to [[Swedish Sign Language]]
|iso2=sgn-FI|iso3=fse}}
'''Finnish Sign Language''' is the [[sign language]] most commonly used in [[Finland]]. There are 5000 ''(estimate)'' Finnish [[Deaf]] who have Finnish Sign Language as a mother tongue. Linguistically Finnish Sign Language is closest to [[Swedish Sign Language]], from which it began to separate as an independent language in the middle of 19th century.
Finnish legislation [[recognition of sign languages#Finland|recognized Finnish Sign Language]] as one of Finland's domestic languages in 1995 when it was included in the renewed [[Constitution of Finland|constitution]]. Finland then became the third country in the world to recognize sign language as a natural language and the right to use it as a mother tongue.
Courses in "sign language" have been taught in Finland since the 1960s. At that time, instruction taught signs but followed Finnish word order (see [[Manually Coded Language]]). Later, as research on sign languages in general and Finnish Sign Language in particular determined that [[sign language]]s tend to have a very different grammar to spoken languages, the teaching of Finnish Sign Language and "Signed Finnish" have diverged.
==External links==
*[http://suvi.viittomat.net/ Finnish Sign Language dictionary (in Finnish)]
*[http://www.kl-deaf.fi/File/66fbe96f-9231-43f2-844d-ef5b765d8b0a/Draft_curriculum_FSL.pdf Draft Curriculum and Structure of Finnish Sign Language] (PDF download, in English) - contains useful information on the grammar of Finnish Sign Language
*[http://members.surfeu.fi/deaf/ Finnish Manual Alphabet] Also Finnish Sign Language
[[Category:Sign languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Finland]]
[[eo:Finna mansigna lingvo]]
[[fi:Suomalainen viittomakieli]]