German Sign Language
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2008-06-11T22:16:48Z
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/* External links */
{{language
|name=German Sign Language
|nativename=Deutsche Gebärdensprache, DGS
|states=[[Germany]]
|signers=80,000 (estimated)
|iso2=sgn-DE
|iso3=gsg}}
'''German Sign Language''' or '''Deutsche Gebärdensprache''' is the [[sign language]] of the [[Deaf community]] in [[Germany]]. It is often abbreviated as DGS. It is unclear how many use German Sign Language as their main language; [[Gallaudet University]] estimated 50,000 in 1986.
The language has evolved though use in deaf communities over hundreds of years.
==Recognition of German Sign Language==
Germany has a strong [[oralism|oralist]] tradition and historically has seen a suppression of sign language. German Sign Language was first [[Recognition of sign languages|recognised legally]] in a disability act in May 2002. Since then, Deaf people have a legal entitlement to Sign Language interpreters when communicating with federal authorities, free of charge [http://www.gehoerlosenbund.de].
Very few television programs include an interpreter; those that do are the news and a news 'round-up'. There is at least one programme conducted entirely in German Sign Language called "Sehen Statt Hören" (Seeing Instead of Hearing), a documentary-style programme broadcasting every Saturday morning on the third public channel.
==German and German Sign Language==
German Sign Language is unrelated to [[German (language)|spoken German]]. The two have very different grammars, though as the dominant language of the region, German has had some influence on German Sign Language. A [[Manually Coded Language|signed system that represents the German language]] has been developed, which is known as "Signed German" (Lautsprachbegleitende Gebärden, Lautbegleitende Gebärden or LBG, meaning "sound-accompanying signs"). It is rarely used as a natural means of communication between deaf people. Another system of manually representing German is [[cued speech]], known as "Phonembestimmes Manualsystem" (Phonemic Manual System). Similar systems that represent the English language are known as [[Manually Coded English]].
==Manual alphabet and fingerspelling==
[[Image:A diaeresis - DGS.svg|thumb|100px|'''Ä''' in DGS]]German Sign Language uses a one-handed [[manual alphabet]] ('Fingeralphabet' in German) derived from the French manual alphabet of the 18th century; it is related to manual alphabets used to across Europe and in North America.
==Dialects and related languages==
Regional variants of German Sign Language include Hamburg, Berlin, and Munich sign. Sign languages of regions in the former [[East Germany]] have a greater divergence from sign languages of the western regions; some may be unrelated. Other sign languages such as [[Swiss-German Sign Language]] (Deutschschweizer Gebärdensprache or DSGS) and [[Austrian Sign Language]] (Österreichische Gebärdensprache or ÖGS) are thought to be related to German Sign Language. [[Israeli Sign Language]] (ISL) is said to be a descendant of German sign language, as it evolved from the sign language used by German Jewish teachers who opened a school for deaf children in Jerusalem in 1932, and still shows some resemblance to its German counterpart.
==Notation systems==
Everyday users of German Sign Language use no written form of the language. In academic contexts, German Sign Language is usually described with the [[Hamburg notation system]] or HamNoSys. [[SignWriting]] also has its adherents in Germany.
==Further reading==
* '''German Sign Language Dictionary''' - Maisch, Günther, and Fritz-H. Wisch (1987-89). "Gebärden-Lexikon." Hamburg: Verlag hörgeschädigter Kinder.
* '''German Sign Language''' Rammel, Georg (1974). "Die Gebärdensprache: Versuch einer Wesenanalyse." Berlin-Charlottenburg: Marhold.
* '''Signed German''' Hogger, Birgit (1991). "Linguistische Überlegungen zur lautsprachbegleitenden Gebärdung." Hörgeschädigtenpädagogik, v.45 no.4, p.234-237
==External links==
* [http://www.wiksign.org/lsf/Langue:Signes_du_Monde#Allemagne Full list of online DGS dictionaries]
* [http://www.sign-lang.uni-hamburg.de/English.html Institute of German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf]
* [http://www.gebaerdensprache.de DESIRE - Deaf and Sign Language Research Team Aachen - RWTH Aachen University]
* [http://www.gehoerlosen-bund.de Website of the German National Association of the Deaf]
* [http://www-i6.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/~dreuw/database.html German Fingerspelling Database RWTH Aachen University]
[[Category:Sign languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Germany]]
[[de:Deutsche Gebärdensprache]]
[[no:Tysk tegnspråk]]