Icelandic Sign Language
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194971076
2008-02-29T20:46:44Z
194.144.27.4
{{language
|name=Icelandic Sign Language
|nativename=Íslenskt Táknmál
|familycolor=Sign
|states=[[Iceland]]
|family=derived from [[Danish Sign Language]]
|iso2=sgn-ISL
|iso3=icl}}
The '''Icelandic sign language''' (íslenskt táknmál) is the [[sign language]] of the [[deaf community]] in [[Iceland]]. It is based on the [[Danish Sign Language]]; until [[1910]], deaf Icelandic people were sent to school in [[Denmark]], but the languages have diverged since then. It is officially recognized by the state and regulated by a national committee.
Icelandic Sign Language is distinct from [[Icelandic language|spoken Icelandic]]; in 1999, the Icelandic Ministry of Education stated that, in the Icelandic basic curriculum, Icelandic Sign Language is the first language of deaf people, while spoken Icelandic is a second language. Therefore, deaf Icelanders should learn Icelandic Sign Language as their first language and Icelandic as their second language.
'''Táknmál''' is the [[Icelandic language]] word meaning "[[Sign Language]]". The word originates from the [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] Tekenspråk. The corresponding word in [[Swedish language|Swedish]] is Teckenspråk, and in [[Danish language|Danish]] it is Tegnsprog.
For more information on the recognition of Icelandic Sign Language and the comparison with other countries, see ''[[recognition of sign languages]]''.
A lexical comparison of signs from Icelandic Sign Language with their counterparts in Danish Sign Language was undertaken (Aldersson 2006) to try to determine the degree of current lexical similarity. It was found that whilst the two sign languages are certainly related, 37% of signs analysed were completely different in structure and a further 16%, whilst similar, still contrasted in one of the four parameters of hand-configuaration, location, movement or orientation.
==See also==
* [[Sigurlín Margrét Sigurðardóttir]]
== External links ==
* {{Is icon}} [http://www.deaf.is Félag heyrnarlausra].
* {{En icon}} [http://www.deaf.is/english/index.html Icelandic Association of the Deaf].
== References ==
* Aldersson, R.R (2006) [http://www.bisal.bbk.ac.uk/publications/volume2/papers/article6 "A Lexical Comparison of Icelandic Sign Language and Danish Sign Language"]. ''Birkbeck Studies in Applied Linguistics, vol. 2''.
{{Icelandic language}}
[[Category:Sign languages]]
[[Category:Icelandic culture]]
[[Category:Languages of Iceland]]
{{Iceland-stub}}
[[sv:Isländskt teckenspråk]]