Croatian Sign Language

{{Short description|Deaf sign language of Croatia}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Croatian Sign Language

|nativename=Hrvatski znakovni jezik

|states=Croatia

|speakers=6,500

|date= 2019

|ref=e25

|speakers2=out of 20,000 deaf

|familycolor=Sign

|fam1=French Sign

|fam2=Austro-Hungarian Sign

|fam3=Yugoslav Sign

|iso3=csq

|glotto=croa1242

|glottorefname=Croatian Sign Language

}}

Croatian Sign Language ({{Langx|hr|Hrvatski znakovni jezik}}, HZJDiane Brentari, Sign Languages, Cambridge University Press, 2010. (p.xix)Herbert L. Colston, Albert N. Katz; Figurative language comprehension, Routledge, 2005. (p.316)) is a sign language of the deaf community in Croatia.[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=csq Croatian Sign Language], Ethnologue[http://www.mpr.gov.ba/userfiles/file/Biblioteka/zakoni/hr/Zakon%20o%20upotrebi%20znakovnog%20jezika/Zakon%20o%20uporabi%20znakovnog%20jezika-hr.pdf Zakon o uporabi znakovnog jezika u Bosnia i Hercegovini] It has in the past been regarded as a dialect of Yugoslav Sign Language, although the dialectical diversity of the former Yugoslavia has not been assessed.Bickford, J. Albert (2005) [http://www.sil.org/silesr/2005/silesr2005-026.pdf The Signed Languages of Eastern Europe], archived on [https://web.archive.org/web/20160305005811/http://www-01.sil.org/silesr/2005/silesr2005-026.pdf Wayback Machine], 5 March 2016

The first school for the deaf in Croatia was formed in Zagreb in 1885.[http://www.eud.eu/Croatia-i-177.html Croatia profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720161018/http://www.eud.eu/Croatia-i-177.html |date=2011-07-20 }}, The European Union of the Deaf The Sign Language and Deaf Culture conference was held in Zagreb, Croatia from May 3–5, 2001.Cynthia J. Kellett Bidoli, Elana Ochse; English in International Deaf Communication, Peter Lang, 2008. (p.347) In 2004, a project to establish a grammar of HZJ was started by researchers at Purdue University and the University of Zagreb.[http://www.sciencestorm.com/award/0345314.html A Basic Grammar of Croatian Sign Language] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716014930/http://www.sciencestorm.com/award/0345314.html |date=2011-07-16 }}

By law Croatian Radiotelevision is to promote the translation of programs into HZJ.{{Cite web |url=http://www.poslovni-savjetnik.com/propisi/mediji-hrvatska-radiotelevizija/zakon-o-hrvatskoj-radioteleviziji-vazeci-tekst-nn-br-13710 |title=Zakon o Hrvatskoj Radioteleviziji |access-date=2011-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203070003/http://www.poslovni-savjetnik.com/propisi/mediji-hrvatska-radiotelevizija/zakon-o-hrvatskoj-radioteleviziji-vazeci-tekst-nn-br-13710 |archive-date=2018-02-03 |url-status=dead }} Major centres of education in HZJ are found in Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, and Osijek.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dodir.hr/tecajhzj.php |title=Tečaj HZJ |access-date=2011-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422143914/http://www.dodir.hr/tecajhzj.php |archive-date=2018-04-22 |url-status=dead }}

Organizations for the deaf in Croatia include the Croatian Association of Deafblind Persons DODIR, which was established in 1994.{{Cite web |url=http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/session9/HR/DODIR_HRCroatianAssociationofDeafblindPersons.pdf |title=Croatian Association of Deafblind Persons DODIR |access-date=2011-02-25 |archive-date=2021-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702191626/https://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/session9/HR/DODIR_HRCroatianAssociationofDeafblindPersons.pdf |url-status=dead }}

The basic word order in HZJ is subject–verb–object (SVO), as it is in spoken Croatian.Information status and word order in Croatian Sign Language, Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, November–December

2007; 21(11–12): 1007–1017. A two-handed manual alphabet is in widespread use; a one-handed alphabet based on the international manual alphabet, though less commonly used, has official status.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dodir.hr/jednorucna.php |title=Single-handed alphabet |access-date=2011-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504172303/http://www.dodir.hr/jednorucna.php |archive-date=2018-05-04 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.hsgn.hr/jednorucnaabeceda.html |title=Jednoručna abeceda |access-date=2011-02-25 |archive-date=2012-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920234023/http://www.hsgn.hr/jednorucnaabeceda.html |url-status=dead }}