South African Sign Language

South African Sign Language is not entirely uniform and continues to evolve. Due to the geographical spread of its users and past educational policies, there are localised dialects of South African Sign Language and signs with many variants. Earlier efforts to create reference material and standardise the language, such as books (1980 Talking to the Deaf, 1994 Dictionary of SASL), can only be used as historical records of the language. Daily TV broadcasts in sign language give today's South African Sign Language its national cohesion and unity.

{{see also|Legal recognition of sign languages#South Africa}}

Sign language is mentioned in four South African laws, namely the Constitution, the Use of Official Languages Act, the South African Schools Act, and the Pan South African Language Board Act.

In May 2022, the 18th Constitutional Amendment Bill to make SASL an official language, was published for public comment.{{cite news |title=Signing set to become official language {{!}} eNCA |url=https://www.enca.com/news/recognition-sa-sign-12th-official-language-horizon |access-date=19 June 2022 |work=enca.com |date=29 May 2022 |language=en}} In May 2023 the bill was voted on by parliament, and on 19 July 2023 it was signed into law.{{Cite web |title= President Cyril Ramaphosa: Signing ceremony of South African Sign Language Bill|url=https://www.gov.za/speeches/president-cyril-ramaphosa-signing-ceremony-south-african-sign-language-bill-19-jul-2023 |via=gov.za}}

The Constitution states that a board named the Pan South African Language Board should be established to "promote, and create conditions for, the development and use of ... sign language".{{Cite web |title=Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Section 6.5.8.iii |url=https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf |via=justice.gov.za}} In terms of the law that establishes the Pan South African Language Board (Act 59 of 1995), the board may establish language bodies to advise it on "any particular language, sign language or augmentative and alternative communication".{{Cite web |title=Pan South African Language Board Act, Act 59 of 1995, Section 8(8)(b) |url=http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=70979 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091111212458/http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=70979 |archive-date=11 November 2009 |access-date=2013-12-16 |via=info.gov.za}}

In terms of the Use of Official Languages Act, Act No. 12 of 2012, all government departments and government entities must have a language policy that states which languages are considered the official languages of that entity, and each language policy must also specify how that department or entity intends to communicate with people whose language of choice is "South African sign language".{{Cite web |title=Use of Official Languages Act, Act No. 12 of 2012, Section 4.2(d) |url=http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=175746 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019075756/http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=175746 |archive-date=19 October 2012 |access-date=2013-12-16 |via=info.gov.za}}

Until 2023, neither South African Sign Language nor any other sign language was an official language of South Africa. In 2008 the SASL Policy Implementation Conference gathered many key role players including scholars, researchers and teachers, policy makers, advocates and governmental bodies to promote South African Sign Language to become recognised as South Africa's twelfth official language.

According to the South African Schools Act, Act 84 of 1996, all schools must have a language policy, and that when selecting languages for such a policy, a "recognised Sign Language" should be evaluated as if it has official language status along with the other eleven official languages.{{Cite web |title=South African Schools Act, Act 84 of 1996, Section 6(4) |url=http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=70921 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827233329/http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=70921 |archive-date=27 August 2013 |access-date=2013-12-16 |via=info.gov.za}}

According to the "Language in Education" policy in terms of section 3(4)(m) of the National Education Policy Act, Act 27 of 1996, the main aims of the Ministry of Education's policy for language in education include "to support the teaching and learning of all other languages required by learners or used by communities in South Africa, including languages used for religious purposes, languages which are important for international trade and communication, and South African Sign Language, as well as Alternative and

Augmentative Communication".[http://www.education.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=XpJ7gz4rPT0%3D&tabid=390&mid=1125 "Language in Education" policy in terms of section 3(4)(m) of the National Education Policy Act, Act 27 of 1996]

South African Sign Language is accepted as one of the languages of instruction in the education of Deaf learners.

The number of deaf people in South Africa (600,000 deaf and 1.4 million people with hearing loss)(2003). DeafSA Information Booklet. South Africa: DeafSA. does not give an accurate depiction of the number of people who communicate in South African Sign Language.

There is currently no estimate for the number of people who communicate in South African Sign Language in South Africa. Estimates vary greatly, from 700,000 to 2 million users. A request was made to the Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa) to measure this as part of the 2011 census.{{update inline|date=December 2013}}

{{Expert needed|Deaf|section|reason=the section contains practically nothing about the linguistics of SASL|date=May 2013}}

File:SASL-Fingerspelled-Alphabet.png

Fingerspelling is a manual technique of signing used to spell letters and numbers (numerals, cardinals). Therefore, fingerspelling is a sign language technique for borrowing words from spoken languages, as well as for spelling names of people, places and objects. It is a practical tool to refer to the written word.

Some words which are often fingerspelled tend to become signs in their own right (becoming "frozen"), following linguistic transformation processes such as alphanumeric incorporation and abbreviation. For instance, one of the sign-names for Cape Town uses incorporated fingerspelled letters C.T. ( transition from handshape for letter 'C' to letter 'T' of both wrists with rotation on an horizontal axis). The month of July is often abbreviated as 'J-L-Y'.

Fingerspelling words is not a substitute for using existing signs: it takes longer to sign and it is harder to perceive. If the fingerspelled word is a borrowing, fingerspelling depends on both users having knowledge of the oral language (English, Sotho, Afrikaans etc.).

Although proper names (such as a person's name, a company name) are often fingerspelled, it is often a temporary measure until the Deaf community agrees on a Sign name replacement.

Sign names are specific signs which are associated with proper names (a location, a person, an organisation). Sign names are often chosen based on a salient physical property. For instance:

• The sign name for Nelson Mandela is signed using a flat B-hand that follows a hair-line over the head.
• The sign name for the bank ABSA is made with both hands following the movement implied in the company corporate logo.

South Africa is one of a few countries to have legal recognition of sign language.{{Cite book |last=Walker |first=Lou Ann |title=A Loss for Words: The Story of Deafness in a Family |date=1987 |publisher=HarperPerennial |isbn=0-06-091425-4 |location=New York |page=31}} There is presumably some regional variation, but signers from across the country can readily understand each other, as demonstrated for example at the annual Deaf Forum.

It is commonly believed among South Africans, even among Deaf South Africans, that different language communities have different sign languages. This is evidently the result of the Deaf not being able to understand sign-language interpreters from other communities. However, this is because such "interpreters" do not actually use sign language, but rather Signed English, Signed Xhosa, etc., and only those who have been schooled in these artificial codes can understand them. (See manually coded language in South Africa.)

{{BANZSL family tree}}

Timeline:

• 1863 Irish nuns start training programmes in sign language
• 1874 Grimley Institute for the Deaf and Dumb established by Bridget Lynne in Cape Town
• 1881 De La Bat school established in Worcester
• 1920 Adoption of oralism in Deaf schools
• 1934 Separation between European and Non-European schools
• 1941 First school "for the Black Deaf" established
• 1984 Medium of education changed from vernacular (native tongue) to English in Department of Education and Training schools
• 1996 "Sign language" (but not specifically SASL) mentioned in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa as a language to be promoted

As early as 1863, Irish nuns were involved in training programmes for the Deaf. Irish Sign Language, "originally heavily influenced by French Sign Language" is said to have had a noticeable influence in sign languages in the world, including in South Africa.

In 1874 in Cape Town, the first institution for the Deaf called Grimley Institute for Deaf and Dumb was established by an Irish Deaf woman named Bridget Lynne.

In 1881 in Worcester, De La Bat school for the Deaf was established.

From 1877, Dominican sisters started to settle near Durban. In 1884, Sister Stephanie Hanshuber from Germany introduced the oral method in South Africa.

In 1888 "King William's Town Convent School for the Education of the Deaf" was formally opened.

"Since there is little historical evidence, it is presumed that South African Sign Language has a mixture of the Irish influence from the Dominican Irish nuns, and British influence as well as the American influence. (Sign Language is the natural language of the Deaf.)"

{{Portal|South Africa|Languages}}

• Sign language
• Languages of South Africa
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South African Sign Language[https://writeservice.info/2024/10/13/south-african-sign-language . https://writeservice.info/2024/10/13/south-african-sign-language]

General information:

• [http://deafness.about.com/od/internationaldeaf/a/southafrica.htm About.com] Sign Language in South Africa.

Organisations:

• [http://www.deafsa.co.za/ DeafSA] – Deaf South Africa, national non-governmental organisation
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061205054056/http://deaftv.co.za/ DTV] – Deaf TV is a South African Sign Language studio with weekly broadcast on national TV.
• [http://www.nid.org.za/ National Institute for the Deaf (NID)] – non-profit / non-governmental organisation for the Deaf - Worcester, South Africa.
• [http://www.saslinc.co.za/ South African Sign Language Interpretation National Centre] – Interpreting services

Learning:

• [https://www.learnsasl.com LearnSASL.com] – South African Sign Language Video dictionary.
• [https://realsasl.com Realsasl.com] – South African Sign Language dictionary searchable by handshape, location or text.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100114212628/http://web.wits.ac.za/Academic/Humanities/SLLS/Disciplines/SASignLanguage/SASignLanguageGenInf.htm University of Witwatersrand] – SASL courses

Research resources:

• [http://www.coe.uwc.ac.za/index.php/SASL.html University of Western Cape] – SASL project 'iSign' and 'PhoneReader'
• [http://www.uovs.ac.za/faculties/index.php?FCode=01&DCode=151 University of the Free State] – Afroasiatic Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice – offers linguistic B.A. and M.A. courses .
• [https://archive.today/20121224193016/http://www.cs.sun.ac.za/~lvzijl/SASL/ University of Stellenbosch] – English Text to South African Sign Language (SASL) Project
• [http://www.signbank.org/SignPuddle2.0/index.php?ui=1&sgn=77 Sutton SignWriting] – Dictionary of South African Sign Language sign represented in a graphical form.

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