Swiss-German Sign Language | |
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DSGS Schweizerdeutsche Gebärdensprache Langue des Signes Suisse-Allemande Lingua dei Segni Svizzero-Tedesca Germani Helvetti Language | |
Native to | Switzerland, Liechtenstein |
Signers | 5,500 (2010) [1] |
possibly
French SL
| |
SignWriting | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
sgg |
Glottolog |
swis1240 |
ELP | Swiss-German Sign Language |
Swiss-German Sign Language (German: Deutschschweizer Gebärdensprache, abbreviated DSGS) is the primary deaf sign language of the German-speaking part of Switzerland and of Liechtenstein. The language was established around 1828. [2] In 2011 it was estimated that 7,500 deaf and 13,000 hearing people use DSGS. [3] There are six dialects which developed in boarding schools for the deaf in Zürich, Bern, Basel, Lucerne, and St. Gallen, as well as in Liechtenstein. [3]
In Switzerland, the language is called Gebärdensprache (sign language) if a distinction from other languages is not required. Some sources call it Natürliche Gebärden or Natürliche Gebärdensprache, [4] or Swiss Sign Language (Langage gestuel suisse). [2] The former just means 'natural sign', like those for "sleep" or "eat", in contrast to Abstrakte Gebärden 'conceptual sign', [5] and so the term is no longer used. Most English sources today uses the term German-Swiss Sign Language or Swiss-German Sign Language. [6] [7]
Wittmann (1991) suspects that Swiss-German Sign Language may be part of the French Sign Language family, but it is not close and this is not easy to demonstrate. [2]
In Switzerland, the parentage of this language is still in research. Research on whether DSGS could be a derivative of the German Sign Language (DGS) is planned, but it was observed that DSGS signers are often more open to borrowing loan signs from LSF-SR, the French Sign Language dialect of the Suisse Romande, and less from the DGS. [3]
Two books have been published in SignWriting. [3]
The manual alphabet is similar to that of German Sign Language and American Sign Language, but with the following differences: