Irish Sign Language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

 

Irish Sign Language
Teanga Chomharthaíochta na hÉireann
ISL
Signed in Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland
Total signers 40,000 daily[1]
Language family French Sign Language
  • Irish Sign Language
    Teanga Chomharthaíochta na hÉireann
Language codes
ISO 639-1 None
ISO 639-2 sgn
ISO 639-3 isg
The ISG/ISL Fingerspelling Alphabet.

Irish Sign Language (ISL, Irish: Teanga Chomharthaíochta na hÉireann) is the sign language of Ireland, used primarily in the Republic of Ireland. It is also used in Northern Ireland, though British Sign Language (BSL) is used more often. Irish Sign Language is more closely related to French Sign Language than to British Sign Language, which was first used in Dublin. It has influenced sign languages in Australia and South Africa, and has little relation to either spoken Irish or English.

The Irish Deaf Society says that ISL "arose from within deaf communities", "was developed by deaf people themselves" and "has been in existence for hundreds of years", but according to Ethnologue the language originated in the period of 1846-1849. The ISO 639-3 code for Irish Sign Language is 'isg'; 'isl' is the code for Icelandic.


[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Personal tools
Languages