Alipur Sign Language

Last updated
Deaf Community of Alipur
Native toIndia
Region Karnataka
Native speakers
150–250 (2012) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
Glottolog alip1234
ELP Alipur Sign Language

Alipur Sign Language is a village sign language of India. [2] It is spoken in the town of Alipur, Karnataka, a Shia Muslim enclave with a high degree of congenital deafness. There are between 150 and 250 deaf people in Alipur, [1] and there are approximately 10,000 hearing people speaking the language [2] on a population of 26,000 (in 2015). The language has no official status and deaf children receive no formal education. This fact plus the increasing influence of the Indian Sign Language threaten the survival of Alipur Sign Language (or APSL [3] ). Sibaji Panda was the first person to officially document the language in 2012. [4]

During his study, Panda found out that the proportion of deaf population in Alipur was of approximately 0.75%, against 0.41% on national average (data from the 2011 census).

The deaf community of Alipur helped Panda in his researches, particularly Mr. Fazil Raza, a 53 year old former gram panchayat chief, who helped set up the Alipur Unity Society for the Deaf. Mr. Fazil Raza helped with translation from English to the sign language, conducted survey with the help of other members of the community, and served as an informator for the documentation of the language.

Endogamous marriages in the town have led to this large population of deaf, but a deaf man cannot marry a deaf woman. Since there are no public records in the town, it is difficult to establish the veracity of this information. [5]

The sign language is used by many hearing people as well, with level of fluency that greatly varies. [4]

The language has a variety of ways to express numbers, [6] using additions and subtractions to express numbers with high complexity. Mouth movements can be added to express bigger numbers. [5]

The majority of inhabitants in the town are Shia Muslim. The Shia Muslim population descend from Bijapur after the down fall of Adil Shahi Dynasty and are proud of their culture and history.

The younger generation is less interested in using the village sign language. Mobility and technology give them access to the Internet and they travel to Bengaluru where they learn Indian Sign Language and American Sign Language. The lack of formal education is nevertheless a barrier for them to be able to use script-based applications (like text messaging) and there are not many employment opportunities. [4]

A better understanding of the situation of the language could be beneficial for the population. Nobel School (A Private School in a Village) has recently started classes for the deaf children. However, there is a hope to re-open the government school for special children. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sign language</span> Language that uses manual communication and body language to convey meaning

Sign languages are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign languages are full-fledged natural languages with their own grammar and lexicon. Sign languages are not universal and are usually not mutually intelligible, although there are similarities among different sign languages.

Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL) was a village sign-language that was once widely used on the island of Martha's Vineyard from the early 18th century to 1952. It was used by both deaf and hearing people in the community; consequently, deafness was not a barrier to participation in public life. Deaf people who signed Martha's Vineyard Sign Language were extremely independent.

Adamorobe Sign Language or AdaSL is a village sign language used in Adamorobe, an Akan village in eastern Ghana. It is used by about 30 deaf and 1370 hearing people (2003).

Hawaiʻi Sign Language or Hawaiian Sign Language, also known as Hoailona ʻŌlelo, Old Hawaiʻi Sign Language and Hawaiʻi Pidgin Sign Language, is an indigenous sign language native to Hawaiʻi. Historical records document its presence on the islands as early as the 1820s, but HSL was not formally recognized by linguists until 2013.

Mayan Sign Language is a sign language used in Mexico and Guatemala by Mayan communities with unusually high numbers of deaf inhabitants. In some instances, both hearing and deaf members of a village may use the sign language. It is unrelated to the national sign languages of Mexico and Guatemala, as well as to the local spoken Mayan languages and Spanish.

Indo-Pakistani Sign Language (IPSL) is the predominant sign language in the subcontinent of South Asia, used by at least 15 million deaf signers. As with many sign languages, it is difficult to estimate numbers with any certainty, as the Census of India does not list sign languages and most studies have focused on the north and urban areas. As of 2024, it is the most used sign language in the world, and Ethnologue ranks it as the 149th most "spoken" language in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutch Sign Language</span> Predominant deaf sign language of the Netherlands

Dutch Sign Language is the predominant sign language used by deaf people in the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domari language</span> Indo-Aryan language

Domari is an endangered Indo-Aryan language, spoken by Dom people scattered across the Middle East and North Africa. The language is reported to be spoken as far north as Azerbaijan and as far south as central Sudan, in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Syria and Lebanon. Based on the systematicity of sound changes, it is known with a fair degree of certainty that the names Domari and Romani derive from the Indo-Aryan word ḍom. Although they are both Central Indo-Aryan languages, Domari and Romani do not derive from the same immediate ancestor. The Arabs referred to them as Nawar as they were a nomadic people that originally immigrated to the Middle East from the Indian subcontinent.

Kata Kolok, also known as Benkala Sign Language and Balinese Sign Language, is a village sign language which is indigenous to two neighbouring villages in northern Bali, Indonesia. The main village, Bengkala, has had high incidences of deafness for over seven generations. Notwithstanding the biological time depth of the recessive mutation that causes deafness, the first substantial cohort of deaf signers did not occur until five generations ago, and this event marks the emergence of Kata Kolok. The sign language has been acquired by at least five generations of deaf, native signers and features in all aspects of village life, including political, professional, educational, and religious settings.

Austral is an endangered Polynesian language or a dialect continuum that was spoken by approximately 8,000 people in 1987 on the Austral Islands and the Society Islands of French Polynesia. The language is also referred to as Tubuai-Rurutu, Tubuai, Rurutu-Tupuaʻi, or Tupuaʻi. It is closely related to other Tahitic languages, most notably Tahitian and Māori.

Inuit Sign Language is one of the Inuit languages and the indigenous sign language of the Inuit people. It is a language isolate native to Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic. It is currently only attested within certain communities in Nunavut, particularly Baker Lake and Rankin Inlet. Although there is a possibility that it may be used in other places where Inuit live in the Arctic, this has not been confirmed.

Jamaican Country Sign Language, also Country Sign, or Konchri Sain (KS) in Jamaican Patois, is an indigenous village sign language of Jamaica. It is used by a small number of Deaf and hearing Jamaicans, spread over several communities in the rural south-western parish of St. Elizabeth.

A village sign language, or village sign, also known as a shared sign language, is a local indigenous sign language used by both deaf and hearing in an area with a high incidence of congenital deafness. Meir et al. define a village sign language as one which "arise[s] in an existing, relatively insular community into which a number of deaf children are born." The term "rural sign language" refers to almost the same concept. In many cases, the sign language is known throughout the community by a large portion of the hearing population. These languages generally include signs derived from gestures used by the hearing population, so that neighboring village sign languages may be lexically similar without being actually related, due to local similarities in cultural gestures which preceded the sign languages. Most village sign languages are endangered due to the spread of formal education for the deaf, which use or generate deaf-community sign languages, such as a national or foreign sign language.

Yolŋu (Yolngu) or Penguin Sign Language is a ritual sign language used by the Yolngu, an Aboriginal community in the Arnhem Land region of Australia. As with other Australian Aboriginal sign languages, YSL was developed by the hearing for use when oral speech is forbidden, as during mourning or between certain family relations. However, "YSL is not a signed version of any spoken Yolngu language... YSL also serves as a primary means of communication for a number of deaf members in Yolngu communities... YSL functions as both an alternate and primary sign language". That is, it is used for communicating to the deaf, but also when communicating at a distance, when hunting, or when ceremonies require silence. It was acquired from birth by the hearing population. YSL is now considered an endangered language.

Algerian Jewish Sign Language (AJSL), also known as Ghardaia Sign Language, is a moribund village sign language originally of Ghardaïa, Algeria that is now used in Israel and possibly also in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macushi language</span> Cariban language spoken in South America

Macushi is an indigenous language of the Carib family spoken in Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela. It is also referred to as Makushi, Makusi, Macuxi, Macusi,Macussi,Teweya or Teueia. It is the most populous of the Cariban languages. According to Instituto Socioambiental, the Macushi population is at an estimated 43,192, with 33,603 in Brazil, 9,500 in Guyana and 89 in Venezuela. In Brazil, the Macushi populations are located around northeastern Roraima, Rio Branco, Contingo, Quino, Pium and Mau rivers. Macuxi speakers in Brazil, however, are only estimated at 15,000.

Jedek is an Aslian language from the Austroasiatic family first reported in 2017. Jedek speakers describe themselves as ethnic Menriq or Batek to outsiders, but their language, although very closely related, is distinct from these languages.

Ulrike Zeshan is a German-born linguist and academic specializing in the linguistics of signed languages. She is Professor of Sign Language Linguistics at the University of Central Lancashire, UK.

The Irish Sign Language Act 2017 is an Act of the Oireachtas which gives Irish Sign Language official legal status.

References

  1. 1 2 Sobaji, Panda. "Investigation of an endangered village sign language in India". Endangered Languages Archive at SOAS University of London. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  2. 1 2 "Alipur Sign Language". The Endangered Languages Project. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  3. ↑ "Alipur Sign Language (APSL)". University of Central Lancashire. CATALOGUING ENDANGERED SIGN LANGUAGES. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  4. 1 2 3 Panda, Sibaji (2012). "Alipur Sign Language: A sociolinguistic and cultural profile". Sign Languages in Village Communities. Sign Language Typology [SLT]. Basel: DE GRUYTER. pp. 253–260. doi:10.1515/9781614511496.353. ISBN   9781614511496.
  5. 1 2 Zeshan, Ulrike; Escobedo Delgado, Cesar Ernesto; Dikyuva, Hasan; Panda, Sibaji; de Vos, Connie (2016). "Cardinal numerals in rural sign languages: Approaching cross-modal typology". Linguistic Typology. Vol. 17. Basel: DE GRUYTER. pp. 357–396. ISSN   1613-415X.
  6. ↑ Friedman, Joshua J. (July 28, 2013). "Village sign languages, vanishing fast". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  7. ↑ Dikyuva, Hasan; Delgado, Cesar Ernesto Escobedo; Panda, Sibaji; Zeshan, Ulrique (2012). "Working with village sign language communities". Sign Languages in Village Communities. Sign Language Typology [SLT]. Basel: DE GRUYTER. pp. 313–404. doi:10.1515/9781614511496.313. ISBN   9781614511496.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.