Danish Sign Language Family | |
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West Scandinavian Sign | |
Ethnicity | Diverse Deaf populations |
Geographic distribution | Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Madagascar |
Linguistic classification | French Sign
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Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | west2993 (West Scandinavian Sign) |
The Danish Sign Language family comprises three languages: Danish Sign Language, Norwegian Sign Language (including Malagasy Sign Language) and Icelandic Sign Language. It itself is a sub-language family within the larger French Sign Language family. [1]
Ethnologue reports that Danish Sign Language is largely mutually intelligible with Swedish Sign, despite having been assigned different families by Wittmann (1991).
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A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form, and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fledged language with native speakers, all within a fairly brief period of time. While the concept is similar to that of a mixed or hybrid language, creoles are often characterized by a tendency to systematize their inherited grammar. Like any language, creoles are characterized by a consistent system of grammar, possess large stable vocabularies, and are acquired by children as their native language. These three features distinguish a creole language from a pidgin. Creolistics, or creology, is the study of creole languages and, as such, is a subfield of linguistics. Someone who engages in this study is called a creolist.
British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language (BANZSL) is the language of which British Sign Language (BSL), Auslan and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) may be considered dialects. These three languages may be considered dialects of a single language (BANZSL) due to their use of the same grammar and manual alphabet and the high degree of lexical overlap. The term BANZSL was coined by Trevor Johnston and Adam Schembri.
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Catalan Sign Language is a sign language used by around 18,000 people in different areas of Spain including Catalonia. As of 2012, the Catalan Federation for the Deaf estimates 25,000 LSC signers and roughly 12,000 deaf people around the Catalan lands. It has about 50% intelligibility with Spanish Sign Language (LSE). On the basis of mutual intelligibility, lexicon, and social attitudes, linguists have argued that LSC and LSE are distinct languages.
Henri Wittmann is a Canadian linguist from Quebec. He is best known for his work on Quebec French.
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Bourbonnais Creole is the group of French-based creole languages spoken in the western Indian Ocean. The close relation of the languages is from the similar historical and cultural backgrounds of the islands. The name is derived from the former name of Réunion Island: Bourbon Island before 1793. Another name is Mascarene Creole, as the predominant island group is called the Mascarenes.
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