Minority Status Call For Sign Language
I imagine many Deaf people are very happy about this:
Signing should be treated as an indigenous and minority language, a professor will argue at a conference on Scotland’s “lesser used” languages.
Prof Graham Turner, of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, will be a speaker at Voices of the West in Inverness on Saturday.
He said records of sign language in Britain could be traced back to 1575.
Prof Turner said in terms of numbers of users and political support it received, it was in a minority.
Gaelic and Cornish will also be tackled at the conference being hosted for a second year by higher education institution, UHI.
Prof Turner said there had not been the same scientific studies of signing as spoken languages.
 |
 Sign language is not an artificially created language Prof Graham Turner
|
The first studies were carried out in America in 1960 and in the UK in 1975.
He also argued that it was indigenous and developed naturally.
Prof Turner added: “Sign language is not an artificially created language.
“There is a record of it being used in 1575 as part of a marriage ceremony where a deaf man used signs while giving his vows.
“Some of the signs he used then are the same, or very similar, to those used today.”
Other speakers include Culture Minister Michael Russell, broadcaster Lesley Riddoch and Dr Christine Robinson, director of Scottish Language Dictionaries.
Last year’s conference called for a unified strategy to protect British minority languages such as Gaelic and Welsh.
Orkney-based expert Dr Donna Heddle said without one they would become “devalued and lost”.
I can hear, but still think this is a great idea. Comments are very welcome below.
Same Difference 