This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2011) |
French Sign Language (French: langue des signes française, LSF) is the sign language of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in France and in French-speaking parts of Switzerland. According to Ethnologue, it has 100,000 native signers.
| French Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Langue des signes française | |
 LSF in French manual alphabet | |
| Native to | France, Switzerland |
| Signers | 100,000 (2019) |
Francosign
| |
Early form | Old French Sign |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | fsl – inclusive codeIndividual code: ssr – Swiss French SL |
| Glottolog | fren1243 French Sign Languageswis1241 Swiss-French Sign Language |
| ELP | Swiss-French Sign Language |
French Sign Language is related and partially ancestral to Dutch Sign Language (NGT), Flemish Sign Language (VGT), Belgian-French Sign Language (LSFB), Irish Sign Language (ISL), American Sign Language (ASL), Quebec (also known as French Canadian) Sign Language (LSQ), Brazilian Sign Language (LSB or Libras) and Russian Sign Language (RSL).
History
French Sign Language is frequently, though mistakenly, attributed to the work of Charles Michel de l'Épée (l'abbé de l'Épée). In fact, he is said to have discovered the already existing language by total accident; having ducked into a nearby house to escape the rain, he fell upon a pair of deaf twin sisters and was struck by the richness and complexity of the language that they used to communicate among themselves and the deaf Parisian community.[citation needed] The abbé set himself to learning the language, now known as Old French Sign Language, and eventually he established a free school for the deaf. At this school, he developed a system he called "methodical signs", to teach his students how to read and write. The abbé was eventually able to make public demonstrations (1771–1774) of his system, demonstrations that attracted educators and celebrities from all over the continent and that popularised the idea that the deaf could be educated, especially by gesture.
The methodical signs he created were a mixture of sign language words he had learned with some grammatical terms he invented. The resulting combination, an artificial language, was over-complicated and completely unusable by his students. For example, where his system would elaborately construct the word "unintelligible" with a chain of five signs ("interior-understand-possible-adjective-not"), the deaf natural language would simply say "understand-impossible". LSF was not invented by the abbé, but his major contributions to the deaf community were to recognize that the deaf did not need oral language to be able to think, and to indirectly accelerate the natural growth of the language by virtue of putting so many deaf students under a single roof.
From this time French Sign Language flourished until the late 19th century when a schism developed between the manualist and oralist schools of thought. In 1880 the Milan International Congress of Teachers for the Deaf-Mute convened and decided that the oralist tradition would be preferred. In due time the use of sign language was treated as a barrier to learning to talk and thus forbidden from the classroom.
This situation remained unchanged in France until the late 1970s, when the deaf community began to militate for greater recognition of sign language and for a bilingual education system. In 1991 the National Assembly passed the Fabius law, officially authorising the use of LSF for the education of deaf children. A law was passed in 2005 fully recognising LSF as a language in its own right.
Alphabet
The French manual alphabet is used both to distinguish signs of LSF and to incorporate French words while signing.
See also
- Old French Sign Language
- Signed French
- French Sign Language Academy
- American Sign Language
References
- French Sign Language at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Swiss French SL at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) - "Article L312-9-1". Legifrance.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
External links
- The LSF wikibook (in French)
This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources French Sign Language news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2011 Learn how and when to remove this message French Sign Language French langue des signes francaise LSF is the sign language of deaf and hard of hearing people in France and in French speaking parts of Switzerland According to Ethnologue it has 100 000 native signers French Sign LanguageLangue des signes francaiseLSF in French manual alphabetNative toFrance SwitzerlandSigners100 000 2019 Language familyFrancosign French Sign LanguageEarly formOld French SignDialectsMarseille Sign Language citation needed Language codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code fsl class extiw title iso639 3 fsl fsl a inclusive code Individual code a href https iso639 3 sil org code ssr class extiw title iso639 3 ssr ssr a Swiss French SLGlottologfren1243 French Sign Language swis1241 Swiss French Sign LanguageELPSwiss French Sign Language French Sign Language is related and partially ancestral to Dutch Sign Language NGT Flemish Sign Language VGT Belgian French Sign Language LSFB Irish Sign Language ISL American Sign Language ASL Quebec also known as French Canadian Sign Language LSQ Brazilian Sign Language LSB or Libras and Russian Sign Language RSL HistoryVintage illustration of the French fingerspelling French Sign Language is frequently though mistakenly attributed to the work of Charles Michel de l Epee l abbe de l Epee In fact he is said to have discovered the already existing language by total accident having ducked into a nearby house to escape the rain he fell upon a pair of deaf twin sisters and was struck by the richness and complexity of the language that they used to communicate among themselves and the deaf Parisian community citation needed The abbe set himself to learning the language now known as Old French Sign Language and eventually he established a free school for the deaf At this school he developed a system he called methodical signs to teach his students how to read and write The abbe was eventually able to make public demonstrations 1771 1774 of his system demonstrations that attracted educators and celebrities from all over the continent and that popularised the idea that the deaf could be educated especially by gesture The methodical signs he created were a mixture of sign language words he had learned with some grammatical terms he invented The resulting combination an artificial language was over complicated and completely unusable by his students For example where his system would elaborately construct the word unintelligible with a chain of five signs interior understand possible adjective not the deaf natural language would simply say understand impossible LSF was not invented by the abbe but his major contributions to the deaf community were to recognize that the deaf did not need oral language to be able to think and to indirectly accelerate the natural growth of the language by virtue of putting so many deaf students under a single roof From this time French Sign Language flourished until the late 19th century when a schism developed between the manualist and oralist schools of thought In 1880 the Milan International Congress of Teachers for the Deaf Mute convened and decided that the oralist tradition would be preferred In due time the use of sign language was treated as a barrier to learning to talk and thus forbidden from the classroom This situation remained unchanged in France until the late 1970s when the deaf community began to militate for greater recognition of sign language and for a bilingual education system In 1991 the National Assembly passed the Fabius law officially authorising the use of LSF for the education of deaf children A law was passed in 2005 fully recognising LSF as a language in its own right Alphabet The French manual alphabet is used both to distinguish signs of LSF and to incorporate French words while signing See alsoOld French Sign Language Signed French French Sign Language Academy American Sign LanguageReferencesFrench Sign Language at Ethnologue 25th ed 2022 Swiss French SL at Ethnologue 25th ed 2022 Article L312 9 1 Legifrance gouv fr Archived from the original on 11 October 2017 Retrieved 19 October 2017 External linksThe LSF wikibook in French
