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Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Europe > United Kingdom > British Sign Language

British Sign Language

A language of United Kingdom

ISO 639-3: bfi

Population	40,000 L1 users (1984 M. Deuchar), out of 909,000 deaf; majority probably have some degree of sign language competence (Deuchar 1977).
Region	England, Northern Ireland, Scotland.
Alternate names	BSL
Dialects	Not inherently intelligible to users of American Sign Language [ase]. Deaf community cohesive, so communication good despite regional differences. Signing varies along a continuum from something usually called “Signed English” (which draws on BSL vocabulary but uses grammatical structure like spoken English) to natural BSL. Different styles of signing used in different situations, and signers vary in terms of how much of the range of signing styles they control.
Classification	Deaf sign language
Language use	Good regional and national organizations for the deaf. Interpreters required in court, and provided in some other situations. Instruction for parents of deaf children. Many sign language classes for hearing people. Organization for sign language teachers. Committee on national sign language. Sign language used before 1644. Deaf schools established in the late 18th century. Increasing desire to train deaf children in BSL.
Language development	Films. TV. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar.

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

PARKS, Elizabeth, author; PARKS, Jason, editor. 2011. Americas Area Sign Language Survey Report Video Summaries in American Sign Language.

PARKS, Elizabeth, author; PARKS, Jason, editor. 2012. Americas Area Sign Language Survey Report Video Summaries in American Sign Language - British Virgin Islands.

PARKS, Elizabeth, author; PARKS, Jason, editor. 2012. Americas Area Sign Language Survey Report Video Summaries in American Sign Language - Falkland Islands.

PARKS, Elizabeth, author; PARKS, Jason, editor. 2012. Americas Area Sign Language Survey Report Video Summaries in American Sign Language - Montserrat.

PARKS, Elizabeth, author; PARKS, Jason, editor. 2012. Americas Area Sign Language Survey Report Video Summaries in American Sign Language - Turks and Caicos Islands.

PARKS, Elizabeth; PARKS, Jason, authors. 2012. "A Survey Report of the Deaf People of Northern Ireland."  

PARKS, Elizabeth; WILLIAMS, Holly, authors. 2011. "Sociolinguistic Profiles of Twenty-four Deaf Communities in the Americas."