Zimbabwe dictionary unifies rival sign languages

Source: BBC News (Africa)
Story flagged by: RominaZ

A new unified sign language dictionary has gone on sale in Zimbabwe to end the confusion sometimes caused by the country’s various signing dialects.

For example, the sign for “shoe” in the capital, Harare, means “pig” in the second city, Bulawayo.

And in Bulawayo, you say “good” by giving two thumbs up, but in Harare the sign is putting four fingers on top of the thumb.

Representatives from all of the country’s provinces worked on the year-long project, bringing together the various dialects that have evolved.

Previous sign dictionaries had been rejected by Zimbabwe’s deaf community as they were not compiled by deaf people.

Speaking in sign language using an interpreter, one of the compilers, Sindile Mhlanga, said this was a huge breakthrough for deaf people in Zimbabwe. Read more.

See: BBC News (Africa)

Comments about this article


Zimbabwe dictionary unifies rival sign languages
John Marais
John Marais  Identity Verified
испанский => английский
+ ...
Thanks Oct 27, 2011

Great article.

 

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