Levantine Arabic Sign Language
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (April 2013) |
| Levantine Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Syro-Palestinian Sign Language | |
| لغة الإشارة العربية الشرقية | |
| Region | Levant/Bilad al-Sham |
Native speakers | 30,000 (2021)[1] |
Arab sign-language family
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | jos (Jordanian Sign Language) |
| Glottolog | jord1238 Levantine Arabic SL |
Levantine Arabic Sign Language is the sign language used by people of the area known as Bilad al-Sham or the Levant, comprising Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon. Although there are significant differences in vocabulary between the four states, this is not much greater than regional differences within the states. Grammar is quite uniform and mutual intelligibility is high, indicating that they are dialects of a single language.[2]
The language typically goes by the name of the country, as so:
- Jordanian SL: لغة الإشارة الأردنية, Lughat il-Ishārah il-Urduniyyah (LIU)
- Lebanese SL: لغة الإشارات اللبنانية, Lughat al-Ishārāt al-Lubnāniyyah (LIL)
- Palestinian SL: لغة الاشارات الفلسطينية, Lughat al-Ishārāt al-Filisṭīniyyah (LIF)
- Syrian SL: لغة الإشارة السورية, Lughat il-Ishārah il-Sūriyyah (LIS)
Jordanian Sign Language
[edit]Jordanian Sign Language (LIU) has multiple dialects, and no standard form.[3] A dictionary of 500 LIU signs was published in 2006.[3]
Palestinian Sign Language
[edit]The first school for the deaf in Palestine opened in 1972 in Bethlehem, but sign language was not taught until the 1990s, with the opening of new schools for the deaf and the publication of a Palestinian Sign Language (LIF) dictionary by the Ramallah-based Benevolent Society for the Deaf. As of 2021, all schools for the deaf in Palestine taught at least some LIF, but the official educational LIF dictionary only contains signs up through the seventh grade syllabus.[4]
Deaf clubs were founded in Palestine beginning in 1991 in Ramallah, and five clubs existed in the country as of 2021. These clubs serve as informal gathering spaces and educational spaces.[4]
The first university classes in LIF were offered by Birzeit University in 2014. Formal education in LIF interpretation was not offered in Palestine until 2019.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Levantine Sign Language at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Hendriks, Bernadet (2008). Jordanian Sign Language: Aspects of grammar from a cross-linguistic perspective (PDF). LOT. ISBN 978-90-78328-67-4.
- ^ a b Hendriks, Bernadet (2007-01-01). "Simultaneous use of the two hands in Jordanian Sign Language". In Vermeerbergen, Myriam; Leeson, Lorraine; Crasborn, Onno Alex (eds.). Simultaneity in Signed Languages: Form and Function. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 237. doi:10.1075/cilt.281.11hen. ISBN 978-90-272-4796-4.
- ^ a b c Abdel-Fattah, Khalil Alawneh and Mahmoud (January 2021). "Deaf education in Palestine: Reality and Aspirations". British Association of Teachers of the Deaf Magazine. ISSN 1336-0799.
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Further reading
[edit]- Hendriks, Bernadet (2008-09-25). "Negation in Jordanian Sign Language: A cross-linguistic perspective". In Perniss, Pamela M.; Pfau, Roland; Steinbach, Markus (eds.). Visible Variation: Comparative Studies on Sign Language Structure. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 103–128. doi:10.1515/9783110198850.103. ISBN 978-3-11-019885-0. Retrieved 2025-10-14.
- Richardson, Kristina (Winter 2017). "New Evidence for Early Ottoman Arabic and Turkish Sign Systems". Sign Language Studies. 17 (2): 172–192. doi:10.1353/sls.2017.0001. S2CID 44038104.
- Abdel-Fattah, Mahmoud; Alawnah, Khalil M. I. (2020-12-11). "Modality in Palestinian Sign Language". International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change. 14 (12). ISSN 2201-1323.
