BSL

 

BSL

BSL alphabet for finger spelling

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

We were watching ‘The Chelsea Detective’ the other evening. It’s a pleasant series, with mostly believable characters. It is not taxing to watch and even the chase scenes are mercifully short. The pathologist in it is deaf and is played by a deaf *actress, Sophie Leigh Stone.

In one episode, she mentions that there are different accents in British Sign Language (BSL) and that intrigued me. When I was younger, I learnt the BSL alphabet, though I don’t remember why.

I have since discovered that it can take three to four years to become fluent in BSL. That estimate is based on having lessons for three hours a week. It was first recognised as an official language in 2003, so fairly recently, and in 2022 it was acknowledged legally as an official British language.

There has been a sign language in Britain since the 15^th century, and some of the signs used then are still in use today. Undoubtedly, there were informal methods of communication between deaf people since communication began.

The first school for deaf children in Britain was established in 1760. Although its emphasis was on speech, it also used signing.

There are interesting links here and here, which may not agree with each other on all points, confusingly.

Before the twentieth century, there was no official teaching of sign language. The focus was on teaching children to lip read and finger spell. There was a feeling, current across Europe until the 1940s, that signing was bad, possibly inferior, and should be punished.

Some thirty years later, that belief was replaced by active teaching of BSL in schools for the deaf. It is an evolving language, like most languages today, and bears distinct differences from American Sign Language and Irish Sign Language.

American Sign Language chart

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Irish Sign Language chart

At first glance, the Irish Sign Language alphabet has more in common with ASL than BSL.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

BANZSL incorporates the sign languages used in Australia and New Zealand, which share much with BSL. 82% of their signs are identical.

It is now common to see BSL translators alongside newscasters, delivering the latest news bulletins to the population.

*There is now an ‘inclusiveness’ tab in the spelling and grammar application. I suppose the word ‘actress’ is rather outdated. The reasoning for using ‘actor’ to describe anyone who acts is that it is not gender-specific and is therefore inclusive.

What will replace the ‘Best actress/supporting actress’ nominations?