Sunday, 27 Jul 2014
By Priya Kulasagaran
It’s hoped that the new dictionary will help children like these communicate more effectively.
A new dictionary aims to raise awareness about the complexities of sign language and how it is used.
IMAGINE if you were told that your mother tongue is not a “real” language, but merely a shadow of one. This is what many deaf communities face when it comes to sign language.
According to the World Federation of the Deaf, some 70 million deaf people around the world say that sign language is their first language.
Despite this, the common misconception is that sign language is a crude imitation or ‘inferior’ to spoken languages such as English.
“Sign language is a visual language, which is actually equal to any spoken languages because this visual language has its own grammar, structure and meaning,” says advocate for the deaf, Anthony Chong.
