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Swiss-German Sign Language
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<h2 id="name">Name</h2> <p>In Switzerland, the language is called <i>Gebärdensprache</i> (<i>sign language</i>) if a distinction from other languages is not required. Some sources call it <i>Natürliche Gebärden</i> or <i>Natürliche Gebärdensprache</i>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> or Swiss Sign Language (<i>Langage gestuel suisse</i>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> The former just means 'natural sign', like those for "sleep" or "eat", in contrast to <i>Abstrakte Gebärden</i> 'conceptual sign',<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> and so the term is no longer used. Most English sources today uses the term <i>German-Swiss Sign Language</i> or <i>Swiss-German Sign Language</i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="classification">Classification</h2> <p>Wittmann (1991) suspects that Swiss-German Sign Language may be part of the <a href="/facts/French_Sign_Language_family/p3JjCTf7">French Sign Language family</a>, but it is not close and this is not easy to demonstrate.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p><p>In Switzerland, the parentage of this language is still in research. Research on whether DSGS could be a derivative of the <a href="/facts/German_Sign_Language/xNWWhKbf">German Sign Language</a> (DGS) is planned, but it was observed that DSGS signers are often more open to borrowing loan signs from LSF-SR, the <a href="/facts/French_Sign_Language/Ffcp4RNX">French Sign Language</a> dialect of the <a href="/facts/Suisse_Romande/AoMC5umW">Suisse Romande</a>, and less from the DGS.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="literature">Literature</h2> <p>Two books have been published in <a href="/facts/SignWriting/JgKqV5at">SignWriting</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="manual-alphabet">Manual alphabet</h2> <p>The <a href="/facts/Manual_alphabet/WSc3GMEy">manual alphabet</a> is similar to that of <a href="/facts/German_Sign_Language/xNWWhKbf">German Sign Language</a> and <a href="/facts/American_Sign_Language/MGTCXaGb">American Sign Language</a>, but with the following differences: </p> <ul><li>For F, the upright fingers are parallel/in contact</li> <li>For T, the index finger lies atop the tip of the thumb (an X with the thumb underneath), as commonly found in other alphabets</li> <li>Informally, X uses the thumb, like C with just the index finger</li> <li>Ä is like A, but the thumb moves out and back a couple times</li> <li>Ö is like O, but it opens to a C shape and closes again a couple times (formally, the index finger remains in contact with the thumb)</li> <li>Ü is like U, but the fingers bend down (as the index is in an X or T) a couple times</li> <li>SCH is as in DGS</li> <li>There is also a CH, which is a C formed with the fingers of H (thumb, index and middle)</li> <li>There is no ẞ, as that is rendered SS in Switzerland.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li>Swiss Deaf Federation: <a href="http://signsuisse.sgb-fss.ch/">Web dictionary of the Swiss German Sign Language</a></li> <li>Interkantonale Hochschule für Heilpädagogik: <a href="http://www.fachgebaerden.ch/">Business dictionary of the Swiss German Sign Language</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 10:1.215–88.[1] Archived 2019-04-12 at the Wayback Machine <a href="/wiki/Henri_Wittmann" target="_blank">/wiki/Henri_Wittmann</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Braem, Penny Boyes: Gebärdenspracharbeit in der Schweiz: Rückblick und Ausblick Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Hamburg: Zeitschrift für Sprache und Kultur Gehörloser <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260118508_Gebrdenspracharbeit_in_der_Schweiz_Rckblick_und_Ausblick" target="_blank">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260118508_Gebrdenspracharbeit_in_der_Schweiz_Rckblick_und_Ausblick</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Braem, Penny Boyes: Gebärdenspracharbeit in der Schweiz: Rückblick und Ausblick Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Hamburg: Zeitschrift für Sprache und Kultur Gehörloser <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260118508_Gebrdenspracharbeit_in_der_Schweiz_Rckblick_und_Ausblick" target="_blank">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260118508_Gebrdenspracharbeit_in_der_Schweiz_Rckblick_und_Ausblick</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Swiss-German Sign Language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) <a href="https://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/sgg/" target="_blank">https://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/sgg/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 10:1.215–88.[1] Archived 2019-04-12 at the Wayback Machine <a href="/wiki/Henri_Wittmann" target="_blank">/wiki/Henri_Wittmann</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Deutsche Hörbehinderten Selbsthilfe e.v.: Gebärdensprache Archived 2015-04-17 at the Wayback Machine <a href="http://www.hoerbehindertenselbsthilfe.de/index.php/hoerenundverstehen/gebaerdensprache" target="_blank">http://www.hoerbehindertenselbsthilfe.de/index.php/hoerenundverstehen/gebaerdensprache</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>IANA: Language tag assignment for German Swiss Sign Language Archived 2017-10-11 at the Wayback Machine <a href="/wiki/Internet_Assigned_Numbers_Authority" target="_blank">/wiki/Internet_Assigned_Numbers_Authority</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Center for sign language research: Bibliography Archived 2012-12-24 at the Wayback Machine <a href="http://www.fzgresearch.org/bibliography.html" target="_blank">http://www.fzgresearch.org/bibliography.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 10:1.215–88.[1] Archived 2019-04-12 at the Wayback Machine <a href="/wiki/Henri_Wittmann" target="_blank">/wiki/Henri_Wittmann</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Braem, Penny Boyes: Gebärdenspracharbeit in der Schweiz: Rückblick und Ausblick Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Hamburg: Zeitschrift für Sprache und Kultur Gehörloser <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260118508_Gebrdenspracharbeit_in_der_Schweiz_Rckblick_und_Ausblick" target="_blank">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260118508_Gebrdenspracharbeit_in_der_Schweiz_Rckblick_und_Ausblick</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Braem, Penny Boyes: Gebärdenspracharbeit in der Schweiz: Rückblick und Ausblick Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Hamburg: Zeitschrift für Sprache und Kultur Gehörloser <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260118508_Gebrdenspracharbeit_in_der_Schweiz_Rckblick_und_Ausblick" target="_blank">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260118508_Gebrdenspracharbeit_in_der_Schweiz_Rckblick_und_Ausblick</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>