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Sign Language Dictionaries

Sign Language Dictionaries. Geoffrey Hunt. Why do Deaf people need sign language dictionaries?. To learn the meaning of a sign without needing to know a written language – monolingual dictionary To see how a good signer signs

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Sign Language Dictionaries

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  1. Sign Language Dictionaries Geoffrey Hunt

  2. Why do Deaf people need sign language dictionaries? • To learn the meaning of a sign without needing to know a written language – monolingual dictionary • To see how a good signer signs • To help Deaf people who can only occasionally meet with other Deaf people, e.g. Colombia • To keep a record of specialist terminology, e.g. biblical key terms • To record different dialects • To help Deaf people learn to write words and sentences

  3. Why do hearing people need a sign language dictionary? • To help them learn a sign language. • To help them appreciate that sign languages are real languages • To keep a record of the sign language • To investigate how sign languages change

  4. How should dictionaries be shown? • Some have use pictures or drawings, e.g. documents from Ad • Some have used SignWriting, particularly on the Internet (www.signbank.org/signpuddle/) • Some have used video, often on the Internet, e.g. Danish SL dictionary (http://tegnsprog.dk/). • these are for a single sign languages

  5. What do we really need in a sign language dictionary? • Can be used for any sign language in the world • Deaf access without needing to use a written language • Video is preferable, because it shows all the details • There should be • signs, • signed sentences • signed explanations

  6. Oxford English Dictionary

  7. Written dictionaries contain … • Word • Part of speech • Explanation of meaning • Different senses • Example phrases • Different meaning in different countries • Derivation • Recordings (computerised dictionaries)

  8. SIL’s software for making SL dictionaries • I felt that a dictionary that could be used for any sign language was very important. • However, we needed some way to represent the components of a sign: • Only SignWriting, but … • But they also provide pictures of handshapes … • At present only a beta version, can be used on a computer & supplied by DVD • Web version is planned

  9. Now the software … • Monolingual, Bilingual, etc. • Dialects of sign languages • Can produce: • general dictionaries for a sign language • specialist dictionaries, e.g. key biblical terms in a SL • Now let’s play!

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