Danish Sign Language ( da, Dansk tegnsprog, DTS) is the

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

used in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Classification

Henri Wittmann Henri Wittmann (born 1937) is a Canadian linguist from Quebec. He is best known for his work on Quebec French. Biography Henri (Hirsch) Wittmann was born in Alsace in 1937. After studying with André Martinet at the Sorbonne, he moved to North Am ...

(1991) Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 10:1.215–8

/ref> assigned DSL to the

French Sign Language family The French Sign Language (LSF, from ''langue des signes française'') or Francosign family is a language family of sign languages which includes French Sign Language and American Sign Language. The LSF family descends from Old French Sign Langua ...

because of similarities in vocabulary. Peter Atke Castberg studied deaf education in Europe for two years (1803–1805), including at l'Épée's school in Paris, and founded the first deaf school in Denmark in 1807, where Danish Sign Language (DTS) developed. The exact relationship between DTS and

Old French Sign Language Old French Sign Language (french: Vieille langue des signes française, often abbreviated as VLSF) was the language of the deaf community in 18th-century Paris at the time of the establishment of the first deaf schools. The earliest records of ...

(VLSF) is not known; Castberg was critical of l'Épée's 'methodical signs' and also receptive to local sign language in 1807, and may thus have introduced signs from VLSF to a pre-existing local language (or

home sign Home sign (or kitchen sign) is a gestural communication system, often invented spontaneously by a deaf child who lacks accessible linguistic input. Home sign systems often arise in families where a deaf child is raised by hearing parents and is iso ...

(s)) rather than derived DTS from VLSF itself. In any case, Castberg introduced a one-handed manual alphabet in 1808 that was based on the

Spanish manual alphabet An early representation of the Spanish manual alphabet, engraved by Francisco de Paula Martí Mora (1761–1827) and published in 1815. Of an edition of 300, the only surviving copy is in the Biblioteca de Catalunya in Barcelona Barcelona ...

. In 1977, the

Danish Deaf Association The Danish Deaf Association (, DDL) is a private advocacy group which works to ensure better living conditions for deaf people in society. It campaigns for equality between deaf and hearing people in education, paid employment and accessibility ...

adopted 'the international manual alphabet', which was an almost exact copy of the

American manual alphabet The American Manual Alphabet (AMA) is a manual alphabet that augments the vocabulary of American Sign Language. Letters and digits The letters and digits are signed as follows. In informal contexts, the handshapes are not made as distinctly as the ...

, with minor differences and additional signs for the æ, ø and å.

Norwegian Sign Language Norwegian Sign Language, or NSL (Norwegian or , ''NTS''), is the principal sign language in Norway. There are many sign language organizations and some television programs broadcast in NSL in Norway. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation airs ...

is generally thought to be a descendant of DSL. However, it may well be a mixture of DSL and indigenous sign, parallel to the situation between

Swedish Sign Language Swedish Sign Language (SSL; ) is the sign language used in Sweden. It is recognized by the Swedish government as the country's official sign language, and hearing parents of deaf individuals are entitled to access state-sponsored classes that f ...

and

Finnish Sign Language Finnish Sign Language () is the sign language most commonly used in Finland. There are 3,000 ''(2012 estimate)'' Finnish deaf who have Finnish Sign Language as a first language. As the Finnish system records users by their written language, not ...

Brita Bergman Brita Elisabeth Bergman (b. Jonsson, 30 March 1946) is a Swedish emeritus professor specializing in the linguistics of signed languages. She initiated a line of research in signed language linguistics at the Department of Linguistics at Stockhol ...

& Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen, 2010. ''Transmission of sign languages in the Nordic countries.'' In Brentari, ed., ''Sign Languages''. Cambridge University Press.

Icelandic Sign Language Icelandic Sign Language ( is, Íslenskt táknmál) is the sign language of the deaf community in Iceland. It is based on Danish Sign Language; until 1910, deaf Icelandic people were sent to school in Denmark, but the languages have diverged sinc ...

is closer; 37% of a set of analyzed signs (Aldersson 2006) were completely different in structure and a further 16% were similar but not the same. Faroese Sign Language and Greenlandic Sign Language are more clearly dialects of DSL.

References

External links

Ordbog over Dansk Tegnsprog
A free online DSL dictionary. * Aldersson, Russell R. and Lisa J. McEntee-Atalianis. 2007. A Lexical Comparison of Icelandic Sign Language and Danish Sign Language. ''Birkbeck Studies in Applied Linguistics'' Vol 2
A Lexical Comparison of Icelandic Sign Language and Danish Sign Language
Sign Language Studies , October 1, 2008 , Aldersson, Russell R; McEntee-Atalianis, Lisa J , 700+ words French Sign Language family Danish Sign Language family Languages of Denmark Languages of the Faroe Islands Languages of Greenland {{Denmark-stub