Yolŋu (Yolngu) or Murngin Sign Language is a ritual
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 by the
Yolngu, an
Aboriginal community in the Arnhem Land region of
Australia. As with other
Australian Aboriginal sign languages
Many Australian Aboriginal cultures have or traditionally had a manually coded language, a signed counterpart of their oral language. This appears to be connected with various speech taboos between certain kin or at particular times, such as ...
, YSL was developed by the hearing for use when oral speech is forbidden, as during mourning or between certain family relations. (See
speech taboo
Avoidance speech is a group of sociolinguistic phenomena in which a special restricted speech style must be used in the presence of or in reference to certain relatives. Avoidance speech is found in many Australian Aboriginal languages and Aust ...
.) However, "YSL is not a signed version of any spoken Yolngu language... YSL also serves as a primary means of communication for a number of deaf members in Yolngu communities... YSL functions as both an alternate and primary sign language". That is, it is used for communicating to the deaf, but also when communicating at a distance, when hunting, or when ceremonies require silence. It was acquired from birth by the hearing population. YSL is now considered an
endangered language
An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead langu ...
.
Endangered language
/ref>
See also
*Warlpiri Sign Language
Warlpiri Sign Language, also known as Rdaka-rdaka (''hand signs''), is a sign language used by the Warlpiri, an Aboriginal community in the central desert region of Australia. It is one of the most elaborate, and certainly the most studied, of ...
Citations
References
Yolngu Sign Language
project at the University of Central Lancashire
* Kendon, Adam (1988) ''Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: cultural, semiotic, and communicative perspective.'' Cambridge University Press.
* Warner, W. Lloyd (1937) "Murngin Sign Language", ''A Black Civilization''. New York: Harper and Row, pp. 389–392.
* Bauer, Anastasia (2014) "The use of signing space in a shared sign language of Australia", Sign Language Typology 5, De Gruyter Mouton & Ishara Press. Berlin & Nijmegen.
External links
ISO request to recognize Yan-nhaŋu Sign Language as a distinct language
Australian Aboriginal Sign Language family
Yolŋu languages
Sign languages
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lv:Varlpiri žestu valoda