Armenian Woman's Sign Language, also known as Caucasian Sign Language or ''Harsneren'' (, "bride's language"), is an indigenous
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 ...
of
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
. It is not directly related to the sign languages of Europe, though it may have historical connections to
monastic sign language. It developed under marriage
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 ...
s similar to those operating in Aboriginal Australia (see
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 ...
), and is now defunct.
Under the strict
patriarchal society then existing in Armenia, a newly married woman was not allowed to speak in the presence of her husband, in-laws and certain other people. She could make simple communication using ''Harsneren''. A study of the language took place in
Tavush Province
Tavush ( hy, Տավուշ, ) is a province of Armenia located at the northeast of Armenia, bordered by Georgia from the north and Azerbaijan from the east. Internally, Tavush borders the Gegharkunik Province from the south, Kotayk Province from ...
in the 1930s.
The
deaf
Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...
community now has its own sign language, known as
Armenian Sign Language
Armenian Sign Language is the deaf sign language of Armenia.
Classification
Wittmann (1991) Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 1 ...
.
See also
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Armenian language
Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken th ...
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Languages of Armenia
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List of sign languages
References
{{sign language navigation
Languages of Armenia
Non-deaf sign languages
hr:Armenski znakovni jezik
pt:Língua gestual armeniana