Turkish Sign Language () is the language used by 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 in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. As with other

sign languages 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. Sig ...

, TİD has a unique grammar that is different from the oral languages used in the region. TİD uses a two-handed

manual alphabet Fingerspelling (or dactylology) is the representation of the letters of a writing system, and sometimes numeral systems, using only the hands. These manual alphabets (also known as finger alphabets or hand alphabets) have often been used in deaf ...

which is very different from the two-handed alphabets used in the

BANZSL British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language (BANZSL, ), or the British Sign Language (BSL) family, is a language family or grouping encompassing three related sign languages: British Sign Language, Auslan and New Zealand Sign Language (NZ ...

sign languages. It also uses the tongue in certain phrases.

Grammar

There is little published information on Turkish Sign Language. Turkish Sign Language exhibits a subject-object-verb order (SOV). There is a rich set of modal verbs which appear in a clause-final position.

Signing communities

According to the

Turkish Statistical Institute Turkish Statistical Institute (commonly known as TurkStat; or TÜİK) is the Turkish government agency commissioned with producing official statistics on Turkey, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It was founded in 1926 an ...

, there are a total of 89,000 people (54,000 male, 35,000 female) with

hearing impairment Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to Hearing, hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to Lang ...

and 55,000 people (35,000 male, 21,000 female) with speaking disability living in Turkey, based on 2000 census data.

History

TİD is dissimilar from European sign languages. There was a court sign language of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, which reached its height in the 16th century and 17th centuries and lasted at least until the early 20th. However, there is no record of the signs themselves and no evidence the language was ancestral to modern Turkish Sign Language. Deaf schools were established in 1902, and until 1953 used TİD alongside the Turkish spoken and written language in education.Deringil, S. (2002). İktidarın Sembolleri ve İdeoloji: II. Abdülhamid Dönemi (1876–1909), YKY, İstanbul, 249. Since 1953 Turkey has adopted an

oralist Oralism is the education of deaf students through oral language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech.Through Deaf Eyes. Diane Garey, Lawrence R. Hott. DVD, PBS (Direct), 2007. Oralism ca ...

approach to deaf education.

References

External links

Turkish Sign Language
(Turkish and English) Website including dictionary and general information, by the

Turkish Academy of Sciences The Turkish Academy of Sciences ( – TÜBA) is an autonomous scholarly association aimed at promoting scientific activities in Turkey. Although it is attached to the office of the Presidency and is largely funded by the government, it maintains f ...

and Koç University
Turkish National Deaf Federation
homepage (Turkish and English). {{sign-lang-stub Sign languages Sign language isolates Languages of Turkey Disability in Turkey Sign languages of Turkey Language isolates of Asia Language isolates of Europe

Grammar

Signing communities

History

See also

References

External links