History of SignWriting in Spain
 

Madrid

Over 2000 Spanish signs from Madrid were typed into the SignWriter Computer Program's Spanish Sign Language Dictionary in 1996 by Steve and Dianne Parkhurst, two hearing American linguists, working with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). The Summer Institute is connected with the Wycliffe Bible Translators. Steve and Dianne were first participants in the Summer Insistute's Mexican Sign Language Project in 1994.

Dianne and Steve decided to move to Madrid, Spain, in 1995 to record the Spanish Sign Language. The Parkhursts informed Valerie Sutton, SignWriting's inventor, that Spanish Sign Language had some handshapes that were not yet incorporated into the SignWriter Computer Program. So...Valerie worked to add the necessary handshapes to the software, which took two months. The result was SignWriter, version 4.3, completed in August, 1995, which supported the changes needed to record Spanish Sign Language and Portuguese Sign Language.

Steve & Dianne Parkhurst
steve-dianne_parkhurst@SIL.ORG
 


 

Alicante
Around August 1995, a Spanish linguist, Irma Maria Muños Baell, in Alicante, Spain, decided to use SignWriting to record Spanish Sign Language handshapes, as a part of her thesis at the University of Alicante. Since 1995, Irma Maria has worked closely with the DAC, giving advice on new handshapes and translating SignWriting manuals into Spanish and Spanish Sign Language. For more information contact:

Irma Maria Muños Baell
Irmamu@ua.es

 


 

 
Spanish Sign Language Project Update 1998
Steve and Dianne Parkhurst

In January of 1995, Steve and Dianne arrived in Spain to begin a survey of the sign language situation. The Parkhursts work with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and a local Spanish organization, the Promotora Española de Lingüística (PROEL).

Their first task was to determine how many sign languages exist in Spain and if there are major dialectical differences throughout the country. To do this they first spent nine months learning some of the sign language as it is used in Madrid. Next, they traveled throughout the country gathering word lists and video recordings of the sign language. They compared word lists from 18 different cities to get an idea of the wide dialectical differences in the sign lexicons. They also used video recordings of the sign language in six cities to test how well people from each of these cities understand the signing from the other cities.

As a result of this testing, they concluded that there is a distinct dialect of sign language in nearly every major city that has an active Deaf community. They found that the varieties of sign language used in the cities within a region are more similar to each other than they are to the varieties used in cities from other regions of the country. They also found that the sign language used in the region of Cataluña is quite different from the other varieties and may even be considered a separate language.

In addition to the survey work, they have been involved in other linguistic activities. In June of 1997, they helped a Deaf federation organize the "First National Conference of Sign Language Linguistics," where they joined other linguists encouraging Deaf people to be involved in the study of their own language. They have also participated in several other conferences in Spain and England.

Their current project is to introduce and promote a system for reading and writing sign language called SignWriting. This system, invented and developed by Valerie Sutton and the Deaf Action Committee, is used to a limited degree in more than a dozen countries. Steve and Dianne have been working with Irma Maria Muñoz Baell to translate materials into Spanish and adapt the system to the sign languages of Spain. They hope to help teach a literacy course using this system in the fall of 1998.

Steve & Dianne Parkhurst
steve-dianne_parkhurst@SIL.ORG

 

 

...for more information contact...

MADRID
Steve & Dianne Parkhurst
steve-dianne_parkhurst@SIL.ORG


ALICANTE
Irma Maria Muños Baell
Irmamu@ua.es

 

...SignWriting in Spain Directory...