Hong Kong Sign Language
| Hong Kong Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| 香港手语 | |
| Native to | Hong Kong |
Native speakers | 20,000 (2007)[1] |
Chinese Sign Language
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hks |
| ELP | Hong Kong Sign Language |
Hong Kong Sign Language (香港手語), or HKSL, is the deaf sign language of Hong Kong. It derived from the southern dialect of Chinese Sign Language, but is now an independent language.[2] Macau Sign Language is a dialect.[citation needed]
Origins
The origin of HKSL can be traced back to around 1949, when a group of 20 odd deaf people who moved from Shanghai and Nanjing to Hong Kong started some tutorial classes to teach the local deaf. Chinese sign language was the main medium of instruction, which led to the circulation of CSL among the local deaf community, who adapted the language by developing their own signs with new ideas, concepts or things they encounter in their lives. This led to a further development of the vocabulary of Hong Kong Sign Language. A few decades ago, local deaf people seldom interacted with their overseas counterparts, thus the development of Hong Kong sign language was largely associated with that of Chinese sign language. However, as time passed, more and more Hong Kong deaf people went abroad for travel, study or other social purposes, bringing back with them foreign signs when they returned. Some of these signs, such as the American manual alphabet, were borrowed and adopted this way.[3]
Elements for learning Hong Kong Sign Language
Hand-shape
Hand-shape is how the hand is being held when signing. There are around 40 to 50 basic hand-shapes in Hong Kong sign language.
Location
Location refers to the position of the hand when signing. For example, the forehead, lip etc. The most frequent signing location is the space in front of the body. Sometimes, the meanings of the signs with the same hand-shape(s) and movement can be different if they are performed in different locations.
Orientation
Orientation refers to the direction(s) of the hand(s) when signing. For example, from inward to outward, from left to right, from above to below.
Movement
Movement refers to the particular movement of fingers, palms, waists or arms.
Mouth movements
Sometimes, signers may speak or mouth the word while signing in order to express their ideas more clearly. For example, when signing the name of a place like Central, the signer may sign and mouth the word Central at the same time. This practice may be related to the signers' past training in speech and lip-reading. Nevertheless, it should be noted that sometimes the mouth movement of signers bears no relation to the spoken language. The movement itself can be part of the sign.
Facial expression
Facial expression forms part of the sign. It is observed that deaf people have included much facial expressions when signing. Beginners of sign language are often not used to showing facial expressions. Sometimes they feel embarrassed to show it freely when signing in public. Such hesitation has prevented them from learning sign language efficiently as well as communicating effectively with the deaf.
Sentence structure
The sentence structure of Hong Kong sign language differs from that of the spoken language.
External links
- Chinese Sign Language: by Elizabeth T. Yeh, 10/28/04
- Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Sign Language Browser
- Hong Kong Sign Language Association
- Hong Kong Society for the Deaf
- Then & Now: Sign Language in Hong Kong by Jason Wordie
- Sign Bilingualism and Deaf Education in Hong Kong
References
- ^ Hong Kong Sign Language at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
- ^ Fischer, S.; Gong, Q. (2010). "Variation in East Asian sign language structures". In Brentari, Diane. Sign Languages. p. 499. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511712203.023. ISBN 9780511712203.
- ^ Hong Kong Sign Language (Elementary),(2005). Eds. Chan Yuk-Kuen, Lai Wing-sze, Siu Wai-yan Rebecca. Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Society for the Deaf.
