New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It is soon to become an official language of New Zealand, alongside Māori and New Zealand English. Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... BANZSL, or British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language, is the name given to the parent language which British Sign Language (BSL), Auslan and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) may be considered dialects of. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2:1998 Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code Twenty-two of the languages have two three-letter codes: a code for bibliographic use (ISO 639-2/B) a code for terminological use (ISO 639-2/T). ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... A sign language (also signed language) is a language which uses manual communication instead of sound to convey meaning - simultaneously combining handshapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speakers thoughts. ... Sign language is not universal. ... Deaf community and Deaf culture are two phrases used to refer to persons who are culturally Deaf as opposed to those who are deaf from the medical/audiological/pathological perspective. ... Māori (or Maori or Te Reo) is the Polynesian language spoken in New Zealand, where it has official status. ... New Zealand English is the dialect of English spoken in New Zealand, occasionally referred to within New Zealand as Newzild. ...

New Zealand Sign Language has its roots in British Sign Language (BSL), and may be technically considered a dialect of British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language (BANZSL). British sign language (BSL) is the sign language used in the United Kingdom (UK). ... BANZSL, or British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language, is the name given to the parent language which British Sign Language (BSL), Auslan and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) may be considered dialects of. ...

It uses the same two-handed manual alphabet as British Sign Language and Auslan, Australian Sign Language. Auslan is the sign language used by the Australian Deaf community. ...

New Zealand Sign Language in action

Interpreters are sometimes used at public performances, such as the Classical Sparks and Starry Nights events held in Christchurch, to communicate to people who cannot hear what the Masters or Mistresses of Ceremonies are saying. An interpreter is a practitioner of interpreting, an activity that consists of establishing, either simultaneously or consecutively, oral or gestural communications between two or more speakers who are not speaking (or signing) the same language. ... Situated on the Eastern coast, Christchurch is the principal city of the South Island of New Zealand. ... A Master of Ceremonies or MC (sometimes spelled emcee) is the host of a staged event or other performance. ...

Interpreters cannot translate every single word people say, so some words are missed out or abbreviated to cope with the speed. Not every word has a sign, so there is a need for fingerspelling. Also, some of the words are fingerspelt to avoid confusion - June and July, for example. Fingerspelling is also required when a sign is not understood by the deaf person. The reader concentrates on the facial expression and lip-reads the word while using peripheral vision to read the fingers. A manual alphabet is a system of representing all the letters of an alphabet, using only the hands. ... Peripheral vision is a part of vision that occurs outside the very center of gaze. ...

The syntax (structure of sentences) is different in NZSL from that of English. For example, "what's your name" in English is "you name what" in NZSL. Syntax, originating from the Greek words συν (syn, meaning co- or together) and τάξις (táxis, meaning sequence, order, arrangement), can in linguistics be described as the study of the rules, or patterned relations that govern the way the words in a sentence come together. ...

Official language status

NZSL is soon to become the third official language of New Zealand, having passed its third reading on April 6 2006^[1]. It will join English and Māori. At the first reading, on June 22, 2004, it was supported by all political parties. It was referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee, which reported back to the House on July 18, 2005. The second reading passed 119 to 2 on February 23, 2006 with only the ACT party opposing. ^[2] ACT opposed because: April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Māori (or Maori or Te Reo) is the Polynesian language spoken in New Zealand, where it has official status. ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 166 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ACT New Zealand is a free market liberal party in the New Zealand Parliament. ...

• The government is not planning to fund services to support NZSL
• The bill recognises only a language, not the whole deaf community
• Not that many people know NZSL
• Users of other languages may want official status too
• Spending money on treating deafness may be a better idea

The bill is still to receive its Royal Assent, a constitutional formality. New Zealand Sign Language will become an official language of New Zealand the day after Royal Assent. The granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, or the Sovereigns representative in Commonwealth Realms, completes the process of the enactment of legislation by formally assenting to an Act of Parliament. ...

The use of NZSL as a valid medium of instruction has not always been an accepted view by the Government, the Association of Teachers of the Deaf, and many parents. However, in light of much research into its validity as a language and much advocacy by deaf adults, parents of deaf children (both hearing and deaf) and educationalists, NZSL has since become — in tandem with English — part of the bilingual/bicultural approach used in public schools (including Kelston Deaf Education Centre and Van Asch Deaf Education Centre) since 1994. Victoria University of Wellington has courses in New Zealand Sign Language, although it has yet to develop a major in it. Kelston Deaf Education Centre is located in Archibald Road, Kelston, Auckland, New Zealand. ... van Asch Deaf Education Centre (VADEC) is located in Truro Street, Sumner, Christchurch. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 as the fifth constituent college of the University of New Zealand by an Act of Parliament. ... An academic major is a mainly U.S. term for a university students main field of specialisation during his or her bachelors degree studies. ...

Dialects

Differences in lexicon in New Zealand Sign Language have largely developed through the student communities surrounding four schools for the deaf in New Zealand:

• Van Asch Deaf Education Centre (former Sumner School for the Deaf), opened 1880
• St Dominic's School for the Deaf, opened 1944 in Wellington, moved to Feilding in 1953
• Titirangi School for the Deaf, opened 1944
• Kelston School for the Deaf, opened 1958

van Asch Deaf Education Centre (VADEC) is located in Truro Street, Sumner, Christchurch. ... Kelston Deaf Education Centre is located in Archibald Road, Kelston, Auckland, New Zealand. ...

References

1. ↑ "Recognition for sign language", TVNZ
2. ↑ New Zealand Sign Language Bill