Albanian Sign Language
In the world of Albanian Sign Language, there are endless aspects and details worth exploring. From its origins to its impact today, Albanian Sign Language has captured the attention of millions of people around the world. Whether through history, science, music, art or any other field, Albanian Sign Language continues to be a topic of interest to people of all ages and cultures. In this article, we will delve into the different aspects of Albanian Sign Language, exploring its many facets and analyzing its influence on today's society. From its beginnings to the present, Albanian Sign Language has left an indelible mark on history and will surely remain relevant for future generations.
| Albanian Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| AlbSL | |
| Gjuha e Shqipe e Shenjave | |
| Native to | Albania |
Native speakers | 24,000 (2007)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sqk |
| Glottolog | alba1271 |
Albanian Sign Language (AlbSL, Albanian: Gjuha e Shenjave Shqipe) is one of the deaf sign languages of Europe. It is unrelated to other sign languages of the Balkans.
It is relatively young, having developed primarily since the collapse of Communism in 1990. During the communist era, deaf people did not associate with each other on a regular basis. Their communication was primarily with hearing people, and so was strongly influenced by Albanian, with extensive use of fingerspelling and initialized signs, along with some gestures borrowed from hearing people. After the collapse of communism, deaf people began to congregate and a fully-fledged sign language developed. They invented new signs to replace the former use of fingerspelling, and also came into contact with International Sign and other European sign languages, resulting in numerous loan words. The language continues to change rapidly, with innovations tending to radiate from the capital, Tirana, to rural areas.[2]
References
- ^ Albanian Sign Language at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Hoyer, Karin (2007). "Albanian Sign Language: Language contact, International Sign, and gesture". In Quinto-Pozos, David (ed.). Sign Languages in Contact. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press. pp. 195–234. ISBN 978-1-56368-356-5.
