Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2004
408 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his meaning when he said in a letter that there are two forms of sign language; and if he will identify them, prove the authenticity of the second language and state his sources. [20006/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI take it that the Deputy is referring to correspondence concerning Irish sign language in reply to which I said, inter alia, that there were two forms of sign language in use here. I said this because as well as Irish sign language, ISL, the national language of deaf people, there is also signed English. Much of the difference between the two forms is syntactical and grammatical, the latter being close to the English language in this respect. I understand also that there is a commonality of base vocabulary between the two forms.
The reply is based on a general understanding of the position. However, the Deputy may also wish to refer to McDonnell, J. 1997 —The lexicon and vocabulary of Signed English or Manually Coded English: Teanga 17. Dublin: ITE, or O’Baoill, D. P. and Matthews, P. A. 2000 — The Irish Deaf Community, Volume 2: The Structure of Irish Sign Language. Dublin: ITE, for more information.
