British Sign Language

E45832

language of the United Kingdom natural language sign language

British Sign Language is the primary sign language used by Deaf communities in the United Kingdom, with its own distinct grammar, vocabulary, and historical development separate from spoken English.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
British Sign Language canonical	30
British Sign Language (partially)	1
Old British Sign Language	1

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	language of the United Kingdom ⓘ natural language ⓘ sign language ⓘ
country	United Kingdom ⓘ
estimatedNumberOfUsers	tens of thousands of native signers in the UK ⓘ
glottocode	brit1235 ⓘ
hasAbbreviation	BSL ⓘ
hasCulturalRole	core element of Deaf culture in the United Kingdom ⓘ
hasDialect	Scottish BSL dialects ⓘ Welsh BSL dialects ⓘ regional dialects in England ⓘ
hasFingerspellingSystem	two-handed manual alphabet ⓘ
hasGrammar	distinct from spoken English ⓘ
hasMediaRepresentation	BSL interpreted news on UK television ⓘ
hasModalityFeature	uses handshape, movement, location, orientation, and facial expression ⓘ
hasOrganization	British Deaf Association ⓘ Signature (UK awarding body for BSL qualifications) ⓘ
hasOwnMorphology	yes ⓘ
hasOwnPhonology	yes ⓘ
hasOwnSyntax	yes ⓘ
hasRegionalVariation	yes ⓘ
hasVocabulary	distinct from spoken English ⓘ
hasWordOrder	topic-comment structures are common ⓘ
hasWritingSystem	no widely used standardized writing system ⓘ
influencedBy	French Sign Language family historically ⓘ Old British sign varieties ⓘ
influences	Australian Sign Language ⓘ New Zealand Sign Language ⓘ
isMutuallyIntelligibleWith	Australian Sign Language ⓘ New Zealand Sign Language ⓘ
isNot	a dialect of American Sign Language ⓘ manually coded English ⓘ
ISO639-3Code	bfi ⓘ
languageFamily	British Sign Language family ⓘ
languageStatus	recognized minority language in the United Kingdom ⓘ
legalStatus	recognized in UK law by the British Sign Language Act 2022 ⓘ recognized in the UK in 2003 as a language in its own right ⓘ
notMutuallyIntelligibleWith	American Sign Language ⓘ spoken English ⓘ
primaryUsers	Deaf community in the United Kingdom ⓘ hard of hearing people in the United Kingdom ⓘ
usedFor	broadcasting and media access in the UK ⓘ education of Deaf children in the UK ⓘ interpreting in public services in the UK ⓘ
usedIn	England ⓘ Scotland ⓘ Wales ⓘ parts of Northern Ireland ⓘ
usedInEducationPolicy	UK Deaf education settings ⓘ
usesModality	visual-gestural ⓘ

Referenced by (32)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

New Zealand Sign Language → sharesAncestryWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

New Zealand Sign Language → hasLexicalInfluenceFrom → British Sign Language ⓘ

BANZSL → hasMember → British Sign Language ⓘ

BANZSL → sharesHistoricalOriginWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

BANZSL → languageFamilyOf → British Sign Language ⓘ

BANZSL → sharesLexiconWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

BANZSL → sharesTwoHandedAlphabetWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

BANZSL → sharesManySignsWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

BANZSL → relatedTo → British Sign Language ⓘ

this entity surface form: Old British Sign Language

Jamaican Sign Language → differentFrom → British Sign Language ⓘ

Australian Sign Language → developedFrom → British Sign Language ⓘ

subject surface form: Auslan

Finnish Sign Language → notMutuallyIntelligibleWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

American Sign Language → notMutuallyIntelligibleWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

Japanese Sign Language → isNotMutuallyIntelligibleWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language family → includesLanguage → British Sign Language ⓘ

British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language family → sharesHistoricalOriginWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language family → sharesLinguisticFeaturesWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language family → notableMemberLanguage → British Sign Language ⓘ

Auslan → closelyRelatedTo → British Sign Language ⓘ

Auslan → influencedBy → British Sign Language ⓘ

British Deaf Association → primaryLanguageOfWork → British Sign Language ⓘ

British Deaf Association → usesSignLanguage → British Sign Language ⓘ

Signature (UK awarding body for BSL qualifications) → primaryLanguageFocus → British Sign Language ⓘ

subject surface form: Signature

Signature (UK awarding body for BSL qualifications) → offersQualificationType → British Sign Language ⓘ

subject surface form: Signature

BSL → fullName → British Sign Language ⓘ

JSL → hasLexicalBorrowingFrom → British Sign Language ⓘ

subject surface form: Jamaican Sign Language

JSL → isMutuallyIntelligibleWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

subject surface form: Jamaican Sign Language

this entity surface form: British Sign Language (partially)

International Sign → isDifferentFrom → British Sign Language ⓘ

Irish Sign Language → isDistinctFrom → British Sign Language ⓘ

Irish Sign Language → isNotMutuallyIntelligibleWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

South African Sign Language → notSameAs → British Sign Language ⓘ

Swedish Sign Language (historically) → notMutuallyIntelligibleWith → British Sign Language ⓘ

subject surface form: Swedish Sign Language