British Sign Language
E45832
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.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| 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 (12)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
Auslan