British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom and is the first or preferred language among the deaf community in the UK. It is a visual language that uses a combination of hand gestures, facial expressions, and body language to communicate meaning. BSL has its own grammatical structure and syntax, and it is not dependent on spoken English. It was recognized by the UK government as a language in its own right in March 2003.
Some key facts about BSL include:
- BSL is used by nearly 90,000 deaf individuals in the UK, and in over 150,000 homes when you include hearing users such as relatives and interpreters.
- BSL has regional dialects and variations, and it uses a two-handed fingerspelling system.
- BSL is considered to be a dialect of British, Australian, and New Zealand Sign Language (BANZSL), and it shares the same manual alphabet, grammar, and the majority of its lexicons with Australian Sign Language (Auslan) and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) .
BSL is distinct from American Sign Language (ASL), which is used by deaf communities in the United States. While ASL and BSL share some similarities, such as common grammatical structures and non-manual components like facial expressions, they are completely separate and distinct languages that cannot be understood by each others users.
