The International Day of Sign Languages is celebrated on September 23 by the United Nations. The International Day of Sign Languages is commemorated on this day since the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) was founded on this day in 1951, as a result of efforts by the WFD in 2017.
Did you know there are around 72 million deaf individuals in the world? The World Federation of the Deaf provided this data. Over 300 distinct sign languages are used by these people together. Many people are unaware that sign languages are natural languages in their own right.
They should be accorded just as much credit and significance as spoken language, despite their structural differences. In addition, there is an international sign language. Deaf individuals utilize this when mingling, traveling, and attending international meetings.
HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SIGN LANGUAGES
Sign languages are visual languages that transmit messages. It is unknown how many of these languages exist on the globe. In general, each country has its own sign language. Some countries, in fact, have more than one. You might be interested in learning more about sign languages’ history. These languages have been used by deaf people throughout history. In reality, Plato’s Cratylus, published in the 15th century BC, has one of the oldest recorded accounts of sign language.
Socrates says the following in this context: “If we didn’t have a voice or a tongue and wanted to communicate with one another, wouldn’t we try to make signals by moving our hands, heads, and the rest of our bodies, much like stupid people do now?”
Not much was known about historical sign languages until the 19th century. The data was restricted to fingerspelling systems, often known as manual alphabets. These were created to translate words from a spoken language to a sign language. Pedro Ponce de Leon is considered to have invented the first manual alphabet.
This is one of the fewer recent days that is observed throughout the world, with the inaugural International Day of Sign Languages occurring on September 23, 2018. The date was chosen since it marks the anniversary of the founding of the World Federation of the Deaf in 1951. Every year the day has a new theme. In 2018, for example, the subject was “With Sign Language, Everyone Is Included.”
The topic for 2019 was “Sign Language Rights for All!” It is good to learn about the topic each year, since it can help you learn about alternative methods to mark the day. For example, in 2019, knowing about the many rights of individuals who use sign language would have been an excellent approach to broaden your knowledge and raise awareness. In fact, nothing prevents you from doing so right now!
5 AWESOME FACTS ABOUT SIGN LANGUAGES
THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND
Fourth most used language in the U.K. Over 125,000 adults in the United Kingdom use British Sign Language, and many more know how to communicate with it — British Sign Language is the primary language of 15,000 individuals in England and Wales.
Different countries have their own versions Despite the fact that both the United Kingdom and the United States speak English, their sign languages are extremely different — regional differences in sign language can also be discovered, similar to how accents and dialects are represented in speech.
It uses more than just hand gestures British Sign Language, in addition to ‘signs,’ uses facial expressions, gestures, and body language to communicate — sign language has its own grammatical system, which has distinct sentence patterns than spoken English.
Deaf people have ‘name signs’ Many people who communicate using sign language use a single sign to indicate their name rather than signing out the separate letters — this 'name sign' is personal to the individual and is similar to a nickname.
It isn’t as difficult to learn as it looks Sign language appears to be a difficult means of communication, but there is a reason why it is used by so many people all over the world: learning it is very simple if you have the proper teacher and are taught in the correct manner.