In this picture – this showed you a different kind of sign languages, and it is not related to our Deaf Sign Language. The photo showed signs of each letter in the dark while the light such as a torch pointing toward the hands in front of the wall.

The sign languages by many Deaf people are not a universal language, and they are not mutually intelligible.  The sign languages are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning. In the sign language, there is grammar and lexicons in the Deaf people’s tongues. It is different to English grammar systems such as ‘school, I go.’ The sign language is a combination of hand shapes, body movements and facial expressions.

Around the world, there are about 271 sign languages today and in the Ethnologue, http://www.ethnologue.com/ listed 138 sign languages by the Deaf communities.  In New Zealand, we are using New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL)  and this language is an official language since 2006. Our NZSL is closely related to Australia and Britain Sign languages which called ‘BANZSL’. BANZSL stand for British, Australia and New Zealand Sign Language and can be considered a dialect.  Because they share most of the signs, the same manual alphabet and the same grammar.  Have a look at the video – our NZSL alphabet https://youtu.be/xiRqC-aM5xM

How did our NZSL come to New Zealand?