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Everything about British Sign Language

Sign language used in the United Kingdom

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. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' on the 2011 Scottish Census, the British Deaf Association estimates there are 151,000 BSL users in the UK, of whom 87,000 are Deaf. People who are not deaf may also use BSL, as hearing relatives of deaf people, sign language interpreters or as a result of other contact with the British Deaf community. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face and head. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: British Sign LanguageA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Recognizing British Sign Language Using Deep Learning: A Contactless and Privacy-Preserving ApproachInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: SmiLE TherapyThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: Iconicity in Signed and Spoken Vocabulary: A Comparison Between American Sign Language, British Sign Language, English, and SpanishCited 88 times
  5. Go sideways: Signature (charity)A closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: GCSEA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

No dictionary entry for this exact phrase.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Usage
  2. Recognition and status
  3. Dialects
  4. Classification
  5. History
  6. Linguistics
  7. Learning British Sign Language

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics