Celebrating Sign Language
Context:
The “Sign Language Day” was celebrated on September 23rd in New Delhi.
Relevance:
GS-02 (Health, Government policies and interventions)
The World Sign Language Day:
- Theme: “A world where deaf people can sign anywhere.”
- Meaning: Sign language uses intricate delicate visual-gestural communication systems associating their own meaning, syntax and grammar as a means to communicate.
- History: World Sign Language Day was officially recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2017 and selected 23rd September as it marked the founding anniversary of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) in 1951.
- Purpose: It is celebrated every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity of deaf communities.
- Status: According to WFD, there are about 70 million deaf people in the world, most of them (Over 80%) living in underdeveloped countries.
- Types of Sign Languages: They evolve organically within the Deaf communities and serve as their primary mode of communication. Examples include American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), and French Sign Language (LSF).
