| Catalan Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Llengua de signes catalana | |
| Signed in | Spain |
| Region | Catalonia |
| Native signers | 18,000 (1994) (date missing) |
| Language family |
possibly French SL
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | csc |
Catalan Sign Language (Catalan: Llengua de signes catalana, LSC; IPA: [ˈʎeŋgwə ðə ˈsiŋnəs kətəˈɫanə]) is a sign language used by 18,000 signers in Catalonia. About 50% intelligibility by users of Spanish Sign Language.
Since 1994, it has an official status thanks to a law to promote and diffuse the language promulgated by Generalitat de Catalunya. Catalonia was the first Spanish Autonomous Community to approve a law for a sign language.
FESOCA (Catalan Federation of Deaf People) is a 1979 NGO to represent and to defend the rights of deaf associations and individuals to achieve a full social participation and integration. FESOCA organises several courses, activities and meetings.
There are researching groups for LSC like ILLESCAT (LSC Centre of Studies). This centre studies the evolution of the language, makes linguistic studies and creates new neologisms. Besides, the Platform for Linguistic and Cultural Rights for LSC Users aka LSC, Ara! carried out a law to promote this language in the Statute of Autonomy.
Wittmann (1991)[1] suspect that LSC may be part of the French Sign Language family, but transmission to Catalonia would have happened early, and is not easy to demonstrate.