| Turkish Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Türk İşaret Dili | |
| Signed in | Turkey, Northern Cyprus |
| Native signers | Unknown (date missing) |
| Language family |
Unknown
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tsm |
Turkish Sign Language (Turkish: Türk İşaret Dili, TİD) is the language used by the deaf community in Turkey. As with other sign languages, TİD has a unique grammar that is different from the spoken languages used in the region.
TİD uses a two-handed manual alphabet which is very different from the two-handed alphabets used in the BANZSL sign languages.
Contents |
There is little published information on Turkish Sign Language.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, there are a total of 89,043 (53,543 male 35,500 female) persons with hearing impairment and 55,480 (34,672 male, 20,808 female) persons with speaking disability living in Turkey, based on 2000 census data.[1]
There are references to deaf signs in use in the court of the Ottoman Empire between the 16th century and 17th centuries.[2] However, there is no record of the signs themselves and not enough evidence to prove conclusively that this sign system or language is related to modern Turkish Sign Language.[3]
Deaf schools were established in 1902, and until 1953 used TİD alongside the Turkish spoken and written language in education.[4] After 1953, Turkey has adopted an oralist approach to deaf education.