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Auslan (/ ˈ ɒ z l æ n /; an abbreviation of Australian Sign Language) is the sign language used by the majority of the Australian Deaf community.Auslan is related to British Sign Language (BSL) and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL); the three have descended from the same parent language, and together comprise the BANZSL language family.
However, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dialect of Auslan exists in Far North Queensland (extending from Yarrabah to Cape York), which is heavily influenced by the indigenous sign languages and gestural systems of the region. Sign languages were noted in north Queensland as early as 1908 (Roth).
Australian Sign Language, also known as Auslan, is the primary signed language for deaf Australians. [citation needed] It is hard to tell how many signing deaf people are in Australia as much information is unavailable, and what information is available is largely out of date.
Auslan: British (Australian Sign Language) Ban Khor Sign Language: village (Plaa Pag is a dialect) Bhutanese Sign Language? Burmese sign language: ASL: may be two languages Cambodian Sign Language = mixed LSF, BSL, ASL, various dialects within: Chinese Sign Language: Chinese "中國手語" (ZGS) Enga Sign Language: village: PNG Esharani : isolate
Between Auslan, BSL and NZSL, 82% of signs are identical (per Swadesh lists). When considering identical as well as similar or related signs there are 98% cognate signs between the languages. By comparison, ASL and BANZSL have only 31% signs identical, or 44% cognate. According to Henri Wittmann (1991), Swedish Sign Language also descends from BSL.
This alphabet is used in the BANZSL group of sign languages. It has been used in British Sign Language and Auslan since at least the 19th century, and in New Zealand Sign Language since the 1970s. Variations of this alphabet are also used in dialects of Indo-Pakistani Sign Language. This chart shows the BANZSL alphabet.
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Trevor Johnston FAHA is an Australian expert on Auslan.. Johnston received his PhD from the University of Sydney in 1989 for his work on Auslan. [1] Johnston was responsible for coining the term Auslan, [2] and created the first Auslan dictionary, which was also one of the first sign language dictionaries that sequenced signs throughout according to principles that were language internal ...