British Sign Language

{{Short description|Sign language used in the United Kingdom}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox language | name = British Sign Language (BSL) | nativename = {{native name|sco-ulster|Breetish Sign Leid}} {{native name|cy|Iaith Arwyddion Prydain}} {{native name|gd|Cànan Soidhnidh Bhreatainn}} {{native name|ga|Teanga Chomharthaíochta na Breataine}} | image = BSL Name.png | imagescale = 1.3 | imagecaption = "BSL" in British Sign Language | states = United Kingdom | speakers = {{sigfig|77,000|2}} | date = 2014 | ref = e18 | speakers2 = 250,000 L2 speakers (2013) | familycolor = sign | script = none widely accepted SignWriting<ref>{{cite web|title = BSL on paper |url = http://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs3/sw0235-UK-SIGNMatters-June05-Full.pdf|access-date = 27 June 2016}}</ref> | fam1 = BANZSL | minority = England Scotland Wales | iso3 = bfi | glotto = brit1235 | glottorefname = British Sign Language }} thumb|250px|The BSL manual alphabet (right-hand-dominant form shown)

'''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.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Help & Resources |url=https://bda.org.uk/help-resources/#statistics |access-date=2023-03-19 |website=British Deaf Association |language=en-GB}}</ref> 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.

== Usage == In 2016 the British Deaf Association (BDA) said that, based on official statistics, it believes there are 151,000 people who use BSL in the UK, and 87,000 of these are deaf. This figure does not include professional BSL users, interpreters, translators, etc. unless they use BSL at home.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Help & Resources - British Deaf Association |url=https://bda.org.uk/help-resources/}}</ref> By contrast, in the 2011 England and Wales Census 15,000 people living in England and Wales reported themselves using BSL as their main language.<ref>[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_297002.pdf 2011 Census: Quick Statistics for England and Wales, March 2011], Accessed 17 February 2013.</ref>

In Northern Ireland, there are about 4,500 users of BSL and 1,500 users of Irish Sign Language, an unrelated sign language. A hybrid version, dubbed "Northern Ireland Sign Language", is also used.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BSL Northern Ireland Sign Language at all public Masses. Archives |url=https://www.catholicireland.net/tag/bsl-northern-ireland-sign-language-at-all-public-masses/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Sign language is needed more than Irish: TUV's Allister |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/sign-language-is-needed-more-than-irish-tuvs-allister-36324476.html |newspaper=Belfasttelegraph |via=www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gordon |first=Gareth |date=29 April 2020 |title=Bringing coronavirus news to the deaf community |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-52465003 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

== Recognition and status == {{See also|Legal recognition of sign languages#United Kingdom}} On 18 March 2003 the UK government formally recognised BSL as a language in its own right.<ref>{{cite web |title=Official recognition of British Sign Language 1987-2003 – suggested reading | UCL UCL Ear Institute & Action on Hearing Loss Libraries |url=http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/library-rnid/2013/11/13/official-recognition-of-british-sign-language-1987-2003/ |access-date=2015-03-03 |publisher=Blogs.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>"Time to break the barriers". ''Chad'', 25 September 2013, p.21. Accessed 28 January 2022</ref> In 2022, the British Sign Language Act was passed, which legally recognised BSL as a language of England, Wales and Scotland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Sign Language Act 2022 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/34/contents |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250721094243/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/34/contents |archive-date=2025-07-21 |access-date=2025-12-14 |website=www.legislation.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref>

=== In education === BSL is used in some educational establishments, but is not always the policy for deaf children in some local authority areas.

====GCSE (England and Wales)==== {{As of|January 2026}}, there is no GCSE qualification in British Sign Language available to students, but one is under development in England and planned for Wales. The Department for Education began to develop the GCSE in 2019, but the process was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.<ref name="DfE blog 2023-12">{{cite web |title=British Sign Language GCSE: Everything you need to know – The Education Hub |url=https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/12/british-sign-language-gcse-everything-you-need-to-know/ |website=educationhub.blog.gov.uk |publisher=Department for Education |access-date=5 January 2026 |language=en |date=21 December 2023}}</ref> In June 2023, the UK Government launched a consultation for the GCSE, with teaching initially planned to begin in schools from September 2025.<ref name="DfE blog 2023-12"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=Doncaster sign language course proves a hit as thousands join in |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj0ez3z7m9do |access-date=2025-10-27 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2024, Qualifications Wales suspended development of its GCSE in BSL, setting a new goal to introduce it to schools in Wales in 2027.<ref>{{cite web |title=British Sign Language update {{!}} Qualifications Wales |url=https://qualifications.wales/news-views/british-sign-language-update/ |website=qualifications.wales |publisher=Qualifications Wales |access-date=5 January 2026 |language=en |date=2 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=British Sign Language GCSE {{!}} BSL Courses |url=https://www.signature.org.uk/gcse-in-bsl/ |website=signature.org.uk |publisher=Signature |access-date=5 January 2026}}</ref>

In 2025, Ofqual ran a second consultation to gather feedback on its proposed rules for the qualification in England, releasing the results and its final decisions on the rules in November.<ref>{{cite web |title=Decisions: Rules for GCSE qualifications in British Sign Language |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/rules-for-gcse-qualifications-in-british-sign-language/outcome/decisions-rules-for-gcse-qualifications-in-british-sign-language |website=GOV.UK |publisher=Ofqual |access-date=5 January 2026 |language=en |date=13 November 2025}}</ref> GCSE exam boards who want to run the qualification in England must next make detailed offers to Ofqual for accreditation based on these regulations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ofqual launches next phase in British Sign Language GCSE development |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-launches-next-phase-in-british-sign-language-gcse-development |website=GOV.UK |publisher=Ofqual |access-date=5 January 2026 |language=en |date=30 April 2025}}</ref>

=== In visual media === [[File:Cynhadledd_i'r_Wasg_Press_Conference_-_20.11.20.webm|start=40:30|end=43:28|thumb|Welsh Government daily COVID-19 press conference in November 2020; Welsh and English instantaneous signing]] Many British television channels broadcast programmes with in-vision signing, using BSL, as well as specially made programmes aimed mainly at deaf people such as the BBC's ''See Hear'' and Channel 4's ''VEE-TV''. There is also a specially dedicated British Sign Language channel, LumoTV (previously BSL Zone), established in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LumoTV Annual Review 2024 {{!}} Deaf BSL users' preferences for watching television (2022-2023) |url=https://signs.hw.ac.uk/projects/tv/,%20https://signs.hw.ac.uk/projects/tv/ |archive-url=https://signs.hw.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/47566-BSLBT-Annual-Review-24-Interactive-web-1.pdf |archive-date=2025-12-14 |access-date=2025-12-14 |website=Signs@HWU |language=en-GB}}</ref>

All BBC channels (excluding BBC One and BBC Alba) provide in-vision signing for some of their programmes. BBC News broadcasts in-vision signing at 08:00-08:30, 13:00-14:00 and 18:00-18:30 GMT/BST every weekday and at 07:00-07:30 on the weekends. BBC Two also broadcasts in-vision signed repeats of the main channel's primetime programmes between 00:00 and 05:00 each weekday and early Saturday mornings. It also provides signing on weekday mornings between 08:00 and 09:00. In 2024, over 10% of Channel 4's programming was signed,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Subtitled, Audio Described and Signed programming {{!}} Channel 8 |url=https://www.channel4.com/4viewers/subtitled-audio-described-and-signed-programming |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.channel4.com}}</ref> including popular shows such as Hollyoaks and Gogglebox.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Signed programmes {{!}} Channel 4 |url=https://www.channel4.com/4viewers/accessibility/subtitled-audio-described-and-signed-programming/signed-programmes |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=www.channel4.com}}</ref>

=== British Sign Language Dictionary === Published in 1992,<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-4R4qtLTE8 |title=Channel 4 Sign On 19 12 1992 HD |date=2024-09-29 |last=The Ted Taylor Files |access-date=2025-10-26 |via=YouTube}}</ref> the British Sign Language Dictionary was compiled for the British Deaf Association by the Deaf Studies Research Unit at the University of Durham. The dictionary was edited by David Brien, assisted by a team composed by Mary Brennan, Clark Denmark, Frances Elton, Liz Scott Gibson, Graham Turner and Dorothy Miles, among others. It depicts over 1,800 signs through pictures and diagrams, each sign accompanied by definitions, explanations and usage. The signs are ordered not alphabetically, as a dictionary of the English language, but rather according to the phonological{{Clarify|date=March 2024}} characteristics of the language. For example, signs that are based on the "fist" handshape come before signs based on the "open hand" handshape. The foreword was written by Diana, Princess of Wales, who was the patron of the BDA.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of British Sign Language |date=1992 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=0571143466 |editor1-last=Brien |editor1-first=David |location=Durham |editor2-last=Brennan |editor2-first=Mary|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofbrit0000unse_b8e6}}</ref>

=== BSL Corpus and SignBank === The British Sign Language Corpus Project, based at the Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre (University College London), was funded between 2008 and 2011 to provide a video corpus of BSL in four regions (Bristol, Birmingham, London and Manchester).<ref>{{Cite web |last=BSLCorpus |title=Home |url=https://bslcorpusproject.org/ |access-date=2026-04-14 |website=BSL Corpus Project |language=en-US}}</ref> It was succeeded by the BSL SignBank, which moved the BSL Corpus online between 2011 and 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |last=BSLCorpus |title=Projects |url=https://bslcorpusproject.org/projects/ |access-date=2026-04-14 |website=BSL Corpus Project |language=en-US}}</ref> It also draws on the 1992 BSL Dictionary for its vocabulary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BSL SignBank |url=https://bslsignbank.ucl.ac.uk/about/dictionary/ |access-date=2026-04-14 |website=bslsignbank.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref>

== Dialects == BSL has many regional dialects. Certain signs used in Scotland, for example, may not be understood immediately, or not understood at all, by those in Southern England, or vice versa. Some signs are even more local, occurring only in certain towns or cities (such as the Manchester system of number signs). Likewise, some may go in or out of fashion, or evolve over time, just as terms in oral languages do.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sutton-Spence |first1=Rachel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lUsCbazTICIC&q=british%20sign%20language%20older&pg=PA24 |title=The Linguistics of British Sign Language: An Introduction |last2=Woll |first2=Bencie |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0521631424 |pages=24–25}}</ref> Families may have signs unique to them to accommodate for certain situations or to describe an object that may otherwise require fingerspelling.

== Classification == Although the United Kingdom and the United States share English as the predominant spoken language, British Sign Language is quite distinct from American Sign Language (ASL), having only 31% signs identical, or 44% cognate.<ref>McKee, D. & G. Kennedy (2000). Lexical Comparison of Signs from American, Australian, British, and New Zealand Sign Languages. In K. Emmorey and H. Lane (Eds), "The signs of language revisited: an anthology to honor Ursula Bellugi and Edward Klima". Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.</ref> BSL is also distinct from Irish Sign Language (ISL), which is more closely related to French Sign Language (LSF) and ASL. BSL is also distinct from Signed English, a manually coded method expressed to represent the English language.

The sign languages used in Australia and New Zealand, Auslan and New Zealand Sign Language respectively, evolved largely from 19th century BSL, and all retain the same manual alphabet and grammar and possess similar lexicons.

The sign language used in Sri Lanka is also closely related to BSL despite the oral language not being English, demonstrating variation in distance between sign languages and spoken ones.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Meyler |first=Michael |date=2021-09-02 |title=Learning Sri Lankan Sign Language - Groundviews |url=https://groundviews.org/2021/09/02/learning-sri-lankan-sign-language/ |access-date=2026-05-14 |language=en-US}}</ref>

While private correspondence from William Stokoe hinted at a formal name for the language in 1960,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Leahy |first1=Anne |last2=Brown |first2=Peter |date=2020 |title=Naming British Sign Language 1960–1975 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/763674/pdf |journal=Sign Language Studies |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=691–698 |doi=10.1353/sls.2020.0024 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> the first usage of the term "British Sign Language" in an academic publication was likely by Aaron Cicourel.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Cicourel, Aaron |date=Apr 1974 |title=Gestural Sign Language and the Study of Nonverbal Communication |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26203093 |journal=Sign Language Studies |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=35–76 |doi=10.1353/sls.1974.0007 |jstor=26203093 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==History== ===Early sign language=== The earliest known document describing the use of signing in a legal context is dated to c.1324 and mentions John de Orleton, a deaf man assigning his property to a family member.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leahy |first=Anne M |url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/39886679/Leahy__A._M._2015._Interpreted_Communication_with_Deaf_Parties_under_Anglo-American_Common_Law_to_1880._MA_SUU-libre.pdf?1447208464=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DInterpreted_Communication_with_Deaf_Part.pdf&Expires=1765370548&Signature=DrA-vDcGx0JzuO6mEFJkx4cMY-7ApyA6WTPlL92P7RGBpdplibmcuyhqzR~0P8Lt9J6CyyTJ1WaWz5kM06sMOkH04NzPWIvMtyATbMW6QOMBAa8fV6n63v6u1-ZtazXQEATuQPrdNqYKOZTFNu4x63IJtt~VeCa9cW7~kuRXECjsLMYbuz1XGLz7jcYwAya4NNp23oU-QT~5iW8~a-nlTVNMINpT1n52mk1R-Qdu0KFAYXHC3sOLAtVsR2tVXX~hphM6C8SY~s9nH684NRruS0AcyhxKgNggxsHJBW1ZzjzLfF2akIPI9WBjMIb656~Yt3ntQC5x-8XgVA4TCG7hxA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA |title=Interpreted communication with deaf parties under Anglo-American common law to 1880 |year=2015 |publication-date=2015 |pages=47 |language=en}}</ref> Published in 1450, the ''History of the Syon Monastery at Lisbon and Brentford'', contains descriptions of signs—some of which are still in use.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date= |title=BSL Timeline |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/pals/research/deafness-cognition-and-language-dcal/history-british-sign-language/bsl-timeline |archive-url=https://archive.today/20251210104006/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/pals/research/deafness-cognition-and-language-dcal/history-british-sign-language/bsl-timeline |archive-date=2025-12-10 |access-date=2025-12-10 |website=History of British Sign Language |publisher=University College London |language=en}}</ref> The earliest evidence of signing in registry records is from a marriage ceremony between a deaf man, Thomas Tilsye and Ursula Russel on 6 February 1576 at St Martin's Church, now Leicester Cathedral.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite web |date=2026-02-11 |title=Leicester Cathedral reveals sign language wedding held in 1576 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2k8jw1px94o |access-date=2026-02-11 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> The document recorded that "the sayde Thomas, for the expression of his minde instead of words, of his own accorde used these signs…First he embraced her with his armes, and took her by the hande, putt a ring upon her finger and layde his hande upon her harte, and held his hands towards heaven; and to show his continuance to dwell with her to his lyves ende he did it by closing of his eyes with his hands and digging out of the earthe with his foote, and pulling as though he would ring a bell with divers other signs approved".<ref name=":10" />

Richard Carew's ''Survey of Cornwall'' (1602) includes a description of Edward Bone, a deaf servant, meeting his deaf friend John Kempe.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Atkinson |first=Alexander |url=http://archive.org/details/memoirsofmyyouth0000atki |title=Memoirs of my youth |date=2001 |location=Feltham |publisher=British Deaf History Society Publications |isbn=978-1-902427-11-9 |pages=v-17 |orig-date=1865}}</ref> Bone had some knowledge of Cornish and was able to lipread, but appeared to prefer signing. Carew described the situation thus:<blockquote>Somewhat neerre the place of his [Bone's] birth, there dwelt another, so affected, or rather defected, whose name was Kempe: which two, when they chaunced to meete, would use such kinde embracements, such strange, often, and earnest tokenings, and such heartie laughtes, and other passionate gestures, that their want of a tongue, seemed rather a hindrance to other conceiving [understanding] them, then to their conceiving one another.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2019-08-07 |title=Richard Carew's Survey of Cornwall |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/dcal/history-british-sign-language/marriage-certificate-thomas-tillsye |archive-url=https://archive.today/20251210105521/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/dcal/history-british-sign-language/marriage-certificate-thomas-tillsye |archive-date=2025-12-10 |access-date=2025-12-10 |website=History of British Sign Language |publisher=University College London |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>John Bulwer, who had an adopted deaf daughter Chirothea Johnson,<ref name=":0" /> authored four late-Renaissance texts related to deafness, sign language and the human body: ''Chirologia; or, The Natural Language of the Hand'' (1644), ''Philocopus; or, The Deaf and Dumb Man’s Friend'' (1648), ''Pathomyotamia'' (1649) and ''Anthropometamorphosis'' (1650).<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=John Bulwer, English physician, author, and educator |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Bulwer |access-date=2021-05-17 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en }}</ref> In particular, ''Chirologia'' focuses on the meanings of gestures, expressions and body language, and describes signs and gestures in use at the time, some of which resemble signs still in use,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last1=Kyle |first1=Jim G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gcy4MhmLhdkC&q=bulwer&pg=PP9 |title=Sign language: the study of deaf people and their language |last2=Woll |first2=Bencie |last3=Kyle |first3=Jim |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-521-35717-3 |edition=1. paperback ed., reprinted |location=Cambridge |pages=37–40}}</ref> while ''Philocopus'' explores the use of lipreading by deaf people and the possibility of deaf education.<ref name=":3" />

Another writer of the same time, George Dalgarno, recognised that sign language was unrelated to English. In 1661 he wrote that "The deaf man has no teacher at all and through necessity may put him upon... using signs, yet those have no affinity to the language by which they that are about him do converse among themselves."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-08-07 |title=George Dalgarno |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/british-sign-language-history/beginnings/george-dalgarno |access-date=2021-05-17 |website=History of British Sign Language |publisher=University College London |language=en }}</ref> In November 1666, diarist Samuel Pepys described a conversation between George Downing and a deaf boy named Oliver who used "strange signs",<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-08-07 |title=Samuel Pepys diary extract |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/dcal/history-british-sign-language/samuel-pepys-diary-extract |access-date=2025-12-10 |website=History of British Sign Language |publisher=University College London |language=en}}</ref> which may have been in Old Kentish sign language.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Peter Webster |url=https://archive.org/details/pictorialhistory0000jack |title=A Pictorial History of Deaf Britain |date=2001 |publisher=Deafprint Winsford |isbn=978-0953220649 |location=Winsford |pages=12}}</ref>

British Sign Language has evolved, as all languages do, from these origins by modification, invention and importation.<ref>[http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/news/reportsandpublications/magazine/magazinearchive/SPAArchive/SPAJune06/Feature6June06.htm Deaf people and linguistic research] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604000057/http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/News/ReportsandPublications/Magazine/MagazineArchive/SPAArchive/SPAJune06/Feature6June06.htm|date=2011-06-04}}, Professor Bencie Woll, Director of the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre based at University College London. British Science Association. Accessed October 2010.</ref><ref>Kyle & Woll (1985).''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Gcy4MhmLhdkC Sign Language: the study of deaf people and their language]'' Cambridge University Press, p. 263</ref>

===18th and 19th century=== ==== Early deaf education and the Braidwood Academy ==== {{Main|History of institutions for deaf education#England: 1760 – Braidwood Academy for the Deaf and Dumb}}

Thomas Braidwood, a teacher from Edinburgh, founded 'Braidwood's Academy for the Deaf and Dumb' in 1760, which is believed to be the first school for deaf children in Britain.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=UCL |date= |title=Thomas Braidwood, The Braidwood School |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/pals/research/deafness-cognition-and-language-dcal/history-british-sign-language/early-deaf-education/thomas-braidwood-braidwood-school |access-date=2025-12-10 |website=History of British Sign Language |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Rowley |first1=Katherine |last2=Cormier |first2=Kearsy |date=2024-11-01 |title=Shorter but richer versus longer with less information: linguistic differentiation between British Sign Language and sign supported English |journal=Multilingua |language=en |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=723–750 |doi=10.1515/multi-2023-0177 |issn=1613-3684|doi-access=free }}</ref> The school primarily taught oral communication, however there is evidence of 'deaf signing' being used as a teaching method (albeit probably following the structure of English).<ref name=":5" /> This ''combined system'' came to be known as the English method - a sort of midway point between French manualist and German oralist systems,<ref name=":8" /> and was the first codification of what would later develop into British Sign Language.

Joseph Watson was trained as a teacher of the deaf under Thomas Braidwood. He eventually left in 1792 to become the headmaster of the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Bermondsey where he advocated for 'natural signing' - likely referring to the way deaf children naturally sign, as opposed to following English structure.<ref name=":5" /> This 'natural signing' is thought to be the precursor to modern BSL.<ref name=":5" />

The use of sign names is mentioned in the memoirs of one pupil who attended Braidwood Academy from 1814 to 1820, describing them thus:<ref name=":9" />

{{blockquote|Every pupil of the school had a fixed sign, instead of his own name, by which he became known. His sign took its rise from some peculiarity in his person or countenance{{nbsp}}[...] No sign which might refer to something disagreeable in the person or character of any pupil, was, however, allowed to stand.}}

In 1815 when Thomas Gallaudet visited England, the Braidwood school refused to teach him their methods unless he paid them.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Shea |first=Gerald |title=The language of light: a history of silent voices |date=2017 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-21543-4 |location=New Haven London |pages=53–55}}</ref> So instead, Gallaudet found himself in Paris, having been invited there by the much more accommodating Abbé Sicard.<ref name=":4" /> Gallaudet would eventually take much of the what had learnt in France, back to the United States. As a consequence American Sign Language (ASL) today has a 60% similarity to modern French Sign Language and is almost unintelligible to users of British Sign Language.

By the mid 1800s, sign was the most prominent mode of communication within deaf schools in Britain,<ref name=":8" /> and by 1870, there were 22 (often residential) schools found in most major cities around the country.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":5" />

==== The Milan Conference and later deaf education ==== The Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf, also known as the Milan Conference, was held in 1880, and proscribed the use of sign language in education; for the best part of a century, sign language was no longer used in the education of deaf children.<ref name=":5" />

Signing was actively discouraged in schools by punishment, and deaf education emphasised teaching deaf children to learn to lip read and finger spell, due to the prevailing belief across Europe established that signing was bad. Since there was no (or very little) exchange of sign language within educational establishments, signing was preserved through deaf clubs or within families.<ref name=":5" />

=== 20th century === Until the 1940s, sign language skills were passed between deaf people without a unified sign language system and many deaf people lived in residential institutions.

In 1978, the government-issued Warnock Report advocated for the mainstreaming of deaf children which led to the closure of many deaf schools.<ref name=":5" /> During this time, the Total Communication method was popularised.<ref name=":5" />

From the 1970s there has been an increasing tolerance for the language, in part due to its recognition as a natural language by linguists.<ref name=":5" />

In the 1980s, BSL started to be used as language of instruction in schools again, alongside English.<ref name=":5" /> This decade saw the start of deaf programming on British television. Deaf scholar and activist Paddy Ladd is credited with getting sign language on television and enabling deaf children to be educated in sign.<ref>{{cite news | first=Raekha | last=Prasad | title=Sound and Fury | date=2003-03-19 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/mar/19/guardiansocietysupplement5 | work=Guardian Unlimited | access-date=2008-01-30 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910210203/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/mar/19/guardiansocietysupplement5 | archive-date=2014-09-10 }}</ref>

BSL users campaigned to have BSL recognised on an official level. Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 mandates the provision of interpreters.

In 1999, the Federation of Deaf People (FDP) led a 4000-strong march in London to demand the recognition of BSL as a language.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Ladd |first=Paddy |url=https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853595479 |title=Understanding Deaf Culture |date=2003-12-31 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=978-1-85359-547-9 |location=Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit |pages=xiii-30 |doi=10.21832/9781853595479 }}</ref> This can be considered to mark the first political march by the modern 'British Deaf Community', as an established community.<ref name=":6" />

=== 21st century === ==== Let Sign Shine ==== Let Sign Shine is a campaign started by Norfolk teenager Jade Chapman, whose sister is deaf, to raise awareness of BSL and to petition for BSL to be taught in schools. The campaign's petition to Parliament attracted support from over four thousand people. Chapman won awards for her work including the education award category at the Bernard Matthews Youth Award 2014 for her work in raising awareness of the importance of sign language.<ref>Let Sign Shine, {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20160308161123/http://letsignshine.com/radio-norwich-local-hero-awards]}}, Norwich Radio Local Hero Award.</ref><ref>East Anglian Daily Press, [http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/photo_gallery_incredible_young_people_from_norfolk_and_suffolk_are_honoured_with_special_awards_1_3824453] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308170905/http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/photo_gallery_incredible_young_people_from_norfolk_and_suffolk_are_honoured_with_special_awards_1_3824453|date=8 March 2016}}, Photo Gallery: Incredible young people from Norfolk and Suffolk are honoured with special awards.</ref>

Having been donated £1,000 from the Bernard Matthews Youth Award, Let Sign Shine used this to start a British Sign Language course at Dereham Neatherd High School.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Teenage campaigner Jade Chapman sets up sign language course with prize. |work=BBC News |date=25 April 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-32334171 }}</ref>

==== Official language recognition ==== In 2021, MP Rosie Cooper (a CODA) introduced the British Sign Language Bill to recognise BSL, this time as an official language (not merely its existence as had been done in 2003), which was backed by the government.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2915|title=British Sign Language Bill|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=2022-02-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-backs-vital-british-sign-language-bill|title=Government backs vital British Sign Language Bill|publisher=UK Government|access-date=2022-02-05}}</ref> After being dormant from June 2021, the bill began moving through Parliament on 28 January 2022, but during a meeting with stakeholders on 7 February, the language of the bill was revealed to have been pared down substantially, disappointing said stakeholders. The British Deaf Association stated that it was 'unhappy' with this removal of language from the bill. The British Sign Language Act received royal assent on 28th April 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://limpingchicken.com/2022/02/08/bsl-act-now-british-sign-language-bill-discussion-reveals-uk-government-changes/|title = BSL Act Now: British Sign Language Bill discussion reveals UK Government changes|date = 8 February 2022}}</ref>

== Linguistics == Linguistics is the study of language, including those like BSL that are not carried by sound.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book|title=The Linguistics of British Sign Language|last=Sutton-Spence|first=Rachel|publisher=Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge|year=1999|location=University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom}}</ref> In all sign languages the great majority of 'words' (hand gestures) cannot be understood in other sign languages.<ref name=":04" /> How one language signs a certain number would be different from how another language signs it.<ref name=":04" /> The way sentences are constructed (syntax) differs from sign language to sign language, just as with different spoken languages. British Sign Language is described as a 'spatial language' as it "moves signs in space".<ref name=":04" />

=== Phonology === Like many other sign languages, BSL phonology is defined by elements such as handshape, orientation, location, movement, and non-manual features. There are phonological components to sign language that have no meaning alone but work together to create a meaning of a signed word: hand shape, movement, location, orientation and facial expression.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Morgan|first=Gary|date=October 2006|title='Children Are Just Lingual': The Development of Phonology in British Sign Language (BSL).|journal=Lingua|volume=116|issue=10|pages=1507–1523|doi=10.1016/j.lingua.2005.07.010|url=http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/364/2/Children_are_just_lingual.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719180024/http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/364/2/Children_are_just_lingual.pdf |archive-date=2018-07-19 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":04"/> The meanings of words differ if one of these components is changed.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":04"/> Signs can be identical in certain components but different in others, giving each a different meaning.<ref name=":04"/> Facial expression falls under the nonmanual feature component of phonology.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=McArthur|first=Tom|date=January 2018|title=British Sign Language|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199661282.001.0001/acref-9780199661282-e-1344|journal=The Oxford Companion to the English Language|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199661282.001.0001|isbn=9780199661282|url-access=subscription}}</ref> These include "eyebrow height, eye gaze, mouthing, head movement, and torso rotation."<ref name=":2" />

=== Grammar === In common with other languages, whether spoken or signed, BSL has its own grammar which govern how phrases are signed.<ref name=":04"/> BSL has a particular syntax.<ref name=":04"/> One important component of BSL is its use of proforms.<ref name=":04"/> A proform is "...any form that stands in the place of, or does the job of, some other form."<ref name=":04"/> Sentences are composed of two parts, in order: the subject and the predicate.<ref name=":04"/> The subject is the topic of the sentence, while the predicate is the commentary about the subject.<ref name=":04"/> Question words are generally at the end of a sentence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=BSL |first=Access |date=2023-06-11 |title=How Do You Ask Questions in British Sign Language (BSL)? - Access BSL |url=https://accessbsl.com/how-to-sign-questions-in-british-sign-language/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

BSL uses a topic–comment structure.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cohearentvision.org.uk/deaf-users/grammatical-structure-of-british-sign-language/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130423190807/http://www.cohearentvision.org.uk/deaf-users/grammatical-structure-of-british-sign-language/|url-status=dead|title=Grammatical Structure of British Sign Language · coHearentVision|date=23 April 2013|archive-date=23 April 2013|website=archive.is}}</ref> Topic-comment means that the topic of the signed conversation is first established, followed by an elaboration of the topic, being the 'comment' component.<ref name=":04"/> The canonical word order outside of the topic–comment structure is object–subject–verb (OSV), and noun phrases are head-initial.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=The Linguistics of British Sign Language: An Introduction|author1=Sutton-Spence, R.|author2=Woll, B.|date=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521637183|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lUsCbazTICIC|access-date=7 December 2014}}</ref>

=== Evolution === The language continues to evolve as older signs such as ''alms'' and ''pawnbroker'' have fallen out of use and new signs such as ''internet'' and ''laser'' have been coined. The evolution of the language and its changing level of acceptance meant that older users tend to use more finger spelling while younger ones make use of a wider range of signs.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Gcy4MhmLhdkC Sign Language: The Study of Deaf People and Their Language], J. G. Kyle, B. Woll, G. Pullen, F. Maddix, Cambridge University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|0521357179}} </ref>

In 2019, over 100 signs for scientific terms, including 'deoxyribonucleotide' and 'deoxyribonucleoside', were added to BSL, after being conceived by Liam Mcmulkin, a deaf graduate of the University of Dundee, who had found finger-spelling such words tiresome, during his degree course.<ref name="Martin">{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Hazel |date=21 July 2019 |title=What's deoxyribonucleotide in sign language? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-49057331 |access-date=3 August 2019 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Similarly, architects Chris Laing and Adolfs Kristapsons developed a project called SignStrokes which developed new signs for the built environment, having not wanted to continuously make new signs for different architectural concepts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hopkirk |first=Elizabeth |title=When it's hard to find the words: creating architectural terms in sign language |url=https://www.building.co.uk/interviews/when-its-hard-to-find-the-words-creating-architectural-terms-in-sign-language/5113555.article |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Building |language=en}}</ref>

== Learning British Sign Language == British Sign Language can be learnt from formal institutions throughout the UK and three examination systems exist. Courses are provided by community colleges, local centres for deaf people and private organisations.

A teaching qualification programme was started by the British Deaf Association in 1984 at the University of Durham, called BSL Tutor Training Course, which closed in 1999.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://signteach.eu/index.php/5-8-uk|title=5.8 UK|website=signteach.eu}}</ref>

National awarding organisations run training for BSL teachers. Each of these organisations has its own curriculum, teaching materials and resources.{{More citations needed|date=December 2025}}[[File:Sign language interpretation below performers Oliver Senton and Bay Bryan during The Gifting performance. LEEDS 2023 (cropped).jpg|thumb|BSL interpreter below performers during The Gifting performance, LEEDS 2023 ]] === Becoming a BSL / English interpreter === There are two qualification routes: via post-graduate studies, or via National Vocational Qualifications. Deaf studies undergraduate courses with specific streams for sign language interpreting exist at several British universities; post-graduate level interpreting diplomas are also on offer from universities and one private company. Course entry requirements vary from no previous knowledge of BSL to NVQ level 6 BSL (or equivalent).

The qualification process allows interpreters to register with the National Registers of Communication Professionals with Deaf and Deafblind People (NRCPD), a voluntary regulator. Registrants are asked to self-certify that they have both cleared a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check and are covered by professional indemnity insurance. Completing a level 3 BSL language assessment and enrolling on an approved interpreting course allows applications to register as a TSLI (Trainee Sign Language Interpreter). After completing an approved interpreting course, trainees can then apply to achieve RSLI (Registered Sign Language Interpreter) status. RSLIs are currently required by NRCPD to log Continuous Professional Development activities. Post-qualification, specialist training is still considered necessary to work in specific critical domains.

===Communication support workers=== {{See also|Manually coded English#In the United Kingdom}} Communication support workers (CSWs) are professionals who support the communication of deaf students in education at all ages, and deaf people in many areas of work, using British Sign Language and other communication methods such as Sign Supported English. The qualifications and experience of CSWs vary: some are fully qualified interpreters, others are not.

===BSL apps=== There are currently two well-established BSL language learning apps and web platforms: Bright BSL and Lingvano.

== References == {{Reflist|30em}}

== External links == {{Incubator|bfi}} * [https://www.signbsl.com BSL Sign Language Dictionary] * [https://www.bslsignbank.ucl.ac.uk BSL SignBank] * [https://www.british-sign.co.uk/british-sign-language/dictionary/ BSL Online Dictionary] * [https://www.ictsigns.co.uk Information and Communication Technology Dictionary]

{{DEFAULTSORT:British Sign Language}} Category:British Sign Language Category:Languages of the United Kingdom Category:BANZSL Sign Language family Category:Deaf culture in the United Kingdom Category:Languages of Scotland Category:Languages of Wales Category:Languages of England Category:Sign languages of the United Kingdom Category:Object–subject–verb languages Category:Articles containing video clips