{{Short description|Sign language of the Levant}} {{Infobox language |name=Levantine Sign Language |nativename={{lang|ar|لغة الإشارة العربية الشرقية}} |altname=Syro-Palestinian Sign Language |region=Levant/Bilad al-Sham |speakers=30,000 |date=2021 |ref=e25 |familycolor = sign language |fam1=Arab sign-language family |fam2=Iraqi–Levantine? |dia1=Jordanian Sign Language |dia2=Palestinian Sign Language |dia3=Syrian Sign Language |dia4=Lebanese Sign Language |iso3=jos |iso3comment=(Jordanian Sign Language) |glotto=jord1238 |glottoname=Levantine Arabic SL |glottorefname=Levantine Arabic Sign Language }}
'''Levantine Arabic Sign Language''' is the sign language used by people of the area known as Bilad al-Sham or the Levant, comprising Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon. Although there are significant differences in vocabulary between the four states, this is not much greater than regional differences within the states. Grammar is quite uniform and mutual intelligibility is high, indicating that they are dialects of a single language.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hendriks |first1=Bernadet |title=Jordanian Sign Language: Aspects of grammar from a cross-linguistic perspective |date=2008 |url=https://www.lotpublications.nl/Documents/193_fulltext.pdf |isbn=978-90-78328-67-4|publisher=LOT}}</ref>
The language typically goes by the name of the country, as so: * Jordanian SL: {{lang|ar|لغة الإشارة الأردنية}}, {{Transliteration|ar|Lughat il-Ishārah il-Urduniyyah}} (LIU) * Lebanese SL: {{lang|ar|لغة الإشارات اللبنانية}}, {{Transliteration|ar|Lughat al-Ishārāt al-Lubnāniyyah}} (LIL) * Palestinian SL: {{lang|ar|لغة الاشارات الفلسطينية}}, {{Transliteration|ar|Lughat al-Ishārāt al-Filisṭīniyyah}} (LIF) * Syrian SL: {{lang|ar|لغة الإشارة السورية}}, {{Transliteration|ar|Lughat il-Ishārah il-Sūriyyah}} (LIS)
== Jordanian Sign Language == Jordanian Sign Language (LIU) has multiple dialects, and no standard form.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hendriks |first=Bernadet |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Simultaneity_in_Signed_Languages/TM4oieu-qxAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Jordanian+sign+language%22&pg=PA237&printsec=frontcover |title=Simultaneity in Signed Languages: Form and Function |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=978-90-272-4796-4 |editor-last1=Vermeerbergen |editor-first1=Myriam |pages=237 |language=en |chapter=Simultaneous use of the two hands in Jordanian Sign Language |doi=10.1075/cilt.281.11hen |editor-last2=Leeson |editor-first2=Lorraine |editor-last3=Crasborn |editor-first3=Onno Alex}}</ref> A dictionary of 500 LIU signs was published in 2006.<ref name=":0" />
== Palestinian Sign Language == The first school for the deaf in Palestine opened in 1972 in Bethlehem, but sign language was not taught until the 1990s, with the opening of new schools for the deaf and the publication of a Palestinian Sign Language (LIF) dictionary by the Ramallah-based Benevolent Society for the Deaf. As of 2021, all schools for the deaf in Palestine taught at least some LIF, but the official educational LIF dictionary only contains signs up through the seventh grade syllabus.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Abdel-Fattah |first=Khalil Alawneh and Mahmoud |date=January 2021 |title=Deaf education in Palestine: Reality and Aspirations |url=https://fada.birzeit.edu/handle/20.500.11889/6632 |journal=British Association of Teachers of the Deaf Magazine |language=en |issn=1366-0799}}</ref>
Deaf clubs were founded in Palestine beginning in 1991 in Ramallah, and five clubs existed in the country as of 2021. These clubs serve as informal gathering spaces and educational spaces.<ref name=":1" />
The first university classes in LIF were offered by Birzeit University in 2014. Formal education in LIF interpretation was not offered in Palestine until 2019.<ref name=":1" />
== See also == * Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children, Gaza * Holy Land Institute for the Deaf, As-Salt, Jordan
==References== {{Reflist}}
== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Hendriks |first=Bernadet |chapter=Negation in Jordanian Sign Language: A cross-linguistic perspective |date=2008-09-25 |title=Visible Variation: Comparative Studies on Sign Language Structure |pages=103–128 |editor-last=Perniss |editor-first=Pamela M. |url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110198850.103/html |access-date=2025-10-14 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783110198850.103 |isbn=978-3-11-019885-0 |editor2-last=Pfau |editor2-first=Roland |editor3-last=Steinbach |editor3-first=Markus}} * {{cite journal|last1=Richardson|first1=Kristina|title=New Evidence for Early Ottoman Arabic and Turkish Sign Systems|journal=Sign Language Studies|date=Winter 2017|volume=17|issue=2|pages=172–192|doi=10.1353/sls.2017.0001|s2cid=44038104|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/648902|url-access=subscription}} * {{Cite journal |last=Abdel-Fattah |first=Mahmoud |last2=Alawnah |first2=Khalil M. I. |date=2020-12-11 |title=Modality in Palestinian Sign Language |url=https://fada.birzeit.edu/handle/20.500.11889/6523 |journal=International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change|volume=14|number=12 |language=en |issn=2201-1323}}
{{Languages of Syria}} {{Levantine Arabic}} {{sign language navigation}}
Category:Arab sign languages Category:Languages of Jordan Category:Languages of Palestine Category:Languages of Syria Category:Languages of Lebanon Category:Sign languages of Israel Category:Levantine Arabic