British Sign Language - wikipedia British Sign Language British Sign Language ( BSL ) Breetish Sign Leid Iaith Arwyddion Prydain Cànan Soidhnidh Bhreatainn Teanga Comhartha na Breataine Native to United Kingdom Native speakers 77,000 ( 2014 ) 250,000 L2 speakers ( 2013 ) Language family BANZSL British Sign Language ( BSL ) Writing system none widely accepted SignWriting Official status Official language in Scotland, England, European Union Recognised minority language in Wales Language codes ISO 639 - 3 bfi Glottolog brit1235 The BSL Fingerspelling Alphabet ( Right hand dominant ) British Sign Language ( BSL ) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom ( UK ), and is the first or preferred language of some deaf people in the UK ; there are 125,000 deaf adults in the UK who use BSL plus an estimated 20,000 children. In 2011, 15,000 people, living in England and Wales, reported themselves using BSL as their main language. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face and head. Many thousands of people who are not deaf also use BSL, as hearing relatives of deaf people, sign language interpreters or as a result of other contact with the British deaf community. Contents 1 History 2 Linguistics 2.1 Phonology 2.2 Grammar 2.3 Relationships with other sign languages 3 Usage 4 Number of BSL users 5 Learning British Sign Language 5.1 Becoming a BSL / English interpreter 5.2 Communication support workers 6 Let Sign Shine 7 See also 8 References 9 External links History History records the existence of a sign language within deaf communities in England as far back as 1570. British Sign Language has evolved, as all languages do, from these origins by modification, invention and importation. Thomas Braidwood, an Edinburgh teacher, founded ' Braidwood 's Academy for the Deaf and Dumb ' in 1760 which is recognised as the first school for the deaf in Britain. His pupils were the sons of the well - to - do. His early use of a form of sign language, the combined system, was the first codification of what was to become British Sign Language. Joseph Watson was trained as a teacher of the deaf under Thomas Braidwood and he eventually left in 1792 to become the headmaster of the first public school for the deaf in Britain, the London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb in Bermondsey. In 1815, an American Protestant minister, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, travelled to Europe to research teaching of the deaf. He was rebuffed by both the Braidwood schools who refused to teach him their methods. Gallaudet then travelled to Paris and learned the educational methods of the French Royal Institution for the Deaf, a combination of Old French Sign Language and the signs developed by Abbé de l'Épée. As a consequence American Sign Language today has a 60 % similarity to modern French Sign Language and is almost unintelligible to users of British Sign Language. Until the 1940s sign language skills were passed on unofficially between deaf people often living in residential institutions. Signing was actively discouraged in schools by punishment and the emphasis in education was on forcing deaf children to learn to lip read and finger spell. From the 1970s there has been an increasing tolerance and instruction in BSL in schools. 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 means that older users tend to rely on finger spelling while younger ones make use of a wider range of signs. On 18 March 2003 the UK government formally recognised that BSL is a language in its own right. Linguistics Phonology Like many other sign languages, BSL phonology is defined by elements such as handshape, orientation, location, movement, and non-manual features. Grammar BSL uses a topic -- comment structure. Canonical word order outside of topic -- comment structure is OSV, and noun phrases are head - initial. Relationships with other Sign languages Although the United Kingdom and the United States share English as the predominant oral language, British Sign Language is quite distinct from American Sign Language ( ASL ) - having only 31 % signs identical, or 44 % cognate. BSL is also distinct from Irish Sign Language ( ISL ) ( ISG in the ISO system ) which is more closely related to French Sign Language ( LSF ) and ASL. It 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. These three languages may technically be considered dialects of a single language ( BANZSL ) due to their use of the same grammar and manual alphabet and the high degree of lexical sharing ( overlap of signs ). The term BANZSL was coined by Trevor Johnston and Adam Schembri. In Australia deaf schools were established by educated deaf people from London, Edinburgh and Dublin. This introduced the London and Edinburgh dialects of BSL to Melbourne and Sydney respectively and Irish Sign Language to Sydney in Roman Catholic schools for the deaf. The language contact post secondary education between Australian ISL users and ' Australian BSL ' users accounts for some of the dialectal differences we see between modern BSL and Auslan. Tertiary education in the US for some deaf Australian adults also accounts for some ASL borrowings found in modern Auslan. Auslan, BSL and NZSL have 82 % of signs identical ( using concepts from a Swadesh list ). When considering similar or related signs as well as identical, they are 98 % cognate. Further information will be available after the completion of the BSL corpus is completed and allows for comparison with the Auslan corpus and the Sociolinguistic Variation in New Zealand Sign Language project. There continues to be language contact between BSL, Auslan and NZSL through migration ( deaf people and interpreters ), the media ( television programmes such as See Hear, Switch, Rush and SignPost are often recorded and shared informally in all three countries ) and conferences ( the World Federation of the Deaf Conference -- WFD -- in Brisbane 1999 saw many British deaf people travelling to Australia ). Makaton, a communication system for people with cognitive impairments or other communication difficulties, was originally developed with signs borrowed from British Sign Language. The sign language used in Sri Lanka is also closely related to BSL despite the oral language not being English, demonstrating the distance between sign languages and spoken ones. BSL users campaigned to have BSL recognised on an official level. BSL was recognised as a language in its own right by the UK government on 18 March 2003, but it has no legal protection. There is, however, legislation requiring the provision of interpreters such as the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Usage BSL has many regional dialects. Signs used in Scotland, for example, may not be used, and may not be understood immediately by those in Southern England, and 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. Families may have signs unique to them to accommodate for certain situations or to describe an object that may otherwise require fingerspelling. 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. BBC News broadcasts in - vision signing at 07 : 00 - 07 : 45, 08 : 00 - 08 : 20 and 13 : 00 - 13 : 45 GMT / BST each weekday. BBC Two also broadcasts in - vision signed repeats of the channel 's primetime programmes between 00 : 00 and 02 : 00 each weekday. All BBC channels ( excluding BBC One, BBC Alba and BBC Parliament ) provide in - vision signing for some of their programmes. BSL is used in some educational establishments, but is not always the policy for deaf children in some local authority areas. The Let 's Sign BSL and fingerspelling graphics are being developed for use in education by deaf educators and tutors and include many of the regional signs referred to above. Number of BSL users In 2016 the British Deaf Association says 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. Learning British Sign Language British Sign Language can be learnt throughout the UK and three examination systems exist. Courses are provided by community colleges, local centres for deaf people and private organisations. Most tutors are native users of sign language and hold a relevant teaching qualification. Signature is an awarding body accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority ( QCA ) who provide the following qualifications : Level 1 Award ( elementary ) Level 2 Certificate ( intermediate ) Level 3 Certificate ( intermediate ) Level 4 Certificate ( intermediate ) Level 6 NVQ ( advanced ) British Sign Language Chart Colouring Page To Print iBSL also award language qualifications : a Level 1 Award and Level 2, 3, 4 and 6 Certificates. In Scotland, there is a Scottish Qualifications Authority ( SQA ) system for students learning British Sign Language. Currently there are 5 levels in the SQA system ( continuing assessments ) : SQA : Introduction to British Sign Language SQA : British Sign Language Level 1 SQA : British Sign Language Level 2 SQA : British Sign Language Level 3 SQA : Professional Development Award in British Sign Language Studies Saying thank you in BSL. Flat hand in front of the chin and sweep outwards / forwards The British Deaf Association formed the British Sign Language Academy in about 2008 to provide an official British Sign Language curriculum and tutor training. However this is no longer in operation. 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 alternative to university studies are either NVQ language and interpreting courses on offer from Signature or IBSL language qualifications followed by an interpreting qualification which is mapped against the CILT National Occupational Standards for Interpreting. 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. Both the Association of Sign Language Interpreters and Visual Language Professionals provide a network of regional groups, professional development opportunities and mentoring. These membership organisations represent the sign language interpreting profession in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and provide interpreters with professional indemnity insurance. Communication support workers 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 Association of Deaf Education Professionals and Trainees ( ADEPT ) is a national association, formed from a merger of ACSW and NATED in 2014, that supports and represents the interests and views of CSWs, encourages good practice and aims to improve the training standards and opportunities for current and future CSWs, among other things. The Association provides a professional network, improving information exchange, professional standards and support. The qualifications and experience of CSWs varies : some are fully qualified interpreters, others are not. There is a Level 3 Certificate in Communication Support for Deaf Learners available from Signature ; this qualification is modelled on standards for learning support in Further Education only and is not required by all employers. Let Sign Shine Let Sign Shine is a campaign started by Norfolk teenager Jade Chapman to raise the awareness of British Sign Language ( BSL ) and attract signatures for a petition for BSL to be taught in schools. The campaign 's petition to the Parliament of the United Kingdom has attracted support from over four thousand people. Let Sign Shine campaigner Chapman was nominated for the Bernard Matthews Youth Award 2014 for her work and devotion to raising awareness of the importance of sign language. Chapman won the education award category and was presented with an award by Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington. Let Sign Shine campaigner Chapman was also awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Radio Norwich 99.9 Local Hero Awards on 7 October 2015. The award ceremony featured a performance by Alesha Dixon. 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. See also Languages in the United Kingdom References Jump up ^ British Sign Language ( BSL ) at Ethnologue ( 18th ed., 2015 ) Jump up ^ `` BSL on paper '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 27 June 2016. Jump up ^ `` British Sign Language Legislation ''. Retrieved 27 September 2016. Jump up ^ Hammarström, Harald ; Forkel, Robert ; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. ( 2017 ). `` British Sign Language ''. Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany : Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Jump up ^ IPSOS Mori GP Patient Survey 2009 / 10 Jump up ^ 2011 Census : Quick Statistics for England and Wales, March 2011, Accessed 17 February 2013. Jump up ^ Deaf people and linguistic research Archived 2011 - 06 - 04 at the Wayback Machine., Professor Bencie Woll, Director of the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre based at University College London. British Science Association. Accessed October 2010. Jump up ^ Kyle & Woll ( 1985 ). Sign Language : the study of deaf people and their language Cambridge University Press, p. 263 Jump up ^ 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 Jump up ^ `` Official recognition of British Sign Language 1987 - 2003 -- suggested reading UCL UCL Ear Institute & Action on Hearing Loss Libraries ''. Blogs.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015 - 03 - 03. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Sutton - Spence, R. ; Woll, B. ( 1999 ). The Linguistics of British Sign Language : An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521637183. Retrieved 7 December 2014. Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ Johnston, T. ( 2002 ). BSL, Auslan and NZSL : Three sign languages or one ? In A. Baker, B. van den Bogaerde & O. Crasborn ( Eds. ), `` Cross-linguistic perspectives in sign language research : Selected papers from TISLR 2000 '' ( pp. 47 - 69 ). Hamburg : Signum Verlag. Jump up ^ Sutton - Spence, Rachel ; Woll, Bencie ( 1998 ). The Linguistics of British Sign Language : An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. pp. 24 -- 25. ISBN 0521631424. Jump up ^ `` British Sign Language ( BSL ) Statistics ''. Jump up ^ `` BSL Academy Homepage ''. Jump up ^ `` Communication Support Signature ''. signature.org.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2014. Jump up ^ East Anglian Daily Press, ( 2 ), Photo Gallery : Incredible young people from Norfolk and Suffolk are honoured with special awards. Jump up ^ Let Sign Shine, ( 3 ), Norwich Radio Local Hero Award. Jump up ^ BBC News, ( 4 ), Teenage campaigner Jade Chapman sets up sign language course with prize. External links `` British Deaf Association Sign Language Resource ''. `` Signature ; the trading name for CACDP ( the Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf People ) ''. `` Edinburgh BSL Group ''. `` BSL Sign Language Dictionary ''. `` BSL SignBank ''. `` Deaf Pub ''. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013. Let Sign Shine website BSL Online Dictionary British Sign Language Discussion Forum Languages of the United Kingdom Official language None in the United Kingdom as a whole. English is de facto Recognized regional languages Cornish French Irish Manx Norman Auregnais Guernésiais Jèrriais Sercquiais Scots Scottish Gaelic Ulster Scots Welsh Other languages Angloromani Shelta Sign languages British Irish Northern Irish Old Kentish Languages by region Cornwall Northern Ireland Scotland Wales BANZSL languages Africa South African Americas Maritime Australasia Auslan Papua New Guinean Samoan New Zealand Europe British Northern Ireland Swedish Finnish Finland - Swedish Portuguese Swedish Italics indicate extinct languages Sign language List of sign languages List by number of signers Language families Sign languages by family Afroasiatic Mofu - Gudur Arabic Sign Egyptian Kuwaiti Libyan Qatari Unified Yemeni Iraqi -- Levantine Iraqi Levantine Arabic Jordanian Lebanese Palestinian Syrian Possible Emirati Saudi Omani Banzsl Auslan Papua New Guinean BSL Northern Ireland Fijian Maritime NZSL Sāmoan South African Swedish Finland - Swedish Portuguese Teckenspråk Viittomakieli E. Trans - Fly Meriam Francosign Proto - LSF Algerian Catalan Valencian Chilean Estonian French Irish Australian - Irish Libras Lithuanian Romanian Swiss - German Amslanic American Black ASL Protactile BIM Bolivian Burmese Cambodian Costa Rican Dominican Greek Cypriot Jamaican Kuala Lumpur Panamanian Philippine Puerto Rican Quebec Singapore BISINDO Jakarta Yogyakarta Francophone African Ethiopian Chadian Ghanaian Guinean LaSiMa Moroccan Nigerian Sierra Leonean Austro - Hungarian Austrian Czech Hungarian Slovak Ukrainian Russian Bulgarian Georgian Latvian Moldovan Mongolian Russian Yugoslav Croatian Kosovar Serbian Slovenian Yugoslav Old Belgian VGT LSFB Danish Danish Icelandic Malagasy Norwegian Dutch Dutch Gambian Italian LIS Tunisian Mexican LSM Honduran Viet - Thai Hai Phong Hanoi Ho Chi Minh Thai Germanosign German Luxembourgish Polish Shassi Indo - European Armenian Women 's Indo - Pakistani Sign Bangalore - Madras Beluchistan Bengali Bombay Calcutta Delhi Nepali North West Frontier Province Punjab - Sindh Jarrakan Miriwoong Kentish Old Kentish Chilmark Chilmark MVSL Meemul Tziij Highland Maya Nohya Mirndi Djingili Original Thai Sign Chiangmai Hai Phong Old Bangkok Paget Gorman Namibian Pama -- Nyungan Eltye eltyarrenke Iltyeme iltyeme Rdaka rdaka Manjiljarra Warlmanpa Warramunga Mudburra Ngada Umpila Western Desert Western Torres Strait Islander Yan - nhaŋu Yir Yoront Yolŋu Diyari Jaralde Kalkutungu Pitha Pitha Warluwara Paraguayan - Uruguayan Sign Paraguay Uruguay Plains Sign Talk Hand Talk Anishinaabe Apsáalooke Arikara Chaticks si Chaticks Cheyenne Coahuilteco Dane - zaa Diné Hinono'eino Hiraacá Icāk Karankawa Kiowa Liksiyu Nakota Nêhiyaw Ni Mii Puu Niimíipuu Niitsítapi Nųmą́khų́ ki Nʉmʉnʉʉ Omaha Palus Piipaash Ppánkka Schitsu'umsh Shiwinna Sioux Taos Tickanwa tic Tsuu T'ina Umatilla Wazhazhe Wichita Wyandot Plateau A'aninin Kalispel Ktunaxa Nesilextcl'n Secwépemc Sqeliz Providencia -- Cayman Sign Provisle Old Cayman ( Guyanese ) Shuwa gozoku Nihon Shuwa Suhwa Táiwān Shǒuyǔ Worrorran Worora Kinship Zhōngguó Shǒuyǔ Chinese Shanghai Shanghai Hong Kong Macau Isolates Afghan Al - Sayyid Bedouin Albanian Amami Oshima Armenian Plaa Pag Huay Hai Na Sai Atgangmuurniq Belizean Bhutanese Bökyi lagda Bribri Brunca Bura Chatino Cuban Diné Family Dogon Ecuadorian Eritrean Enga Ghandruk Ghardaia Guatemalan Guinea - Bissau Henniker Hoailona ʻŌlelo Jhankot Jumla Ka'apor Kajana Kafr Qasim Kata Kolok Kenyan Somali Keresign Kisindo Konchri Sain Lyons Macedonian Maltese Magannar Hannu Mardin Mauritian M'bour Mossi Mozambican Mumu kasa Nicaraguan Old Costa Rican Ottoman Pasa kidd Penang Persian Peruvian Rennellese Rwandan Sandy River Salvadoran Spanish Tebul Trinidad and Tobago Turkish Ugandan Venezuelan West African Adasl Burasl Mofu - Gudur Nanabinsl Yiddish Yoruban Zambian Other Ethiopian languages Laotian languages Sri Lankan languages Sudanese languages Tanzanian languages ( 7 + ) International Sign By region Sign languages by region Oceania Australia Auslan Australian - Irish Eltye eltyarrenke Iltyeme iltyeme Rdaka rdaka Manjiljarra Warlmanpa Warramunga Mudburra Ngada Umpila Western Desert Western Torres Strait Islander Yir Yoront Yolŋu Hawai'i Haoilona ʻŌlelo Sāmoa & America Sāmoa Sāmoan Aotearoa New Zealand NZSL Solomon Islands Rennellese Asia Bengal Bengali Cambodia Cambodian China Chinese Indonesia Indonesian Kata Kolok ( Benkala, Balinese ) India Alipur Bengali Indo - Pakistani Naga Iran Persian Israel Al - Sayyid Bedouin Ghardaia Israeli Kafr Qasem Yiddish Japan Amami Oshima Nihon Shuwa Korea Korean Laos Laotian Malaysia Malaysian Penang Selangor Mongolia Mongolian Nepal Ghandruk Jhankot Jumla Nepalese Philippines Philippine Saudi Arabia Saudi Singapore Singapore Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Taiwan Taiwanese Tibet Bökyi lagda Thailand Bangkok Chiangmai Thai Pasa kidd Vietnam Vietnamese Africa Algeria Algerian Ghardaia Ghana Adamorobe Nanabin Kenya Kenyan Mali Tebul LaSiMa Nigeria Bura Magannar Hannu Senegal Mbour Somalia & Djibouti Somali South Africa South African Tanzania Tanzanian Uganda Ugandan Zambia Zambian North America Plains Sign Talk Canada American Protactile Blackfoot Cree Ojibwa MSL Quebec Atgangmuurniq Plateau Mexico Chatino Mayan Mexican United States American Black American Protactile Blackfeet Cree Cheyenne Ojibwa Keresign Martha 's Vineyard Navajo Navajo Family Sandy River Valley Henniker Central and South America Argentina Argentine Belize Belizean Bolivia Bolivian Brazil Libras Ka'apor Cayman Old Cayman Chile Chilean Colombia Colombian Provisle Costa Rica Bribri Brunca Old Costa Rican New Costa Rican Ecuador Ecuadorian Guatemalan Guatemalan Mayan Honduras Honduras Nicaragua Nicaraguan Paraguay Paraguayan Peru Peruvian Sivia El Salvador Salvadoran Old Salvadoran Uruguay Uruguayan Venezuela Venezuelan Europe Armenia Armenian Austria Austrian Belgium Flemish French Belgian United Kingdom British Croatia Croatian Denmark Danish Netherlands Dutch Estonia Estonian Finland Finnish France Ghardaia French Lyons Germany German Greece Greek Hungary Hungarian Iceland Icelandic Ireland Irish Italy Italian Kosovo Kosovar Lithuania Lithuanian Luxembourg Luxembourgish Macedonia Macedonian Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Norway Norwegian Poland Polish Portugal Portuguese Russia Russian Slovenia Slovenian Spain Catalan Spanish Valencian Sweden Swedish Switzerland Swiss Turkey Mardin Turkish Ukraine Ukrainian International International Sign Makaton Monastic Signalong ASL Grammar Idioms Literature Profanity Name signs Extinct languages Chilmark Diyari Jaralde Kalkutungu Henniker Sign Language Martha 's Vineyard Old French Old Kent Plateau Sign Language Pitha Pitha Sandy River Valley Sign Language Warluwara Linguistics Grammar ( ASL ) Bimodal bilingualism Cherology Handshape / Location / Orientation / Movement / Expression Mouthing Sign names Fingerspelling American British ( two - handed ) Catalan Chilean French Hungarian Irish Japanese Korean Polish Russian Serbo - Croatian Spanish Ukrainian Writing ASL - phabet Hamburg Notation System Stokoe notation Stokoe notation SignWriting SignWriting si5s si5s ASLwrite ( ) Language contact Contact sign Indian Signing System Initialized sign Manually coded English Manually coded language in South Africa Manually Coded Malay Mouthing Paget Gorman Sign System Signed Dutch Signed French Signed German Signed Italian Signed Japanese Signed Polish Signed Spanish Signing Exact English Tecknad svenska Bilingual -- bicultural education Manually coded language Media Films ( list ) Television programmes ( list ) Persons Jabbar Baghtcheban Johanna Berglind Pär Aron Borg Thomas Braidwood Laurent Clerc Abbé de l'Épée Roger Fouts Valerie Sutton Thomas Gallaudet Abbe Sicard William Stokoe Pierre Pélissier Organisations Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada International Center on Deafness and the Arts Mimics and Gesture Theatre World Association of Sign Language Interpreters Miscellaneous Baby sign language CHCI chimpanzee center ( Washoe, Loulis ) Open Outcry Legal recognition Military hand and arm signals Monastic sign languages Tactile signing Tic - tac ( betting ) ^ a Sign - language names reflect the region of origin. Natural sign languages are not related to the spoken language used in the same region. For example, French Sign Language originated in France, but is not related to French. ^ b Denotes the number ( if known ) of languages within the family. No further information is given on these languages. GND : 4279039 - 6 SUDOC : 12759535X Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=British_Sign_Language&oldid=852974561 '' Categories : Languages of the United Kingdom BANZSL Sign Language family Deaf culture in the United Kingdom Languages of Scotland Languages of Wales British Sign Language Languages of England Hidden categories : Language articles citing Ethnologue 18 Webarchive template wayback links Pages using deprecated image syntax Ill - formatted infobox - language images Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Use dmy dates from September 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Asturianu Brezhoneg Corsu Cymraeg Deutsch Ελληνικά Emiliàn e rumagnòl Esperanto فارسی Français Furlan Hrvatski Italiano Latina Ligure Lumbaart Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Napulitano Piemontèis Português Rumantsch Русский Sardu Scots Sicilianu Simple English Suomi Svenska Tarandíne Türkçe Vèneto Winaray 中文 27 more Edit links This page was last edited on 1 August 2018, at 16 : 05 ( UTC ). 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Question: when was bsl recognised as an official language
Answer: 18 March 2003