View source for Northern Ireland Sign Language

{{Short description|Sign language used mainly by deaf people in Northern Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox language
|name= Northern Ireland Sign Language
|nativename=NISL
|states=[[United Kingdom]] and [[Ireland]] 
|region=[[Northern Ireland]]
|speakers="BSL" is the native or preferred language of 3,500 in Northern Ireland
|date=2007
|ref=<ref name="dcal"/>
|familycolor=sign
|fam1=[[BANZSL#Language Family|BANZSL Family]]. Emerging from [[British Sign Language|British]], [[Irish Sign Language|Irish]], and [[American Sign Language|American]] Sign.
|isoexception=dialect
|glotto=none
|ietf=isg-u-sd-gbnir
}}

'''Northern Ireland Sign language''' ('''NISL''') is a [[sign language]] used mainly by [[deaf people]] in [[Northern Ireland]].

NISL is described as being related to [[Irish Sign Language]] (ISL) at the [[syntactic]] level while the [[lexicon]] is based on [[British Sign Language]] (BSL)<ref name="Janzen">{{cite book |last=Janzen |first=Terry |title=Topics in Signed Language Interpreting: Theory And Practice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylfJtF3vQUwC |access-date=2008-06-22 |year=2005 |publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing Company]] |location=Amsterdam |isbn=90-272-1669-X |oclc=60742155 |pages=256 & 265}}</ref> and [[American Sign Language]] (ASL).{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}

A number of practitioners see Northern Ireland Sign Language as a distinct and separate language from both BSL and ISL though "many 'Anglo-Irish'{{explain|date=December 2017}} Northern Irish signers argue against the use of the acronym NISL and believe that while their variety is distinct, it is still a part of British Sign Language."<ref name="Janzen"/>

{{As of|2004|03}} the [[British Government]] recognises only British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language as the official sign languages used in Northern Ireland.<ref name="dcal">{{cite web |url=http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/index/languages/sign_language.htm |title=Sign Language |access-date=2011-01-31 |publisher=[[Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109104308/http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/index/languages/sign_language.htm |archive-date=2011-01-09 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nio.gov.uk/paul-murphy-announces-recognition-for-sign-language/media-detail.htm?newsID=8540 |title=Paul Murphy announces recognition for sign language |access-date=2011-01-31 |date=2004-03-30 |publisher=[[Northern Ireland Office]] |quote=I am pleased to announce formal recognition for both British and Irish Sign Languages in Northern Ireland. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520115301/http://www.nio.gov.uk/paul-murphy-announces-recognition-for-sign-language/media-detail.htm?newsID=8540 |archive-date=2011-05-20 }}</ref>

{{BANZSL family tree}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Languages of the United Kingdom}}
{{BANZSL languages}}
{{sign language navigation}}

[[Category:BANZSL Sign Language family]]
[[Category:Languages of Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Deaf culture in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Sign languages of the United Kingdom]]


{{sign-lang-stub}}
{{NorthernIreland-stub}}