To the Lexicon and Beyond: Sociolinguistics in European Deaf Communities

Regional Variation in Flemish Sign Language

Regional Variation in Flemish Sign Language Eline Vanhecke and Kristof De Weerdt This chapter presents the results of the first lexicographic study of Flemish Sign Language, Vlaamse Gebarentaal (VGT). As the linguistic component of a large-scale project involving the Deaf community in Flanders, this study was conducted at Ghent University in Belgium from 1999 to 2001. Flemish Sign Language is the language used by signers in Flanders, which is the northern part of Belgium and where Dutch is the official, spoken language. Throughout history Belgium has known a rather complex linguistic situation. In short, in 1993 Belgium became a federalized monarchy with two states (Flanders and Wallonia) and two officially recognized languages, Dutch in Flanders and French in Wallonia.1 The Flemish Deaf community comprises approximately six thousand sign-language users. The first Deaf schools in Flanders were either directly or indirectly influenced by the method used at the Paris Deaf school and consequently also by French Sign Language. By the beginning of the twentieth century, most major towns in Flanders had a Deaf school.2 Since most of these were residential schools, regional sign-language varieties started to develop around every institution, and now five regional varieties are in use. Consequently, the basic principle underlying our research is that Flemish Sign Language is not a standard sign language but that it instead consists of five regional varieties.3 The five regions we studied are the areas surrounding the Flemish schools for deaf pupils and correspond more or less to the five Flemish provinces: West-Vlaanderen (West Flanders ), Oost-Vlaanderen (East Flanders), Antwerpen (Antwerp), VlaamsBrabant (Flemish Brabant), and Limburg (Limburg) (see figure 1). This chapter reports on the first scientific research on the lexicon and the regional varieties of Flemish Sign Language and is therefore to be considered as an initial survey. 27 figure 1. Flemish provinces. MAIN RESEARCH GOALS Our main goal was to inventory the current lexicon of Flemish Sign Language, taking into account its regional and lexical differences. On the basis of this inventory we would be able to collect data concerning the lexical differences and similarities between the regional varieties of VGT necessary to determine the degree of regional variation.4 METHODOLOGY Data and Informants Obviously, when one deals with five (presumed) regiolects, one needs a specific methodology. At the start of the research we decided on the number of informants and the number of concepts to study. One option was to work with a very limited word list that would then be spread among a very large number of Deaf informants. In this way we would obtain a very detailed and representative description and comparison of the signs collected in every region. However, because of the small number of concepts, this would be insufficient to provide us a general insight into the lexical situation of VGT. An alternative method was to work with small groups of informants in every region and with a number of exten28 : e l i n e v a n h e c k e a n d k r i s t o f d e w e e r d t sive word lists that would yield enough data for both the research and the compilation of a sign-language dictionary. Given that our aim was to collect and compare as many signs as possible , we chose the second method. Still, it was obviously impossible to record all of the existing signs since we were working with a fairly limited number of informants and the study concerned a random collection of VGT signs. To collect the signs we compiled priority lists of the vocabulary that we wanted to study. This was done mainly on the basis of a comparison of the lexis included in a number of foreign sign-language dictionaries (e.g., ASL, DSL, BSL), children’s books (used for learning the basic vocabulary of specific topics), and frequency lists. Given the relatively short duration of the project (twenty-four months), we decided to compile the word lists starting with various general themes related to the basic lexicon of Flemish Sign Language. We compiled five Dutch word lists, each with an average of four hundred basic concepts: List 1: colors, days, months, seasons, time in general, interrogatives List 2: family, friends, body, health, hygiene, clothing List 3: types of houses and buildings, furniture, kitchenware, food and drink, celebrations...