What is Jordanian Sign Language (LIU)?

This is the first blog post in a “101 Series” Martha EDU is publishing to educate Jordanians and their allies about the deaf ^a community.

Is there a universal sign language?

Is sign language an actual language?

Are there dialects of sign language?

Does Jordan have its own sign language?

Is there a universal sign language?

• Each country’s sign language develops uniquely with influences from the culture and community it originates from and “differ[s] from each other as much as spoken languages differ.”¹
  • Although international sign (IS) exists for the purpose of international deaf interaction, it varies based on the users’ language background and is not commonly accepted as a language.² 
  • However, IS is a term that covers a wide variety of language use. Some examples include first encounters between individuals of different language backgrounds, conventionalized expository signing at conferences, and the lingua franca of various international deaf institutions, including the World Federation of the Deaf.³
    
    

Is sign language an actual language?

• Sign languages are complete and legitimate languages, “structurally independent from the spoken languages with which they co-exist; they are certainly in contact with these spoken languages, but their structure is different and independent.”⁴ The formal study of sign language linguistics began in the 1950s and 60s when William C. Stokoe hypothesized that “signs can be analyzed in the same way that units of spoken language can be analyzed.”⁵
• The sign languages and spoken languages of a region inevitably interact with and influence one another, as deaf and hearing individuals interact together. For example, the existence of fingerspelling in LIU and other sign languages is a method of using handshapes to symbolize written letters of the spoken/written language’s alphabet, but sign language is not simply a manual or “word for word” version of spoken/written languages.
  

Are there dialects of sign language?

• There is significant research on regional dialects of sign languages within various countries. For example, several studies have been conducted on the regional variations of sign language within Mexico⁶, Peru⁷, Germany⁸, and Costa Rica⁹. Bernadet Hendriks notes the existence of several dialects in her study of Jordanian Sign Language grammar.¹⁰ In addition, Al-Fityani and Padden conducted lexicostatistical research on sign languages in Libya, Palestine,

Kuwait, and Jordan and found that each one is distinct and unlikely to share a common origin.¹¹ 

• In perhaps the earliest work on Arabic sign languages (ARSLs), Abdel-Fattah (2005) discusses the grammar, vocabulary, and history of ARSLs. “In their ‘natural context,’ ARSLs developed as independent systems of communication.”¹²
  
  

Does Jordan have its own sign language?

• Jordanian Sign Language or Lughat al-ishāra al-urduniyya (LIU) is its own language with documented phonology, lexical repertoire, and syntax. LIU has its own dictionary as well, produced by a team of deaf workers at the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf.¹⁰ You can learn more about the dictionary on the school’s website. 
• Although research is scarce, according to the WHO’s estimate of 5% of the population worldwide experiencing deafness, there could be 550,000 deaf individuals in Jordan.¹³ However, the Joshua Project’s last estimate of the Jordanian deaf population in 2012 was 52,000.¹⁴ Not all deaf people have access to LIU because of isolation in rural areas where home signs are used exclusively.¹⁴ Other reasons for this lack of access could be attributed to:
  • Families not knowing that sign language is an available tool, since 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents.¹⁵
  • Shame attributed to having a deaf family member.¹⁶
  • Not having a pool of trained and paid deaf language mentors that can conduct in-home visits to provide exposure and access.¹⁷
  • Limited distribution of the first LIU dictionary, the third edition of which was only published in 2015.¹⁸

The current resources and research available on LIU are limited, but Martha EDU and its partners plan to be part of changing that. To support Martha EDU’s development of technology-enabled learning products to increase literacy and LIU access for deaf children and their families across Jordan, please click here. 
Click here to access our next blog post, which focuses on education for deaf children.

Contributors:

Authors: Emma DeCaro, Elias Henriksen, and Samantha Hoeksema

Editor: Timothy Y. Loh

Deaf interpreters: Rawan Fouad Saleh and Husam Alhmoud 

Hearing interpreter: Julia Easa

Film, production, and Arabic proofreading: Ehab Kahwati

Arabic translation and project coordination: Rasha Abu Shakhdam

References:

1. Markowicz, Harry. 2010. “Introductory: Myths About American Sign Language.” In Recent Perspectives on American Sign Language, edited by Harlan Lane and Francois Grosjean. New York: Psychology Press. 
2. Mesch, Johanna. 2010. “Perspectives on the Concept and Definition of International Sign.” World Federation of the Deaf. http://wfdeaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Perspectives-on-the-Concept-and-Definition-of-IS_Mesch-FINAL.pdf.
3. Kusters, Annelies. 2021. “International sign and American sign language as different types of global Deaf lingua francas.” Sign Language Studies, 21 vol. 4: 391-426.
4. World Federation of the Deaf. n.d. “WFD Statement on Standardized Sign Language.” Accessed August 25, 2022. https://wfdeaf.org/news/wfd-statement-on-standardized-sign-language/.
5. Valli, Clayton, and Ceil Lucas. 2000. Linguistics of American Sign Language: An Introduction. Washington: Gallaudet University Press.
6. Bickford, J. Albert.1991.  “Lexical Variation in Mexican Sign Language.” Sign Language Studies 72: 241-276. doi:10.1353/sls.1991.0010.
7. Clarck, Brenda. 2017. “Sign Language Varieties in Lima, Peru.” Sign Language Studies 17, no. 2: 222–64. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26191036.
8. Eichmann, Hanna, and Rachel Rosenstock. 2014. “Regional Variation in German Sign Language: The Role of Schools (Re-)Visited.” Sign Language Studies 14, no. 2: 175–202. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26190869.
9. Woodward, James. 1991. “Sign Language Varieties in Costa Rica.” Sign Language Studies 73: 329-345. doi:10.1353/sls.1991.0022.
10. Hendriks, Bernadet. 2008. “Jordanian Sign Language: Aspects of Grammar From a Cross-Linguistic Perspective.” PhD diss., University of Amsterdam.
11. Al-Fityani, Kinda and Padden, Carol. 2010. “Sign Language geography in the Arab world.” in Sign languages: A Cambridge Survey, edited by D. Brentari. New York: Cambridge University Press. http://sandlersignlab.haifa.ac.il/pdf/geography.pdf.
12. Abdel-Fattah, Mahmoud. 2005. “Arabic Sign Language: A Perspective.” The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 10, iss. 2: 212–221. https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/eni007. 
13. World Health Organization. 2023. “Deafness and hearing loss.” Last modified Feburary 27, 2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss. 
14. Joshua Project. 2012. “Deaf in Jordan.” Accessed March 24, 2023.
    https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/19007/JO.
15. Mitchell RE, Karchmer MA. 2004. “Chasing the mythical ten percent: Parental hearing status of Deaf and hard of hearing students in the United States.” (PDF) Sign Language Studies. https://research.gallaudet.edu/Demographics/SLS_Paper.pdf.

16. Al-Makhamreh, Sahar. 2016. “Hearing the Voices of Young Deaf People: Implications for Social Work Practice in Jordan,” International Social Work 59, no. 1: 47-59. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/intsocwk59&id=47&men_tab=srchresults. 
17. Hamilton, B. and Clark, M. 2020. “The Deaf Mentor Program: Benefits to Families.” Psychology 11, no. 5: 713-736. doi:10.4236/psych.2020.115049. 
18. The Holy Land Institute for the Deaf. n.d. “Launching of the New Jordan-Arabic Sign Language Dictionary.” Accessed August 25, 2022. http://www.holyland-Deaf.org/en/launching-of-the-new-jordan-arabic-sign-language-dictionary/.