Facts about BSL

What is BSL?

British Sign Language (BSL) is a language of movement and space, of the hands and of the eyes, of abstract communication as well as iconic story-telling, but most of all it is the first or preferred language of 70,000 Deaf people in the UK.

What type of language is BSL?

BSL is a language that until recently has been ignored and therefore underestimated in its potential. It is different, often strikingly so, from English but it shares features and grammatical processes as with many other spoken languages.

What is Fingerspelling?

People who use BSL also use fingerspelling. Certain words - usually names of people and places - are spelled out on fingers. However, fingerspelling alone is not sign language.

Is BSL the same throughout the UK?

No, there are many regional variations of BSL just as spoken languages have different dialects. In different parts of the country, signs will have different meanings, or there will be different signs for one word.

Are all signed languages the same around the world?

No, sign languages are as different as spoken languages. Deaf people in different countries don't use the same sign language, but some sign languages do have a similar structure. BSL is not universal - it is only used in the UK. Some deaf people in Northern Ireland prefer to use Irish Sign Language (ISL) as well as BSL.