Hungarian Sign Language

Hungarian Sign Language
Magyar jelnyelv
Native to	Hungary
Region	Throughout Hungary, with possibly a few signers in western Romania
Native speakers	10,000 (2021)[1]
Language family	French Sign Austro-Hungarian Sign Hungarian Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	hsh
Glottolog	hung1263

Person	Magyar
People	Magyarok
Language	Magyar nyelv, Magyar jelnyelv
Country	Magyarország

Hungarian Sign Language (Hungarian: magyar jelnyelv) is the sign language of deaf people in Hungary. There is historical evidence that Hungarian and Austrian Sign Language are related, but Bickford (2005) found that Hungarian, Slovak, and Czech Sign formed a cluster with Romanian, Bulgarian, and Polish Sign rather than with Austrian. Bickford also noted that there are about seven dialects of Hungarian Sign Language, with the variation connected to the residential deaf school where it is taught.^[2]

In November 2009, the Hungarian Parliament unanimously passed Act CXXV of 2009 on Hungarian Sign Language and the use of Hungarian Sign Language.^[3] In 2020, the act was amended to place HSL on equal footing with spoken Hungarian when it comes to state-recognized exams, recognized the right to emphasize the use of HSL instead of mainstreaming deaf children, and advancing the use of accessibility technologies.^[4]

The National Association of the Hungarian Deaf is called Siketek és Nagyothallók Országos Szövetsége (SINOSZ).

References

1. Hungarian Sign Language at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Bickford, J. Albert (2005). The Signed Languages of Eastern Europe (PDF) (Report). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2016.
3. "Hungarian Sign Language - HSL bill passed in Hungary 9 November 2009". Budapest, Hungary: SINOSZ. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
4. Lisitsa, Zaryana (3 August 2020). "Hungary achieves unique rights for the Deaf". SignAll. Retrieved 9 February 2021.

External links

• Dictionary of Hungarian Sign Language (with English Translation)
• SINOSZ