Vlaamse Gebarentaal

Flemish Sign Language is the language used by signers in Flanders, which is the northern part of Belgium, a country in Western Europe. The Flemish Deaf community is estimated to include approximately 6,000 sign language users (Loots et al., 2003).

History

The first deaf schools that were founded in Flanders were influenced by the French Sign Language used at the Paris deaf school, as the teachers were trained at the Paris deaf school, or the two deaf schools in Netherlands; Groningen and Sint-Michiels-Gestel.

The Flemish Sign Language, like many sign lanugages, was set back by the Milan Conference in 1880, which banned the use of all sign language in the education of deaf children in favour of an oral approach.

By the beginning of the 20th century there was a Deaf school in every major town in Flanders, and in some towns there were even two: one for boys and one for girls. Most of the schools were residential schools and pupils only went home during the holidays and later on also during the weekends. As a result, regional sign language varieties started to develop around every school.

Variations

It is now generally accepted and confirmed by research, that Flemish Sign Language consists of five regional varieties which have developed in and around the different Flemish deaf schools: West-Vlaanderen (West Flanders), Oost-Vlaanderen (East Flanders), Antwerpen (Antwerp), Vlaams-Brabant (Flemish Brabant), and Limburg (Limburg) (De Weerdt et al., 2003).

Next to the differences between the regions, there is intra-regional variation. One example is gender related variation. Until the 1970s, there were seperate schools for boys and girls, this has lead to a gender variation in the signs. There are of course more reasons for the relatively high degree of intra-regional variation.

At the moment there is no standardized sign language in Flanders, although there is an on-going process of spontaneous standardization (mostly due to increasing contacts between Deaf people from different regions).

Federalization

Another important aspect influencing sign language in Flanders is the federalization process which has taken place in Belgium during the last two or three decades and finally came into being in 1993. Today every Belgian belongs to a certain linguistic group and the same goes for Deaf people. Ironically they are also considered Flemish or Walloon, i.e. they are regarded as being part of the linguistic majority groups of speakers of Dutch or French regardless of the sign language they use and the linguistic minority group to which they belong.

In the 1970s, the national Deaf federation, NAVEKADOS, split up into a Flemish and a Walloon federation and Fevlado (Federatie van Vlaamse Dovenorganisaties or the Association of Flemish Deaf Organizations) was founded in 1977. As a result, cultural activities have been organized separately since then, and the Flemish and the Walloon Deaf clubs have been subsidized from different sources. Contacts between Flemish and Walloon Deaf people have become less and less frequent and this has had its effect on the development of the sign languages in both communities which are deviating from each other as they go through separate standardization processes. Therefore, the name for the sign language has changed over time from “Belgian Sign Language”, to “Flemish Belgian Sign Language”, to the now preferred “Flemish Sign Language”.

References

• De Weerdt, K., Vanhecke, E., Van Herreweghe, M. & Vermeerbergen, M. 2003. Op (onder)zoek naar de Vlaamse Gebaren-schat. Gent: Cultuur voor Doven.
• Loots, G., Devisé, I., Lichtert, G., Hoebrechts, N., Van De Ginste, C., & De Bruyne, I. 2003. De gemeenschap van doven en slechthorenden in Vlaanderen. Communicatie, taal en verwachtingen omtrent maatschappelijk etoegankelijkheid. Gent: Cultuur voor Doven.

Some of the major reference works for Flemish Sign Language are:

• Van Herreweghe, M. (1995) De Vlaams-Belgische Gebarentaal: een Eerste Verkenning. Gent: Academia Press.
• Van Herreweghe, A. (1996) Prelinguaal Dove Jongeren en Nederlands: een Syntactisch Onderzoek. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Ghent University.
• Van Herreweghe, M. & Vermeerbergen, M. (1998). Thuishoren in een Wereld van Gebaren. Gent: Academia Press.
• Van Herreweghe, M. & Vermeerbergen, M. (2004). 30 Vragen over Gebarentaal in Vlaanderen en 29 Antwoorden. Gent: Academia Press.
• Vermeerbergen, M. (1996). ROOD KOOL TIEN PERSOON IN. Morfo-syntactische Aspecten van Gebarentaal. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
• Vermeerbergen, M. (1997). Grammaticale Aspecten van de Vlaams-Belgische Gebarentaal. Gentbrugge: Cultuur voor Doven.
• Vermeerbergen, M. (ed). (1999). Grammaticale Aspecten van de Vlaams-Belgische Gebarentaal-videoboek. Affligem: Vlaams-Gebarentaalcentrum.

An electronic dictionary for VGT can be found on the web: http://gebaren.ugent.be