Native to Austria, Germany ISO 639-3 asq | Native speakers 8,000–10,000 (2014) Glottolog aust1252 | |
Language family French Sign
Austro-Hungarian Sign
Austrian Sign Language | ||
Austrian Sign Language, or Österreichische Gebärdensprache (ÖGS), is the sign language used by the Austrian Deaf community—approximately 10,000 people (see Krausneker 2006).
Contents
Classification
ÖGS and Hungarian Sign Language seem to be related for historical reasons (First School for the Deaf in Vienna), but forms a cluster with neighboring languages rather than with ÖGS. Although there are no detailed studies of the extent of relatedness, ÖGS shares aspects of its grammar with German Sign Language and Swiss Sign Language, while the vocabulary differs (see Skant et al. 2002); Wittmann (1991) places it in the French Sign Language family).
Research
Linguistic research on ÖGS started in the 1990s and is primarily conducted at the University of Klagenfurt and University of Graz.
After a 15-year effort by the Deaf community, ÖGS was legally recognized by the Austrian Parliament on September 1, 2005.
Associations
The Austrian Deaf community is represented by the Austrian Federation of the Deaf (the Österreichischer Gehörlosenbund).
There is one nationwide association for professional interpreters of ÖGS.