Papua New Guinean Sign Language
Sign language · official in 1 country
PNGSL began with Auslan, brought to Papua New Guinea in the 1990s, and grew apart from it through contact with Tok Pisin and with the home sign of deaf children. By 2015 the two were only about 50% mutually intelligible. That year the standardised form was made an official language of Papua New Guinea, which had already been teaching in it in deaf schools.
The language on record
- ISO 639-3
- PGZ
- Script
- Signed
- Family
- Auslan-derived
- Official in
- 1 country
Where Papua New Guinean Sign Language is official
Papua New Guinea is the record. PNGSL became the fourth language with statutory recognition there in May 2015, after Tok Pisin, English and Hiri Motu.
Official beside Papua New Guinean Sign Language
About Papua New Guinean Sign Language
How PNGSL split from Auslan
Australian Sign Language arrived in the 1990s. Tok Pisin had some influence, and home sign much more: many children learned to sign from hearing parents who used home sign, and they brought it to deaf gatherings. By 2015 native signers of Auslan and PNGSL could no longer understand one another. The name Melanesian Sign Language has been used, but it is not what the community calls the language and it is misleading, because PNGSL is not used elsewhere in Melanesia.
Where PNGSL is used
Nobody knows how far the language reaches. Tests so far show that signers from different parts of the country can communicate, with strong regional variation. Separate local sign languages have been described in Enga and Chimbu provinces. When PNGSL became official in May 2015 it was already the language of instruction in deaf schools and in deaf units inside hearing schools. Books sold as PNGSL until then were in fact Auslan, and a first book of actual PNGSL was expected in 2016.
Common questions
Questions about Papua New Guinean Sign Language
When did PNGSL become an official language?
In May 2015, making it the fourth language with statutory recognition in Papua New Guinea.
Can Auslan users understand PNGSL?
Not reliably. PNGSL grew from Auslan, but by 2015 the two were estimated at about 50% mutually intelligible, and native signers of each could not follow the other.