Venezuelan Sign Language
Sign language · official in 1 country
Lengua de señas venezolana, or LSV, took shape in Caracas after the first school for deaf children opened there in 1935. The name Venezuelan Sign Language came into use in the 1930s, and the language has been used in schools since 1937. The Federación Venezolana de Sordos has published a large dictionary of it.
The language on record
- Own name
- Lengua de señas venezolana
- ISO 639-3
- VSL
- Script
- Signed
- Family
- Sign language
- Official in
- 1 country
Where Venezuelan Sign Language is official
Venezuela alone. Its record lists LSV, although the 1999 constitution grants deaf people the right to use it and keeps the words official language for Spanish and the native languages.
Official beside Venezuelan Sign Language
About Venezuelan Sign Language
How deaf schools in Caracas produced LSV
In 1935 the Instituto Venezolano de Ciegos y Sordomudos opened in Caracas as the first school for deaf and hard of hearing children. Its pupils formed a small community of signers and built a language out of the signs each child had used at home. The institute later split the teaching of blind and deaf students and founded the Escuela Taller de Sordomudos, whose hearing teachers had trained in Spain and knew Spanish Sign Language. The mix of the pupils' system and the teachers' signing appears to be where LSV began.
In 1950 former pupils founded the Asociación de Sordomudos de Caracas, led by José Arquero Urbano, an immigrant who had headed the deaf community in Madrid. His signs changed LSV again, and many deaf Venezuelans assume he created it.
What the constitution grants deaf signers
After lobbying by the deaf associations, the constituent assembly of 1999 wrote LSV into two articles. Article 81 recognises the right of deaf people to communicate in it. Article 101 gives them the right to be informed in their language on public and private television. Article 9 reserves official language status for Spanish across the nation and for native languages in their ancestral territories, so LSV sits below them in law.
Who signs LSV today
The number of users is unknown. They include deaf people for whom LSV is the main language and hearing people of varying fluency. In 2004 more than 3,000 deaf children were in the national public schools, and deaf associations had around 9,000 members. A national bilingual programme teaches LSV beside Spanish, though adults sign differently from the classroom.
Common questions
Questions about Venezuelan Sign Language
Did Venezuelan Sign Language come from Spanish Sign Language?
In part. Pupils at the first deaf schools in Caracas combined their home signs with the signing of teachers trained in Spain, who knew Spanish Sign Language, and that mix appears to be its origin.
Does the Venezuelan constitution make LSV an official language?
No. Articles 81 and 101 of the 1999 constitution protect the right to communicate in LSV and to receive television in it. Article 9 gives official status to Spanish and to native languages only, which leaves LSV with a lower legal standing.
Who was José Arquero Urbano?
An immigrant from Madrid, where he had led the deaf community, who directed the Deaf Association of Caracas from 1950. The signs he brought changed LSV, and many deaf Venezuelans credit him with creating it.