Page Type: languageSign Language of the Netherlands | Ethnologue

DSE ISO 639-3

Sign Language of the Netherlands

A language of Netherlands

ISO 639
dse
Alternate Names
Dutch Sign Language, NGT, Nederlandse Gebarentaal, SLN
Population
20,500 in Netherlands, all users. L1 users: 15,000 in Netherlands (2019 EUD). Population estimates vary widely, in part because they count different things: 15,000 Deaf sign language users (2019 EUD), about 0.1% of total population; 10,000–13,000 deaf or severely hard of hearing (Dovenschap brochure); 10,500 deaf and 5,500 hearing sign language users (Crasborn 2001); 45,000 deaf, 495,000 hard of hearing (2005 National Hearing Foundation); 86,500 deaf (2014 IMB). L2 users: 5,500 (1997 Commissie Nederlandse Gebarentaal). Total users in all countries: 22,800 (as L1: 17,300; as L2: 5,500).
Location:
Scattered.
Language Status
5 (Developing).
Classification
Sign language, Deaf community sign language
Dialects
Groningen, Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Brabant, Standard. In addition to the standardized variety, five dialects developed around the original five deaf schools (Stoop 2014), and there is a seventh associated with the unique home for deaf elderly people.
Typology
One-handed fingerspelling system similar to French Sign Language [fsl].
Language Use
Vigorous. Deaf schools. Deaf associations. Used by all. Also use Dutch [nld].
Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: Although word identification skills of deaf children were comparable to hearing peers, overall reading comprehension averaged at the first grade level in a sample of approximately 500 deaf students ages 6–20 (Wauters 2005). TV. Theater. Dictionary. Grammar. Agency: Deaf Association of the Netherlands.
Other Comments
499 working sign language interpreters (2019 EUD). Organizations for SLN teachers and interpreters. A sign center (Nederlands Gebarencentrum) develops NGT teaching materials and studies NGT lexicography. Research on NGT done at University of Amsterdam and Radboud University. Although NGT recommended for official recognition by a special committee, the Dutch government has not recognized the language (Schermer 2012). Taught as L2 (e.g. parents of deaf children). Teachers at deaf schools and interpreters have official college-level training. Secular, Christian.

Also Spoken in

Language Name
Sign Language of the Netherlands
User Population
100 in Aruba (2021 DBS/DOOR/SIL). Estimated at 0.1% of the total population.
Location
Scattered.
Language Status
6a (Vigorous)
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
View other languages of Aruba
Language Name
Sign Language of the Netherlands
User Population
200 in Caribbean Netherlands (Parks and Williams 2011). Estimated, assuming 0.1% of total population.
Location
Scattered.
Language Status
5 (Developing)
Other Comments
Non-indigenous. One deaf school: Scola Myrna Dovale, in Willemstad, Curacao (Parks and Williams 2011).
View other languages of Caribbean Netherlands
Language Name
Sign Language of the Netherlands
Location
Scattered.
Language Status
6a (Vigorous)
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
View other languages of Curacao
Language Name
Sign Language of the Netherlands
User Population
2,000 in Suriname (2021 DBS/DOOR/SIL). Estimated 1,100–2,300 deaf signers, assuming 0.2%–0.4% of total population.
Location
Scattered.
Language Status
6a (Vigorous)
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
View other languages of Suriname

Map

Location: Scattered.