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Linguistic Genocide against Development of Indigenous
Signed Languages in Africa
Emmanuel Asonye, Mary Edward and Ezinne Emma-Asonye
bstract
The UN 1948 Convention on Linguistic Genocide did not expressly
consider the gradual but continuous suppression of minority
languages and cultures by a superior one and/or the authorities, which has
been the situation with, not just the spoken languages as has been
emphasized in literature, but the signed languages in Africa. However, the
Convention’s definition of ‘genocide’ includes “…destroying in whole or
part, or of preventing preservation or development.” Significant number of
African signed languages are said to have originated from American Sign
Language ASL (Asonye, 2016), a few others have their bearing from British
Sign Language BSL and French Sign language LSF (Nobutaka, 2004). Some of
these African signed languages are still threatened or at least influenced by
their foreign “parent languages” till this day. While the indigenous African
signed languages are struggling to emerge, and develop, the undue influence
of their foreign counterparts continue to suppress the languages, delude the
users, learners and even teachers of the languages.
Edward (2015a) and Asonye (2016), both have reiterated the gradual
endangerment of signed languages used in Africa, which is claimed to be
caused by contact with spoken languages, local laws, formal education, and
other post-colonial ideologies. Thus, these signed languages are gradually
being battered by social and educational policies. Apart from village sign
languages, many African countries can also boast of national sign languages.
This paper argues that the Africa’s deaf communities are rich in
signed languages which are sustained by several socio-cultural factors
including the obvious lack of linguists’ interest to study signed languages,
and have been under the continued attack of the colonist languages and
cultures considered superior because they are documented and largely
studied, It also seeks to demonstrate patterns of the effects of linguistic
genocide on signed languages in Africa and their users. Examples are drawn
from the signed languages used in selected deaf communities in Nigeria and
Ghana. A multidisciplinary approach was used in the data collection and
analyses, which includes simple questionnaires and interviews from deaf
individuals, deaf educators, and signed language instructors. A large corpus
of indigenous signed language items was also collected from different deaf
communities and were analyzed and findings show that these signed
languages have developed unique structural features distinct from the ASL,
Signed English or any other imposed signed language.
A
338 Emmanuel Asonye, Mary Edward and Ezinne Emma-Asonye
1.0Introduction
A number of African signed languages are claimed to have originated from
American Sign Language ASL (Asonye, 2016; Nyst, 2010) and others have
their bearing from British Sign Language BSL and French Sign language LSF
(Nobutaka, 2004). The undue influence on some of these African signed
languages by the foreign languages is felt till this day. The influence is
mainly through “borrowed” materials of the parent signed language that are
used in teaching in schools for the deaf. The lack of print materials in most
signed languages used in these Deaf schools is a major reason for relying on
foreign materials, especially when the signed language of education is a
product of a foreign signed language. Whereas this influence is mainly on
signed languages of education used across African communities, there
remain another “battle” on local signed languages.
Local or indigenous African signed languages are found in many
African communities (Nyst, 2010). In Ghana, Adamorobe Sign Language
(AdaSL) is a village signed language that is used in Adamorobe, a village
with a high rate of genetic deafness (Nyst, 2007, Edward, 2015a). Nanabin
Sign Language (NanaSL) is a home sign system developed by a family in
Ekumfi (Ghana) with a high rate of genetic deafness (Nyst, 2010). Bura Sign
Language is a village sign language used in Bura, an Hausa community in
North-East Nigeria (Blench & Warren, 2006). Maganar Hannu also known as
Hausa Sign Language is local sign language that is used in Kano State in
Nigeria (Schmaling, 1997). Village signed languages develop within small
communities or villages with a high incidence of hereditary deafness (Meir et
al. 2010) and home signs are usually used by families with recorded deafness
affecting two or three generations. Both village sign languages and home
sign systems are products of local communities and are therefore indigenous
legacies. Most indigenous African signed languages are older than the
foreign based signed languages and an example is AdaSL which is older than
Ghanaian Sign Language (GSL). Okyere & Addo (1994) record that co-
existence between Deaf and hearing people at Adamorobe dates back to the
year 1733, and this implies that AdaSL begun in the 18th Century. GSL on the
other hand was introduced in the 1960’s through the effort of Andrew Foster.
Thus, whereas, many foreign based signed languages in African countries are
through the effort of Andrew Foster [1], indigenous signed languages are
community legacies and most times no individual can claim ownership.
The use of indigenous signed languages in Africa dates back to the
transatlantic slave trade where it was identified that the deaf people used
gestural resources to communicate (Miles, 2004). Apart from the signed
languages of education, village and home signs have been used in several
communities in Africa (Nyst 2010). The indigenous signed languages are
faced with language endangerment (Edward 2015a, Nyst 2010) because of
Linguistic genocide against development of signed languages in Africa 339
the preference of the new signed languages of education. The existence of
societal norms and laws has reduced the numbers of deaf populations in
some societies (Edward 2015a; Kusters 2012; Nyst, 2007). While the
indigenous African signed languages are struggling to develop, the undue
influence of their foreign based counterparts continue to suppress the local
signed languages, delude the users and learners of the languages. Studies
conducted in different deaf linguistic communities in Nigeria and Ghana
show the influence of ASL on the signed languages used in these countries.
The signed languages of Africa have been under constant contact
with the spoken languages used in the communities. Edward (2015a, 2015b)
discusses the effect of language contact on AdaSL. One of such contact has
led to the pidginisation of AdaSL by some speakers of Akan in Adamorobe.
She quotes that, “[t]he pidgin AdaSL has the structure of Akuapem Twi and
the signers try to incorporate the few AdaSL signs that they know” and the
result “is primarily gestural rather than a regulated sign language like
AdaSL” (Edward, 2015a). Further, the gradual endangerment of signed
languages used in Africa, is claimed to be caused by contact with local laws,
formal education, etc. (Nyst, 2007; Edward 2015a, 2015b). The gradual
linguistic genocide of indigenous African signed languages is therefore a
compounding of several issues.
Whereas indigenous signed languages are struggling to develop,
most foreign based signed languages in some African countries are yet to
develop enough study materials for learners. Research conducted at the
School for the Deaf Kuje in Abuja in 2016 [2] revealed that students and
teachers rely on materials from American Sign Language (ASL) to teach.
Thus, deaf signers in
1
Kuje and most parts of Nigeria rely on ASL materials
for teaching and learning. However, deaf signers in this school and several
parts of Nigeria have developed a distinct signed language that is similar to
ASL but very relevant to the Nigerian community. Language development
policies in most African nations seem to overlook the importance of signed
language documentation and the development of material for studies.
Further, as more linguists in Africa research on languages that are used
within their communities, research work on signed language linguistics is
limited to the very few and most times the ground-breaking researches in
signed languages within Africa are conducted by foreigners. The problem is
compounded by the seeming neglect of government intervention in Deaf
education. For example, although primary and junior high school education
1
Andrew Foster, a deaf missionary from America is credited with the emergence of Deaf
education in many African nations (see, Nyst, 2010).
2 S-deli community engagement project in Nigeria
340 Emmanuel Asonye, Mary Edward and Ezinne Emma-Asonye
is free in Ghana and Nigeria (for both mainstream and special schools), the
resources available to some special schools are not adequate for the students.
Special attention to minority languages in many African countries is
needed to sustain them from possible endangerment. However, since this
intervention is delayed in most countries, there is a gradual extermination of
minority languages and some signed languages (like AdaSL) are potential
candidates for language death if all users shift to GSL. This paper seeks to
discuss “this linguistic genocide” and also offer possible solutions to both
indigenous and foreign based signed languages in Africa to thrive and also
maintain their statuses.
2.0 Methodology
A large amount of linguistic and demographic data has been collected from
various deaf communities in Nigeria the past four years through grassroots
community engagement and family intervention outreaches. Major data
collection instruments include signed language videos comprising name
signs, monologue shots, and discourse sessions; personal interviews with
deaf individuals, (adults and students), family members and signed
2
language instructors; questionnaires and reports from deaf schools.
Sensitization forums at different deaf communities aimed at discussing the
social stigma faced by deaf individuals and their signed language(s) and the
solution included the deaf individuals, their family members, deaf
educators/sign language interpreters and school administrators.
Signed language materials collected are being classified distinctively
as “school signs” and “out of school signs”. While the “school signs”
represent signs taught/learned in school, “out of school signs” represent the
signs that are not necessarily taught in the classroom, may be part of home
signs, village signs or gestural expressions. In the Special School for the Deaf
Kuje and Junior Secondary School Pasali, both in Abuja, Nigeria, several
words were signed differently in school and outside school by the same deaf
students in different contexts. Nevertheless, over 95% of Nigerian
Deaf
3
signers acquired/learned signed language in Deaf schools, where they
2
We use the expression Nigerian Sign Language to refer to the linguistic entity, which is
an embodiment of the culture of deaf people in Nigeria, and the expression Nigerian
signed language as a more general term “parallel to spoken or written language (Wilcox,
2009).
3
Deaf with the capital ‘D’ is widely used in literature to refer to those who are culturally
deaf (see Padden & Humphries, 1988; Padden, 1999; Stokoe, 1999; Kannapell, 1999; Wilcox
& Wilcox, 2002), as opposed to other signed language users, who are also members of a
deaf community. We also use the term here as a collective noun rather than adjective.
Linguistic genocide against development of signed languages in Africa 341
are led to believe that they are learning American Sign Language (ASL)
(Asonye, 2017). In the same vein, a similar percentage of deaf educators and
signed language interpreters in Nigeria believe they are using American Sign
Language, as a result, we make attempts to find out the similarities and
differences between ASL and the signed language varieties used in Nigeria.
Data from interviews, questionnaires, and personal stories are
focused, among other things on establishing the literacy level in signed
language of members of deaf communities, which include the Parents of
Deaf Children PODCs, Children of Deaf Adults CODAs, deaf educators, etc.
in relation to the documentation and development of the Indigenous
Nigerian Sign Language INSL. It also extends to finding out the level of
linguists’ representation and participation in the study of signed languages,
since our earlier studies have shown that linguists’ non-participation in the
study of signed languages is a major mitigating factor against the
development of African signed languages (Asonye and Emma-Asonye, 2013;
Asonye and Rarrick, 2017). The data on signed languages used in Ghana
were recorded through a series of fieldworks done in 2014 and 2016 by one of
the authors. These research works involved both deaf signers of GSL and
AdaSL. Other people who were interviewed included both hearing and deaf
teachers of deaf schools at Mampong, hearing and deaf signers of
Adamorobe, some national executives of the Ghana Deaf Association etc.
This large corpus of data from Ghana and Nigeria represented both village
and urban sign languages. To identify the linguistic influence on the sign
languages, selected data from the corpus were transcribed and annotated.
The selected data was chosen because the authors found traces of linguistic
influence in the conversations, the individual signs etc.
2.1 African sign languages
Deafness in African history is recorded by Miles (2004). In this paper, Miles
presented an overview of deaf cultures in African histories based on earlier
research works. According to Miles, “Celine Baduel-Mathon (1971) made a
detailed classification of gestural communication in West African countries
from documentation of the previous two centuries, but described no formal
SL used by deaf people” (Miles 2004:535). Deaf cultures within African
histories were recorded to have used gestural resources for communication.
Adamorobe deaf signers were quoted in this paper as the earliest deaf group
in Africa to have a coordinated signed language. Okyere & Addo (1994) cited
that the signed language in Adamorobe emerged as early as the 18th century.
Miles’ (2004) historical records also showed deafness in Northern Africa; for
example, Egyptian records lamented over hearing loss and evidence from
papyrus demonstrate that the word deafness was in use in ancient Egypt. In
Western part of Africa, especially in Adamorobe (Ghana), deaf and hearing
people recounted the history behind deafness in the community and several
342 Emmanuel Asonye, Mary Edward and Ezinne Emma-Asonye
reasons were given for the cause of deafness in Adamorobe (see Nyst, 2007;
Kusters 2012 for review).
Thus, signed languages have not been new to many societies in
Africa. The emergence of foreign based signed language in Ghana was tied to
evangelism. Andrew Foster’s missionary works led to the establishment of
several deaf schools in many African countries (Nyst, 2010). The co-existence
of foreign based and local or indigenous signed languages in Africa have led
to the terms urban and rural sign languages. The urban sign languages refer
to the signed languages of education which are usually the foreign based
signed languages. The rural signed languages are the village signed
languages and the home sign systems. Few urban signed languages in Africa
are products of indigenous signed languages (e.g. Lingua Gestual Guineense
in Guinea-Bissau, Langue des Signes Mileane/Langue des Signes Bambara in
Bomako, Mali c.f. Nyst 2010).
Most indigenous signed languages in Africa are at the verge of
language endangerment. This endangerment is due to mostly human actions
and in this paper, we refer to this process as linguistic genocide (more details
in section 3.0). Turning to a popular American example, “for 2 and half
centuries, 1690-1950, a high rate of hereditary deafness appeared in the
population of the Island of the Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts” (Groce
1985:43). The people on the Vineyard developed their own signed language
that never became identical with American Sign Language. The main reason
for the death of the signed language used in Martha’s Vineyard in
Massachusetts (USA) was the movement of Deaf signers to other
communities through education and marriage. Currently, rural, and urban
signed languages are used side-by-side in most African societies and the
prestige given to urban signed languages (e.g. GSL in Ghana) is indicative of
a gradual shift to these signed languages to the detriment of the rural signed
languages.
3.0 Linguistic Genocide in Perspective
The UN Convention of 1948 captures linguistic genocide in different
perspectives which however point towards a singular act or intention – to kill
a language; to suppress a language towards its extinction. Linguistic
genocide, which was discussed alongside physical genocide was considered
a serious crime against humanity:
Any deliberate act committed with intent to destroy the language, religion
or culture of a national, racial or religious group on grounds of national or
racial origin or religious belief, such as (1) Prohibiting the use of the
language of the group in daily intercourse or in schools, or the printing and
circulation of publications in the language of the group; and (2) Destroying
or preventing the use of libraries, museums, schools, historical monuments,
Linguistic genocide against development of signed languages in Africa 343
places of worship or other cultural institutions and objects of the group.
(Encyclopaedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, 2005)
The UN 1992 General Assembly further captures the “Declaration on
the Rights of Persons Belonging to National, or Ethnic, Religious and
Linguistic Minorities” thus:
Article 1/1: States shall protect the existence and the national or ethnic,
cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their
respective territories and shall encourage conditions for the promotion of
that identity.
Article 2/1: Persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and
linguistic minorities… have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess
and practise their own religion, and to use their own language, in private
and in public, freely and without interference or any form of discrimination.
Article 4/3: States should take appropriate measures so that, wherever
possible, persons belonging to minorities may have adequate opportunities
to learn their mother tongue or to have instruction in their mother tongue
(UN General Assembly, 1992).
In the light of the above excerpts, deaf individuals in Nigeria and in
all other African countries belong to the minority groups, either ethnic or
national minority. In Nigeria, the Deaf are part of the national minority
groups – they are a linguistic community, but the question is whether the
language used in this community qualifies as “their own language”, “their
mother tongue”. Over 98% of deaf children in the world never receive
education in their most fluent language, Sign Language, the language of
their group (Jokinen, n.d.). This in general sense refers to the act of forcibly
giving education to deaf children in spoken or aural language as opposed to
signed language, but in the African setting, we are concerned about deaf
children forcibly receiving education in an alien signed language, a language
they cannot culturally claim.
3.1 Patterns of Linguistic Genocide against African Sign Languages
American Sign Language (ASL) is the language of deaf education in most, if
not all countries in West and Central Africa (Nyst, 2010), and only Zimbabwe
for now has a constitutionally recognized national signed language. African
signed languages are often described and classified according to their source
in relation to either ASL or British Sign Language, BSL (Asonye, 2016). The
fact is that, with Nigeria as an example, the signed language varieties used in
deaf education in most African countries have evolved and developed
grammatical structures different from ASL used in the United States of
America or BSL used in the United Kingdom today, yet the deaf signers and
deaf educators rather chose to profile the languages used in schools for the
Deaf as ASL. This is the neo-colonial ideology, which has resulted in the lack
of commitment by the deaf and hearing signers to the development of the
344 Emmanuel Asonye, Mary Edward and Ezinne Emma-Asonye
national signed languages and the suppression of the home and village
signs. Kusters (2014) has done an extensive work on this type of ideology in
shared signing community of Adamorobe. Our studies in Nigeria among
deaf communities also indicate that the word ASL is used more often by deaf
students and their teachers to refer to their language than the words Sign
Language, and the words Nigerian Sign Language are hardly used at all, even
when used, there is a nuance of confusion on which Nigerian sign language
is referred. An average deaf student, for instance would choose to say, “I
know American Sign Language” rather than “I know signed language”.
Studies show that deaf people in various times and in rural
communities such as deaf communities in Kano, Nigeria (Schmaling &
Hausawa, 2011), Bamako in Mali (Nyst, 2015) have always invented,
adopted, or developed out-of-school signs, home signs or village signs with
which they communicate, and this linguistic behaviour is traceable back to
deaf education era in Africa. The origin and development of ASL is traceable
to Old French Sign Language (OFSL), although there were records of Natural
Signed Language used at the Martha’s Vineyard and other deaf communities
before the emergence of Old American Sign Language (Wilcox and Wilcox,
2002), but today we have French Sign Language (LSF) and ASL as two
distinct languages and not LSF-American Sign Language as has been
suggested in African setting – ASL-based Nigerian Sign Language, ASL-
based Ghanaian Sign language or Nigerian ASL, Ghana ASL, etc. (see Nyst,
2015). It is in our view that this pattern of linguistic genocide is subtle but
powerful; it prevents deaf people of African descent from protecting “the
existence and the national or ethnic, cultural, linguistic identity” (UN
Convention, 1948).
This pattern of linguistic genocide against African signed languages
is also seen in “Prohibiting the use of the language of the group in daily intercourse
or in schools…” (Encyclopaedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity,
2005), as young deaf individuals from a signed language active community
or village has no choice but to drop the local sign s/he has learnt as soon as
s/he gets enrolled into a deaf school regardless of how fluent the deaf
individual is in the local sign, and regardless of the fact that natural signed
languages have often and spontaneously developed among primary sign
users (Jokinen, n.d.). Students of Junior (Inclusive) Secondary School Pasali
in Abuja, Nigeria, stated that at first, they were confused as to which sign to
use, and later they gradually embraced the classroom sign at the expense of
the local signs they knew. Deaf students from Adamorobe (Ghana) studying
at a nearby School for the Deaf in Mampong Akuapem, have to switch to
GSL at school because that is the language of instruction and communication
at the school. This very subtle switch has led to most educated young
Adamorobeans to use GSL at home. As reported by Nyst (2007) and Edward
(2015a) the signers switch to AdaSL completely only in the presence of old
Linguistic genocide against development of signed languages in Africa 345
deaf signers who do not know GSL. However, the impact of GSL on AdaSL
is enormous as some of the old deaf signers have gradually borrowed some
GSL signs and these appear uncontrolled in their conversation.
It is incredibly worrisome that over 50 years ago, a version of ASL
(Old ASL) with “The Joy of Signing” was introduced into African countries,
with time and events bringing change throughout the linguistic world, 50
plus years later, the most officially reliable sign language book used in the
Deaf classrooms in Africa is “The Joy of Signing”, while the mother language
ASL has continued to evolve through a lot of study by both deaf and hearing
experts. What is the joy of signing and imposing a language that has refused
to develop upon African deaf communities? Today, sign language in Nigeria
and other English-speaking African countries are closely assuming the
structure of Exact Signed English (ESL) or Signing Exact English (SEE),
which is rather characterized as a devised or derivative signed language – a
language of classroom (Jokinen, n.d). SEE, a component of Manually Coded
English (MCE) is described as a means of communication invented with the
aim of assisting deaf children in Western world to learn English – it is not a
natural language like ASL.
3.3 The Status of Nigerian Sign Language (NSL) and Ghanaian Sign
Language (GSL)
Over the past four years, lots of linguistic studies have been going on in
Nigerian Deaf Communities like never before. A lot of signed language data
has been collected from different deaf communities across the country. Prior
to now, studies on the Nigerian Deaf had largely focused on Deaf education
(e.g. Adima, 1989; Eleweke, 2002; Ajavon 2003; Ajavon, 2006, etc.), Deaf
welfare and service provision (e.g. Adepoju, 1984; Eleweke, 1997; Akinpelu,
1999, etc.), and little or nothing had focused on the development of Nigerian
Sign Language. Ajavon’s (2011/2012) project, A Sign Language for Nigeria,
seeks to develop a dictionary for NSL that is compared with ASL. We have,
in the course of our studies in Nigerian Deaf Communities, heard about
isolated efforts of some deaf educators, especially in the Southwest, towards
inventing and preserving a more indigenous NSL for deaf classroom
education, but such efforts have hardly been sustained for two major
reasons, which we will discuss in this section: the seeming unwillingness or
inability of deaf community members to develop their language (Asonye,
2017), and the unwillingness or failure of linguists to study signed language
and participate in its documentation (Asonye & Emma-Asonye, 2013;
Asonye, Emma-Asonye & Edward, 2018).
Nigerian Sign Language has been described as a variety or a dialect
of American Sign Language (Nyst, 2010), not because formal teaching of
signed language to deaf children was first introduced by an African
346 Emmanuel Asonye, Mary Edward and Ezinne Emma-Asonye
American, or because the variety of Nigerian Sign Language referred to
evolved from ASL, but because the users and teachers of the language
appear to be caught up with the neo-colonial attitude influenced by linguistic
genocide and they are comfortable believing that they are using a foreign
language, which they have no obligation to develop (Asonye, 2017). In
addition, some undocumented views we collated in our outreaches claim
that NSL is a form of ASL because they share a common vocabulary
repertoire, but it is our view that the presence of spoken English in Nigeria
and its status as a language of education brings a huge influence of
vocabulary in the spoken language, which to an extent has influence on the
signed language. The classroom sign language has retained a good number
of English vocabulary items because 99% of hearing teachers in deaf schools
use Nigerian English or at least Nigerian Pidgin in their everyday lives and
as such, import English vocabulary in their signs.
The historic call for the development of Deaf education in Nigeria by
both deaf and hearing scholars, (such as Adelogbe, 1974; Igwe, 1988;
Ihenacho, 1988, Eleweke, 2002 and others) has no doubt helped to get Deaf
education thus far, although much is still to be done, but significantly the call
has failed to capture an important aspect of Deaf education – signed
language development. The call for the documentation and development of
Deaf language is as important as the call for a better Deaf education, if not
more. Since the call is a one-sided call, deaf scholars, who are products of
classroom signs have no choice but to relapse to the influence of the
imposition of foreign signed language in their linguistic community, even
when the sign they learned is neither used by deaf signers in America nor in
any other Western World, but in Nigeria, and probably a few other African
countries facing a similar linguistic identity crisis (Asonye, 2017).
Nigeria deaf population still pays allegiance to Andrew Foster for his
contribution and efforts to Deaf education in Nigeria and other West African
countries (Eleweke, et al, 2015). Efforts of indigenous and foreign deaf
scholars who have contributed to the development of Deaf education in
Nigeria are documented (Eleweke et al, 2015), but the need for the
documentation of Indigenous Nigerian Sign Language seems not to have
been thought of by Nigerian deaf scholars. On the other hand, our studies
(Asonye and Emma-Asonye, 2013; Asonye and Rarrick, 2017, and Asonye,
Edward & Emma-Asonye, 2018) suggest that linguists’ unwillingness to
undertake the study of signed languages is another great disadvantage to
signed language development in Nigeria. Nigeria is one of the African
countries that has received commendations for establishing Special
Education Departments at Tertiary level (Kiyaga & Moores, 2003), yet no
Nigerian College or University is currently offering a course in signed
language linguistics as at the time of this article, and the institutions that
offer Special Education courses, such as the University of Ibadan, the
Linguistic genocide against development of signed languages in Africa 347
University of Jos, Alvan Ikoku College of Education, College of Education,
Oyo, etc, do not have courses in sign language documentation or sign
language linguistics and end up training their students in classroom signed
language, while the indigenous signed language varieties remain
endangered.
The emergence of signed language research in Ghana began with Frishberg’s
(1987) work. However, local researchers were not involved in linguistic
research of sign language until the late 2000s. Although several research
works were done on deafness, deaf education etc., linguistic research began
recently. Currently, GSL is the language used in institutions devoted to the
deaf and among the educated deaf in Ghana. GSL just like the signed
language used in schools for the deaf in Nigeria and many other African
signed languages, where Andrew Foster worked, traces its root from ASL.
All the educated deaf GSL users who were interviewed (in Accra, 2014)
attested that although there exist similarities between GSL and ASL, they
would rather refer to the signed language used in Ghana as GSL since it has
a certain uniqueness that differentiates it from ASL. This contradicts the
views towards NSL that were shared by some users (deaf signers,
interpreters) and teachers in Abuja and Pasali. AdaSL and other home signs
systems used in some villages and homes in Ghana are indigenous signed
languages and different from GSL, especially in sign structure.
Documentation of the first dictionary of GSL was pioneered by Boison et al.
in 2001 and recent additions and changes have been made to some of the
signs in this old dictionary although there is no official revision to the old
dictionary. For example, signs for DOCTOR, NURSE, etc. as represented in
the old dictionary have been replaced with new signs. New dictionaries have
been produced by other teachers and instructors of GSL and some of these
are scorned as being more of ASL than GSL.
Research works on rural sign languages have been produced for
AdaSL and Nanabin Sign Language (Nyst 2007, 2010; Kusters 2012, 2014;
Edward 2015a, 2015b). Whereas research on the rural sign languages have
indicated the potential threat to their survival (Nyst 2007; Edward 2015a),
very few linguistic researches have been done on GSL (Edward, 2014, work
in progress, MacHadjah, 2016). Currently, GSL is taken as a course in some
Ghanaian Universities and Colleges. These courses are tailored to teach
hearing students GSL so they can act as interpreters and teachers of the Deaf.
In the University of Ghana’s Department of Linguistics, linguistics research
on GSL is done in addition to teaching the students to sign. Thus, students
are prepared and introduced to the linguistics of GSL through a year-long
course.
Some private Nursing Training Colleges in Ghana have started
teaching basic conversations in GSL to the Nursing students. These
conversations are made up of simple questions that are asked at the Hospital
and signs for sicknesses and diseases. The longer-term goal of this pilot
348 Emmanuel Asonye, Mary Edward and Ezinne Emma-Asonye
project is to make Nurses capable of communicating with deaf people who
patronize hospitals without interpreters. Some Government Hospitals in
Accra (e.g. Ridge Hospital) have in-house interpreters for deaf people who
patronize their facilities. These measures are tailored to bridge the
communication gap between deaf and hearing people. Although these steps
are to mitigate the communication barrier, only few interpreters are available
in government and private institutions. The National Television in Ghana
has a signed language interpreter assigned to the major news bulletin (at
7pm) and also interpretation services are rendered in GSL for major national
events. These efforts may seem great but most deaf people within rural
communities do not get access to these facilities. For users of village and
home sign systems other than GSL, these services are not relevant to them
since they barely understood GSL.
At the time of developing this article, the Department of Special
Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Administrative Studies and Social
Sciences, Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, Nigeria organized “an intensive
training in American Sign Language and Communication” for professional
signed language interpreters in Nigeria based on “medical vocabularies,
psychiatric assessment of the psychotic deaf patient… legal terminologies
and principles of courtroom… principles of advanced descriptive American
Sign Language, etc,” held on Monday August 28 to Saturday, September
2nd, 2017 at the University of Port Harcourt Medical School. Our concern for
this laudable training program is on the subject - the title. We reached the
organizers of this program to find out why and how the program was based
on “Advanced American Sign Language” and we were informed that some
of the signs to be taught in the program were locally generated indigenous
signs, despite the emphasis on ASL.
3.4 Are Local Signs Threatened?
Over 95% of deaf children in Africa and beyond are born by hearing parents
(Jokinen, n.d, Asonye, 2017). In sub-Saharan Africa, where congenital
hearing loss in children is largely caused by accidental factors, preventable
or other undiagnosed diseases and defects as opposed to genetic factors
(McPherson &Swart, 1997), hearing parents play little or no positive role in
their children’s signed language acquisition, although the importance of
good parent-child communication has been emphasized in literature as one
of the factors that ensures a child’s safety and development. Hearing
children would have learnt over 700 words at age 3, while their deaf mates
would have learnt about 25 words at same age.
Studies carried out in over 40 deaf schools in Lagos Nigeria (Asonye
and Rarrick, 2017; Asonye et al, 2017) show that only about 1.8% of hearing
parents of primary and secondary school deaf students can sign, and about
Linguistic genocide against development of signed languages in Africa 349
same percentage of siblings of these deaf students can also sign. Different
families devise their own means of communication with the deaf member,
which, most times excludes signing. These deaf children are left with little or
no sign language access until they get lately enrolled into a formal school,
where they begin to learn classroom signs, because of lack of Early
Intervention and Deaf Mentoring Programs.
In Adamorobe, young signers are gradually shifting to GSL as the
preferred language of communication. This preference introduced at school
is gradually being accepted by some of the old uneducated signers. The need
for a deaf signer in Adamorobe to acquire bit and pieces of GSL is now
necessary for understanding young signers and also for interpersonal
communication among other deaf groups. Although most GSL signers will
refuse to refer to their language as ASL, the Joy of Signing is still used in
many clubs and churches to teach both deaf and hearing signers GSL.
Edward (2015a) reported of the influence of religion on local sign languages;
the lack of materials in GSL and AdaSL or other local/indigenous signed
language has led most religious groups and other clubs to rely on ASL
material to teach signed language in their classes. These classes are usually
free and attract a good number of people who are interested to learn signed
language and thus, pass on the ASL influence. Are local signs threatened?
Research evidence shows that they are. To what extent are they threatened?
To the extent that they need urgent and conscious attention towards their
documentation and further development.
3.4.1 ASL Vs. SEE
Deaf and hearing signers in America understand the horizontal line that
represents the spectrum between American Sign Language (ASL) and
Signing Exact English (SEE) or simply spoken English. The difference - the
gap between ASL and spoken English has been emphasized in literature (see
Klima and Bellugi, 1979; Fromkin, 1988; Wilcox and Wilcox, 2002;
Humphries, Padden &O’Rourke, 2004), and an average deaf signer with the
knowledge of the two forms of signing can effortlessly code switch between
the two forms, depending on the context. This is the beauty of any language -
the user’s ability to ‘manipulate’. The ASL signer, who is also skilled in
signing English (Kannapell, 1989) knows when s/he code-switches, and
understands the difference between the two; s/he also understands that ASL
is the embodiment of AmericanDeaf Culture, as opposed to English (Padden,
1989).
The above described linguistic attitude is applicable to any linguistic
community, especially to Nigerian Deaf Linguistic Community. If Nigerian
signed language users would acknowledge the status of the signed English
and be able to differentiate it from the indigenous signs which is an
embodiment of Nigerian Deaf Culture, plus a more conscious effort among
the language users to develop the indigenous signs, this would make many
350 Emmanuel Asonye, Mary Edward and Ezinne Emma-Asonye
more deaf people to be more skilled in INSL. Despite the indiscriminate
projection of the term ASL among Nigerian Deaf Communities, many signed
language users we have met agree to the fact that Deaf in Nigeria hardly
have mutual intelligibility with Deaf in America, who sign ‘real ASL’ or ‘deep
ASL’. A professional signed language interpreter, in Team S-DELI
4
, Kindness
Okoro, in an oral interaction, explains how she was able to adapt her signing
style to appear less of signed English and more of culturally adapted style.
According to her, the deaf individuals she interprets for often commend her
style as ‘beautiful’. It is therefore our take that, while Nigerian signers could
keep their version of signed English, (at least for the fact that English is an
official language in the country), conscious efforts should be made towards
the development of the indigenous signs, some of which are found among
local signers, and mostly, out of school.
We are aware that varieties of indigenous Nigerian Sign Language
exist across the various deaf communities in the country, especially as a
result of the influence of spoken languages on signed languages. To this
effect, we have often been asked how we intend to represent all the varieties
in our documentation, and our answer has been that we will represent as
many varieties that would be captured on our lexical entries, in line with the
WFD (World Federation of the Deaf) recommendation. Meanwhile, the
question is soften asked with the misconstrued understanding that signed
language is a signed version of spoken language. WFD discourages the
standardization of one signed language over others in a State with more than
one variety such as Nigeria but supports the representation of all that exist in
a documentation material.
The literacy campaign experiment by the Nicaraguan government
that led to the development of a complete signed language with syntax and
grammar by deaf children that were not yet exposed to school, is one of the
modern evidences of human innate ability to develop language (Birth of a
Language, 2011). The above experiment is applicable to any linguistic
community, either at the village, regional or state level, geo-politically. We
are aware of some scholars’ views that “there is nothing like Nigerian Sign
Language”, because of its multilingual nature, but we see this view as
coming from the language ideology that signed languages are forms of
spoken languages. However, from the point of view of national sign
language, Nigeria has no recognized national sign language. Every natural
signed language is a language of its own, developing over time out of the
community of its users, though not without the conscious efforts of its users
to work towards its development. It is our candid opinion, therefore that the
linguistic ideology that sees ASL or SEE as replacing indigenous Nigerian
4
Team S-DELI is the team of field linguists and other professionals working towards the
documentation and development of Nigerian Sign Language, Save the Deaf and
Endangered Languages Initiative.
Linguistic genocide against development of signed languages in Africa 351
Sign Language, is an ideology that is insinuated by linguistic genocide, and
such that threatens the existence of local signed languages in Africa.
4.0 Linguistic Impact on Local Signed Languages in Africa
The study of signed language linguistics, which began in the 1960 with the
work of William Stokoe, Sign language structure: an outline of the visual
communication systems of the American deaf, could be said to be an already
established discipline in the Western society (Mcburney, 2006), but we doubt
if such could be said of the discipline in the African society. Linguistic
studies, no doubt has greatly improved the status of signed languages
around the world and changed people’s perspectives of it, but how much of
linguistic impact has been felt among signed languages in Africa? Research
work on African signed languages by African linguistics began recently.
Earlier research works on African sign languages were mostly pioneered by
people outside the communities. (Frishberg, 1987 on GSL and AdaSL; Nyst &
Baker, 2003 on Ugandan and Malian sign languages; Nyst, 2007, 2010 on
AdaSL and several West African sign languages, Kusters 2012 on AdaSL,
Blench & Warren, 2006 on Bura Sign Language in Nigeria etc.). There are few
indigenous linguists involved in African sign language research, such as
Machadja (2016), Edward (2015), Asonye & Emma-Asonye (2013), Orie
(2013).
We happened to get in touch with Nancy Frishberg in the course of
developing this work, who gladly shared some of her experiences in (1987)
while studying AdaSL in Ghana. She stated that the signed language used in
the State school was not referred to as ASL, even though “it had some
influence.” “The State school had mostly kids from hearing families, while
the village school had all native signers, but without someone to guide a
bilingual educational program”, she stated. Sixteen years after, Victoria Nyst,
studied the signed language of this same village, and nine years ago,
Annelies Kusters did a study on the same language. We therefore observe
the gap in time within which these studies took place, and we also observe
that each of these scholars studied Adamorobe Sign Language AdaSL (and
GSL), not ASL.
The earliest serious linguistic study on a Nigerian signed language
we have known is Constanze Schmaling’s study of Hausa Sign Language
(HSL; transliterated as “Language of the Hands”), carried out between 1994
and 1998, first published in Schmaling (1997; 2000; 2001;2003), then Blench &
Warren, (2005) on Bura Sign Language. We are equally aware of Ajavon’s
(2011/12) “A Sign Language for Nigeria” (although we had no access to this
work as at the time of writing this article), Orie (2013) on Yoruba Sign
Language. Among the above-mentioned studies on Nigerian signed
languages, Schmaling (2003), though focused on Hausa Sign Language
(HSL), is critical about the “transfer” of a developed foreign signed language,
352 Emmanuel Asonye, Mary Edward and Ezinne Emma-Asonye
(such as ASL in Nigeria), to another Deaf Community (or country). This,
according to her, “is not only difficult but also problematic.” Until today, the
Nigerian Deaf Community is still dealing with the problem of the
introduction of ASL variety to Nigeria, which was not conceptually bad,
however, its consequences are viewed from the perspective of linguistic
genocide or linguistic dominance.
5.0 The Way Forward (Future of indigenous sign languages in Africa)
The introduction or importation of European and American signed
languages to African countries, no doubt, has imposed an anaemic
underdeveloped status on indigenous signed languages such that we still
refer to indigenous African signed languages as “local signs” or local
gestures”, and the foreign signed languages as developed signs (Schmaling,
2003; Asonye, 2017). A number of foreign signed languages imported into
different African countries have been accounted for by different scholars as
follows: Botswana - ASL, Danish Sign Language, German Sign Language;
Ethiopia - Swedish Sign Language, ASL, and Finnish Sign Language; Gambia
- Dutch and British Sign Languages; Mali - ASL, and LSF; Tanzania - ASL,
Swedish Sign Language, Finnish Sign Language, and others; Ghana - ASL;
Nigeria - ASL (Okombo, 1991, 1992; Akach, 1993; Schmaling, 2003). In
Nigeria, both deaf native signers and hearing professional signers have been
in a kind of confusion on the status of ASL vis-a-vis indigenous signed
language(s), although some are coming to the realization of the fact that the
indigenous signed languages need to be developed to a standard status. It is
a pity that the Sign Language Working Group of 1970, (Schmaling, 2003)
never concluded their work of “modifying” ASL for Nigerian use, and never
had their work published, although we have heard that some indigenous
signed language book is available for deaf educators in the western part of
the country (Oyo State College of Education); we have not had access to such
a book.
The way forward for African signed languages, no doubt lies in the
conscious and collective efforts of signed language users, activists, linguists
and educators to document and develop the languages. Asonye and Emma-
Asonye (2011), Asonye & Rarrick (2017), and Asonye, Edward and Emma-
Asonye (2018), have all emphasized the need for more African linguists to
embrace the study of signed languages, and bring their professional efforts
to the signed languages in the same way they are doing for spoken
languages. Younger African linguists have a future with the study of African
signed languages as it is a profoundly untapped area of study. Linguistics
departments of more African Universities could incorporate signed language
studies in their course curriculum to train more signed language linguists
and augment the efforts of Special Educators. Days are gone when
indigenous languages users or community members relied solely on foreign
scholars for the study and development of their languages.
Linguistic genocide against development of signed languages in Africa 353
More language activists and advocates should spring up from among
Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs) and Parents of Deaf Children (PODCs).
Our organization, Save the Deaf and Endangered Languages Initiative (S-
DELI) has recently begun the incorporation of CODAs and PODCs in the
documentation and developmental process of Nigerian Sign Language,
although the program is still at the sensitization stage, which will be
followed by the training stage.
Most importantly, Deaf in Africa should be highly concerned with
the nature and future of their language, and they should be more committed
than any other group in the development of their language. We are aware of
the stratification gap between the few educated and successful deaf
population in Africa and the less educated population. If the findings of the
ongoing Deaf documentation project of S-DELI across Nigeria, where about
80% of deaf population is unemployed, and 86% have Secondary School
Certificate, were to be applied to other African Deaf communities, we would
appreciate the fact that more deaf individuals need better education to
understand their role in the development of their language. Unemployment
within the deaf communities in Ghana (especially the rural communities) is
overwhelming (Edward, 2016, 2017). Since linguistics is still a young
discipline in Africa, and sign linguistics, language documentation, and
communication disorders are still somewhat strange to most Universities in
the continent, we assume that very few (if any) of the few educated African
deaf scholars (some of whom are abroad) would be found in any of the
above disciplines. That buttresses the importance of linguists wading into the
situation. They will assist in the training of deaf individuals on signed
language linguistics and signed language documentation programmes.
6.0 Conclusion
Indigenous signed languages used in many African nations have been
battered through imposition of ASL (and other foreign signed languages)
and unfavourable governmental policies that have hindered the
development of these signed languages. The status of most African
indigenous signed languages suggests they are endangered. The neglect of
the scientific study of signed languages by many linguists within African is
not just a coincidence; there is not much motivation to learn and even
develop the linguistics of signed languages that are almost moribund. As
bleak as the situation might seem, we suggest an alternative view. African
signed languages will thrive if users and learners of these signed languages
are not deluded with imposed foreign signed languages. We are much aware
of the role of ASL and other foreign signed languages in developing many
urban signed languages in Africa. However, just as no ASL signer will
deliberately refer to ASL as OFSL, we also believe that, it is time that signers
354 Emmanuel Asonye, Mary Edward and Ezinne Emma-Asonye
and other users of African signed languages appreciate their signed
languages as bona fide indigenous properties instead of gradually turning
the language to ASL and other foreign signed languages.
Development of Deaf lives and the development of signed languages
move hand in hand (Edward 2016, 2017). As signed languages (both of
indigenous and foreign backgrounds) are developed, deaf people will also
emerge and develop their talents and intellect through their own languages.
Furthermore, signed language linguistics could still be a thriving field in
Africa. When we identify the uniqueness of our signed languages, we can
then develop linguistic materials that are representatives of African signed
languages. Thus, African signed language linguistic study will make it
possible for deaf scholars to be involved in the description of their own
signed languages. As minority languages, African signed languages are
likely candidates of linguistic neglect if language users and policy makers
fail to play their part in sustaining the language. Currently, there are over
250 million people suffering from hearing impairment (Mathers et al. 2000)
and these people whether suffering from partial or total deafness are
classified as members of the Deaf Community. Language is a distinguishing
aspect of every community and the constant use of a language promotes it,
while the gradual decline in the use of a language is indicative of language
endangerment. In the case of African signed languages, the gradual decline
in the use of the languages can be attributed to undue influences from other
imposing languages.
Alternatively, both indigenous and foreign based sign languages that
are used in African nations can preserve their distinct features through
encouraging the users and learners to accept these signed languages and
avoid undue foreign influence, after all, every language matters. Furthermore,
the production of local dictionaries and linguistics materials in the sign
languages will ensure that users and learners do not rely on foreign
materials for the study of their sign languages.
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