Namibian Sign Language (commonly abbreviated asNSL)^[2] is asign language ofNamibia andAngola. It is presumed that there are other sign languages in these countries.

The first school for the deaf was atEngela, and was established c. 1970 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The first teachers were black Namibians trained in South Africa, and used thePaget Gorman Sign System withOvambo grammar. Students used the PGSS signs, but developed their own grammar.

In 1975 the South African government started a new school for the deaf atEluwa. All children under 17 attending Engela were moved to Eluwa, and took their language with them. The Namibian exile community in Angola included a number of students from these schools, and in 1982 a school for the deaf was set up for them in Angola, where they taught NSL to new students.

Namibian Sign has been influenced by bothAmerican Sign Language andSwedish Sign Language.^[3]

• Ashipala et al., "The development of a dictionary of Namibian Sign Language", in Erting, 1994,The Deaf Way: Perspectives from the International Conference on Deaf Culture

• Culture of Namibia
• Sign languages
• Languages of Namibia

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• Language articles citing Ethnologue 18
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