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Dutch Sign Language (Dutch:Nederlandse Gebarentaal orNGT;Sign Language of the Netherlands orSLN) is the predominantsign language used by deaf people in theNetherlands.

Although the same spokenDutch language is used in theNetherlands andFlanders, the Dutch Sign Language (NGT) is not the same asFlemish Sign Language (VGT). They do have the late 18th-centuryOld French Sign Language as their common ancestor, but have diverged during the subsequent 200 years, so thatmutual intelligibility between modern users has been greatly reduced.^[2]

The origins of Dutch Sign Language (NGT) are traceable toOld French Sign Language (VLSF), a term for the sign language that the community of about 200 deafParisians used amongst themselves in the mid-18th century. The abbotCharles-Michel de l'Épée wanted to give them religious education, and thus learnt their language, after which he made some adjustments of it himself. Around 1760, he opened a school for the deaf in Paris, the predecessor of the currentInstitut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris. Educators from all over Europe came to this and later French schools for the deaf in order to adopt l'Épée's teaching method, and introduce it in their own countries. Therefore, this Old French Sign Language as modified by l'Épée spread across Europe, North America and other continents and became the basis of most modern sign languages, including Dutch Sign Language. TheWalloon preacherHenri Daniel Guyot [nl], born inBlegny, studied inFraneker, and preached in theWalloon church ofGroningen since 1777. In 1790, he founded theHenri Daniel Guyot Instituut [nl], the first Dutch school for the deaf, after the example of l'Épée, who he had visited in France.^[3]

Before the standardisation of the sign language several regional variants were used in the Netherlands and the use of signs was discouraged in order to stimulate deaf people to acquire self-reliance. In the 1900–1980 period, the use of signs was prohibited in education as a consequence of theMilan Conference of 1880. Instead, theoralist method (also called the 'German method') was practiced: deaf people were instructed to learn to speak by imitating hearing people bylip reading, feeling how they used theirlarynx to make sounds that they were then tasked to imitate. Nevertheless, deaf people continued to use signs amongst themselves, leading to the rise of five dialects within and around the five schools for the deaf Groningen,Rotterdam,Amsterdam,Voorburg andSint-Michielsgestel.^[4]

As of 1995, more and more schools for the deaf in The Netherlands teachSigned Dutch (Nederlands met Gebaren). This uses the grammar of Dutch rather than NGT.

In September 2019,D66,PvdA andCU proposed a bill of law initiative forofficial recognition of NGT. Since 13 October 2020 has been officially recognised.

There are currently five schools for deaf children in the country, with the first being built at the end of the 18th century and the rest between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. While the first school used a manual method to teach the language, signing was originally prohibited in each of the latter schools and they instead tended to use an oral method of teaching. Today, because ofcochlear implants, education is consistently leaning towards oralist methods.

• Fingerspelling
• Legal recognition of sign languages
• List of sign languages
• Sign Language Studies (journal)

• "Did You Know Dutch Sign Language Is Vulnerable?" Endangered Languages. N.p., n.d. Web.
• Kimmelman, V. (2014). Information structure in Russian Sign Language and Sign Language of the Netherlands (Unpublished master's thesis, 2014). Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC).

• Bank, R., Crasborn, O., & van Hout, R. (2011). Variation in mouth actions with manual signs in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). Sign Language & Linguistics, 14(2), 248–270.
• Crasborn, O., van der Kooij, E., Ros, J., & de Hoop, H. (2009). Topic agreement in NGT (Sign Language of the Netherlands). Linguistic Review, 26(2/3), 355–370.doi:10.1515/tlir.2009.013
• Crasborn, O., van der Kooij, E., Waters, D., Woll, B., & Mesch, J. (2008). Frequency distribution and spreading behavior of different types of mouth actions in three sign languages. Sign Language & Linguistics, 11(1), 45–67.
• De Clerck, L., & van der Kooij, E. (2005). Modifiable and intensifier self in Dutch and Sign Language of the Netherlands. Linguistics In The Netherlands, 2261–72.
• Sandler, W., & Lillo-Martin, D. (2006). Sign language and linguistic universals. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
• Schermer, T. (2012). Sign Language Planning in the Netherlands between 1980 and 2010. Sign Language Studies, 12(4), 467–493.
• Zwets, M. (2014). Locating the difference: A comparison between Dutch pointing gestures and pointing signs in Sign Language of the Netherlands (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Proefschrift Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor in het jaar.

• Online Video Dictionary in Dutch - choose the "Gebaren" menu and then click on "Gebarenwoordenboek".
• Online Lexicon with several methods to practice NGT in Dutch - NGT Lexicon free to search and usable with Google Translate.
• Dutch Sign Language
• Word play in sign language

• Languages of the Netherlands
• Sign languages

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