India's first dictionary on sign language released

In an effort to bring uniformity in sign languages used by hearing and speech impaired people, a first of its kind sign language dictionary was released on Friday.

"The basic aim of developing the ISL Dictionary is to remove communication barriers between the deaf and hearing impaired communities as it is focused on providing more information in Indian sign language," Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot said at the release of the dictionary.

The Indian Sign Language (ISL) dictionary has been developed by the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC). And is available both in print and video format.

The dictionary comprises 3,000 Hindi and English words and their corresponding graphic representation of the signs which are used in daily life. It also includes regional variations.

Gehlot said that soon many new words will be added in the dictionary.The words in dictionary are divided into five five categories-- Everyday, Legal, Academic, Medical, and Technical terms, , the statement said.

Everyday terms category includes words that are used in everyday communication. Legal category includes videos for 237 legal terms and explains legal words like affidavit, acquittal, etc., that are used in various legal situations.

Academic terms help deaf children understand complex academic concepts and contains explanations for terms like "nervous system", "rotation" and "revolution", etc. The words are from various subjects like Physics, Geography, Biology, Maths, among others. This category contains 229 videos for 212 terms.

Medical category includes 200 sign videos for 200 medical terms to help the deaf community understand the medical terminologies used in hospitals and in medical situations.

Technical category has 206 videos of signs and explanations for 204 technical terms that are used in vocational training or in computer courses.
The DVD of the dictionary will also be uploaded on the ministry's website and people can procure it from ISLRTC too. The ISLRTC has been working on this ambitious project for the last one-and-half years.

There are 50,71,007 deaf and 19,98,535 people with speech disability in India, as per the census 2011.