Australian Indigenous sign languages

Abstract

Abstract Australian Indigenous sign languages hold a special place in typologies of the world’s many and varied sign languages. This is partly a consequence of the unique determinants of their use, where sign is predominantly employed by hearing people as a replacement for speech in certain cultural contexts when speech is either disallowed or impractical. In some circumstances sign may be used alongside speech, in others it may replace speech altogether, and in others sign is used in narrative practices and other performative traditions. Senior people, and in particular women, are the acknowledged experts, especially in some communities in Central Australia. That said, younger people sign as well, and new signs are developed to keep pace with sociocultural and environmental changes. This chapter outlines some of the early documentations of sign, discusses some contexts when sign is used, and then gives an overview of various features of sign articulation, such as handshape. The chapter concludes with examples of community-directed resources designed to support knowledge of sign, particularly in educational contexts.