From Variant to Standard: An Overview of the Standardization Process of the Lexicon of Sign Language of the Netherlands over Two Decades

Abstract

This article describes the process of the standardization of the basic lexicon of the Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN) and the different types of dictionaries that were produced. Research into the lexicon of SLN started in the early 1980s with the KOMVA (�Communicative Competence�) project. The process of the unification of signs through a system of preference signs has been accelerated at the request of the Dutch government to standardize the lexicon of SLN in order to recognize it as an official language. The article describes the background and method of this Standardization of Basic Lexicon (STABOL) project.