The Origin of Georgian Sign Language (GESL)

• In Event: Current Issues in Eurasian Scholarship

Abstract

Materials or any historical sources on the origin of the Georgian sign language (GESL) are not available. It is a natural language, but sign languages are languages of oral communication and obviously no textual records are obtained. Neither corpus of this language has yet been created. GESL is an original language that is under intense influence from two different languages -Georgian spoken language and Russian sign language (RSL). In the 50s of the last century, representatives of the Russian deaf community settled in Georgia. Presumably, at this time, an independent, natural local sign language already existed in Georgia with its grammatical structure. This is confirmed by the deep grammatical differences between the GESL and RSL. The paper lists the specific linguistic systemic differences between these languages. Further detailed studies of the GESL will most likely reveal many more distinguishing elements proving that this language is an independent, young language of natural origin and not a branch of RSL or Soviet sign language.

Author

• Tamar Makharoblidze, Ilia State U (Georgia)