Auslan

Variation and standardisation

Auslan exhibits a high degree of variation, determined by the signer's age, educational background and geographic location, and the signing community is very tolerant of individual differences in signing style.

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There is no standard dialect of Auslan. Standard dialects arise through the support of institutions, such as the media, education, government and the law. As this support has not existed for deaf sign languages, coupled with the lack of a widely used written form and communications technologies, Auslan has diverged much more rapidly than Australian English.

Related Topics:
Standard dialect - Australian English

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Dialects

Linguists often regard Auslan as having two major dialects - Northern (Queensland and NSW), and Southern (Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia). The vocabulary of the two dialects differs significantly, with different signs used even for very common concepts such as colors, animals, and days of the week; differences in grammar appear to be slight.

Related Topics:
Queensland - NSW - Victoria - Tasmania - South Australia - Western Australia - Vocabulary

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These two dialects have roots in older dialectic differences from the United Kingdom, brought over by deaf immigrants who founded the first schools for the deaf in Australia ? London sign in Melbourne and Edinburgh sign in Sydney. Later, as schools were established elsewhere, teachers trained at one of these two initial schools, and brought signs back to their own states.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - Melbourne - Sydney

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Auslan users tend to identify more precise regional varieties in the terms "Sydney sign", "Melbourne sign", "Perth sign", "Adelaide sign" and "Queensland sign". In a conversation between two strangers, one from Melbourne and the other from Perth, it is likely that one will use signs unfamiliar to the other, despite both belonging to the same "southern dialect". Signers can often identify which school someone went to, even within a few short utterances.

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Despite these differences, communication between Auslan users from different regions poses little difficulty for most deaf Australians, who often become aware of different regional vocabulary as they grow older, through travel and deaf community networks, and because Deaf people are so well practised in bridging barriers to communication.

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