Lámh Vocabulary Update 2004
Vocabulary Update and Sign Development
When the Development Office opened in 2002, the update of the Lámh sign vocabulary was chosen as the first main area to focus on.
The total new vocabulary decided upon consists of 500 signs. Previously there were 436 Lámh signs.
Some original signs such as 'record player' were rarely used, if at all, while others were required to meet changing needs, for example: computer, pizza, etc!
The vocabulary list was arrived at by:
- Reviewing other basic vocabularies;
- Rating suggested vocabulary items in terms of their importance on three measures;
- Consultation with families of Lámh users.
The categories of signs are:
Objects Actions Social Words Modifiers People
The results were drawn together to give the final vocabulary of 500 signs. The 500 signs were divided into three levels and books, to correspond with modular training. A signing group of four people, two of whom were fluent ISL signers, was formed to decide on the new signs and review the old ones. One member of the signing group illustrated the signs and a short description with the origin of the sign and the handshape included.