Second edition of Indian Sign Language dictionary launched

New Delhi: The second edition of the Indian Sign Language dictionary was released on Wednesday, providing the hearing impaired people with 6,000 words in Hindi and English along with their corresponding graphic representation.

The first edition of the first-of-its-kind dictionary was launched with 3,000 words on March 23, 2018. With the second edition, the dictionary now comprises 6,000 Hindi and English words and their corresponding graphic representation which are used in daily life. The dictionary has been developed by the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC), under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD). The ISL dictionary is also available on ISLRTC's YouTube channel. 

Around 1,000 videos have been uploaded already and the rest are in the process of being uploaded. Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot applauded the efforts of the ISLRTC in bringing out such a useful dictionary for hearing impaired people. He said the aim of the dictionary is to help spread the use of ISL and result in better education and employment opportunities for hearing impaired persons. 

He said the dictionary is intended to serve as a resource for ISL teachers and learners, teachers of the hearing impaired, interpreters, parents of hearing impaired children, researchers, etc. "Hearing impaired persons will benefit from this dictionary since they can look up information about a particular sign and its English/Hindi equivalents. The dictionary includes total 6,000 words under the categories of academic, legal, medical, technical and everyday terms. 

"It has been made with the involvement of the hearing impaired community, by giving due consideration to their suggestions and understanding. The videos contain the sign, the English term for the sign and pictures where relevant. A word list is also given with the English and Hindi equivalents of the signs," he said. According to Census 2011, there are 50.71 lakh hearing impaired persons in India and most of them use Indian Sign Language to communicate. The aim of the dictionary is to help spread the use of ISL and result in better education and employment opportunities for hearing impaired persons.