About

About this project

The Department of South African Sign Language and Deaf Studies (DSASLDS) (University of the Free State, South Africa) launched a pilot study, Survey of South African Sign Language (SASL) Place Names, in 2021. The aim was to initiate the systematic collection and documentation of SASL place names. Additionally, an element of sociolinguistic analysis was included to contextualise the variation found. This project received funding from the Sign Language Innovation, Entrepreneurial and Research Projects (Slierp) Committee of the Department of South African Sign Language and Deaf Studies, the Office of the Vice-Rector: Research, and the Office of the Dean: Humanities (all at the University of the Free State).

In 2022 DSASLDS teamed up with the Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Futures (ICDF) (University of the Free State, South Africa) for the project, Advancing SASL for 4IR Technological Development Using Place Names. This project was funded by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (South Africa) from April 2022 to June 2025. The DSASLDS remained responsible for the sociolinguistic component of the project, with the ICDF taking the lead on the computational aspect. This archive is an outcome of the two components collaborating to make the data accessible and useful.

The resulting dataset of SASL place names is comprised of place-name signs collected by the research team. It is supplemented by re-recorded place-name signs collected by the National Institute for the Deaf for their Dictionary.

The dataset is deployed in the following ways:

Beyond the dataset, several other products are available.

Find out more about the project on the webpages of the DSASLDS and the ICDF.

 

DISCLAIMER

The selection of SASL place names is a reflection of variation in SASL, and should not be considered an official terminology list. For formally verified place-name signs, please contact the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) or see the Dictionary of the National Institute for the Deaf (NID).

Place names

Toponomastics
 Topo = place
 Onomastics = the study of proper names
Toponymy = a set or group of place names
Signed toponymy = set of place names in signed language(s)

Symbolic and ideological meaning of place names

Place names are not merely words that exist in isolation. In addition to their practical purpose, they also carry symbolic and ideological weight. The names for places draw from numerous motivations, of which the most prominent three are:

  • To reflect a physical characteristic of the place. For example, Table Mountain is flat on top and resembles a table.
  • To commemorate a person. Numerous streets, town squares and even municipal entities are named after the late Nelson Mandela.
  • In memory of a specific event or period of time. For example, the township of Khayelitsha (Cape Town) was established to provide (segregated) housing for the migrants from the Eastern Cape and means ‘New home’.

Places are named by (groups of) people who all have their own experiences in certain locations or interpretations of events associated with specific places. 

  • It is therefore common for places to have more than one name, and these multiple names usually stem from different languages.
  • Cultural-linguistic groups do not exist in isolation. They might transfer their place names to each other, or adopt linguistic or semantic parts of another group’s name into their own toponymy. The influence of the original Bushman place names in the toponyms of other language groups is a fascinating study.

Over time, place names can become fossilised. Languages and sociopolitical dynamics change. However, place names tend to not change as quickly. By examining the meaning and origins of place names, the history associated with the specific place, the norms of acceptability, as well as what was deemed important at the time can be traced. As such place names reflect societal development. Place names also retain their original linguistic format – think for example of Bloemfontein, where the modern form of “bloem” is “blom” (flower). Because of this “fossilisation”, we can therefore think of place names as artefacts of linguistic and cultural heritage to be examined and preserved.

Amidst this multiplicity of names, effective communication and administration must still take place. Therefore, processes of standardisation are implemented. This entails the consistent application of spelling conventions and writing forms (orthography) as well as the selection of official names (i.e., a single variant used for official purposes). The right to choose which spelling is correct and what name is the official one, is determined by the sociopolitical and ideological context. As a result, shifts in power relations can be traced in place-name changes over time.

Signed place names

Place names in signed languages are not simply adaptations of those from spoken languages. Instead, place-name signs are allocated by Deaf communities according to their experience, in the same way that different hearing sociolinguistic communities assign names in line with their contexts. Deaf communities tend to form geographic clusters, particularly in places where there are schools for the Deaf. There are different signing traditions (i.e., ways of creating signs), Schools usually adhere to a specific tradition. Additionally, Deaf people are also members of hearing ethnolinguistic groups, which imparts cultural contexts and linguistic patterns. As a result, place-name signs often vary between different Deaf communities.

Instead of standardisation, a process of conventionalisation is followed, whereby the community agrees on which place-name signs to use. This community could be the local one, but also extend to national level. The result is a dynamic toponymy that exists in parallel to the spoken one.

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Signed languages

Language is one of the most important tools for human communication. It allows people to express their thoughts, share emotions and information, and connect with others. While most people are familiar with spoken languages like English, Zulu, or French, there are also languages that rely on hand movements, facial expressions, and body gestures. These are known as signed languages, and they are the primary way Deaf people communicate.

This section briefly addresses the most common misperceptions about signed languages: that they are merely manual visualisations of spoken languages, that there is a universal signed language, and that signed languages correlate with spoken languages.

Signed languages are not just gestures

Signed languages are not just a collection of hand signals or gestures that represent spoken words. Instead, they are complete languages with their own grammars, sentence structures, and vocabularies, just like spoken languages (Brentari 2010). Signed languages also use facial expressions, eye movements, and head tilts to add meaning. These are called non-manual features, and they help to indicate things like questions, emotions, or emphasis (Pfau, Steinbach & Woll 2012). For example, raising your eyebrows while signing can turn a statement into a question, just like changing your tone in a spoken language.

Signed languages are different around the world

Many people assume that there is one universal sign language that all Deaf people use, but this is not the case. Different countries and communities have their own unique sign languages, just as they have different spoken languages (Emmorey 2002). For example, American Sign Language (ASL) is used in the United States, British Sign Language (BSL) in the United Kingdom, and South African Sign Language (SASL) in South Africa. Each of these languages is distinct and have to be learned separately. For example, ASL and BSL are very different languages, even though they are both used in English-speaking countries. This is because sign languages develop naturally within Deaf communities, just like spoken languages do.

Signed languages differ from spoken languages

This natural development of language within communities means that signed languages exist independently from spoken languages. Signed languages emerge and evolve to meet the communicative needs of its users, whose lived experiences and frames of reference differ from that of the hearing community. Therefore, there is no such thing as Xhosa SASL, Afrikaans SASL, or Sesotho SASL. There is SASL and its variations – just as there are multiple forms of the same spoken language. Localised Deaf communities develop their own variations, i.e., forms, of SASL. Contact with spoken languages may affect some aspects of SASL, for example incorporating the first letter of the spoken place name in the sign (initialisation) or translating a specific cultural-linguistic expression. Despite this variation, SASL is sufficiently distinct and coherent to be intelligible to users from different ethnocultural contexts and geographical locations. In addition to their separate ethnocultural identities, Deaf people share a recognisable and distinct Deaf culture.

Signed languages, including SASL, are rich and complex languages with their own grammar and structure. They are not just hand gestures but complete languages that allow Deaf people to communicate effectively.

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