Namibian Sign Language

Namibian Sign Language (commonly abbreviated as NSL)^[2] is a sign language of Namibia and Angola. It is presumed that there are other sign languages in these countries.

The first school for the deaf was at Engela, and was established c. 1970 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The first teachers were black Namibians trained in South Africa, and used the Paget Gorman Sign System with Ovambo grammar. Students used the PGSS signs, but developed their own grammar.

In 1975 the South African government started a new school for the deaf at Eluwa. All children under 17 attending Engela were moved to Eluwa, and took their language with them. The Namibian exile community in Angola included a number of students from these schools, and in 1982 a school for the deaf was set up for them in Angola, where they taught NSL to new students.

Namibian Sign has been influenced by both American Sign Language and Swedish Sign Language.^[3]

• Ashipala et al., "The development of a dictionary of Namibian Sign Language", in Erting, 1994, The Deaf Way: Perspectives from the International Conference on Deaf Culture