This dictionary is the most comprehensive Ethiopian Sign Language (EthSL) dictionary to date and the first EthSL digital dictionary designed to serve as a learning tool and a reference material for students, language and cultural enthusiasts, interpreters, homeschoolers, parents, and professionals. What makes this dictionary unique is that it is a Deaf-led project with 95 percent of the production team being Deaf EthSL users. The entire research team, camera crew, videographers, lexicographer and sign models were all Deaf and led by the first Deaf Linguist in Ethiopia. The research team travelled across the country to twenty-one locations collecting extensive data from over 75 Deaf EthSL users, mostly pre-lingual deaf. The documented signs passed through multiple processes of verification before they were published.
Notes for users
Sign languages are as rich and complex as any spoken language, despite the common misconception that they are not “real languages”. Professional linguists have studied many sign languages and found that they exhibit the fundamental properties that exist in all languages. This is also true for the Ethiopian Sign language (EthSL). As one cannot learn a language by acquiring the vocabulary of the language alone, one can’t also learn sign language by just learning the signs. Learning EthSL’s signs does not equate with learning EthSL). Learning EthSL is beyond learning EthSL signs. Signs are just major inputs to the language. The following points need to be noted.
Contextual meaning: Some EthSL signs in the dictionary may not mean the same in different contexts and/or EthSL sentences. A meaning of a word or phrase can change in sentences and contexts.
Grammar: Many EthSL signs, especially verbs, in the dictionary are a “base”; be aware that many of them can be grammatically inflected within EthSL sentences. Sign production (pronunciation): A change or modification of one of the parameters of the sign, such as handshape, movement, palm orientation, location, and non-manual signals (e.g. facial expressions) can change a meaning or a subtle variety of meaning, or mispronunciation.
Variation: Some EthSL signs could have regional (and generational) variations across the country. Some common variations are included as much as possible, but for specifically local variations, interact with your local community to learn their local variations.
Fingerspelling: When there is no word in one language, borrowing is a loanword from another language. In sign language, the manual alphabet is used to represent a word of the spoken/written language.
Ethiopian Sign language (EthSL) is very much alive and indefinitely constructable as any spoken language. The best way to use EthSL right is to immerse yourself in daily language interactions and conversations with deaf EthSL users.