Summary of deposit

African sign languages are severely under-researched. This project is a documentation of the Langue des Signes Malienne (LSM). In the absence of deaf education, LSM has emerged naturally. Once deaf schools were established, LSM was initially used for instruction, but was replaced by American Sign Language in 2001. Having virtually no child users, LSM is seriously endangered. During three field trips, a team consisting of three native LSM signers and the applicant, recorded a diverse sample of texts, transcribing them in a time-aligned annotation system. In addition, the project generated a video vocabulary and a basic grammar CD of LSM.

Group represented

Malian Deaf community in Bamako and Mopti

Language information

Alternative language names: Malian Sign Language, Langue des Signes Bambara, Bamako Sign Language

Deposit contents

This deposit contains a corpus of Langue des Signes Malienne, collected in Bamako and Mopti between 2007 and 2009. The material consists of mpg1 & mpg2 clips annotated in ELAN at the gloss, translation or abstract level. The recordings contain spontaneous narratives and dialogues as well as semi-spontaneous discourse in response to cartoons and picture-based tasks. A subset of the recordings specifically targets the collection of lexical items. The clips feature 65 - mostly Deaf - signers. Some of the recordings show signers using the Malian variety of American Sign Language (ASL) or a contact form of Langue des Signes Malienne and ASL. The deposit includes some video material recorded by others prior to 2007.

Special Characteristics

Currently, this is the only digital corpus of Malian Sign Language and probably the first digital corpus of an African sign language.

Acknowledgement

 Acknowledge as: Corpus Langue des Signes Malienne (Bamako & Mopti)