3. Dictionary work starts again

After the Hirn dictionary there was a long pause before the next one. The mission was assigned to the Sign Language Committee at the Finnish Association of the Deaf. The aim was to standardise sign language and support people who were learning sign language.

Lack of funding hindered to use illustration in the new Sign Language Dictionary (1965), so its editors had to settle on using words and abbreviations. 30 handshapes and hand positions are illustrated with pictures, which are then referred to with numbers. The dictionary contains roughly 3,000 signs and includes two sets of alphabets, the new and old, as the latter were still widely in use.

The verbal-based dictionary proved difficult to use and the signs hard to imitate. There was a need for yet another dictionary, made in Hirn style with pictures. The urgent demand resulted in publishing a pocket book “Sano se käsin” (“Say It with Hands”) in 1970, before the actual new dictionary would be finished.

The pictorial dictionary was intended to cover all fields of life from home, school, and work to cultural and free-time activities. The chosen signs were to represent a nationwide standard sign language. Also some special, newly created signs were included, e.g. “an astronaut” and “a metro”. The signs are in alphabetical order by key words and at the end there is an alphabetical index. The Pictorial Dictionary of the Sign Language was published in 1973 with 3,400 signs and new and old alphabets. In 1974, the dictionary got its Swedish index to serve also the Finland-Swedish Deaf. At that time, difference between Finnish and Finland-Swedish Sign Language – and the need for a completely separate dictionary – was not yet properly acknowledged.

The Sign Language Dictionary of 1965 had a small grammar section but the Pictorial Dictionary had none, although the need for a grammar was well acknowledged. “Viittomakielen opas” (“Sign Language Guide”) published in 1974 was not a proper grammar but offered practical advice for studying and teaching sign language. The guide included a booklet on grammatical exercises on sign language “Asiaviittomakielen kieliopillisia harjoitustekstejä” to be used with the Pictorial Dictionary.

The dictionaries and sign language guide reflect contemporaneous views of sign language. They discuss the sign language as a natural language but still represent signed speech, which means speaking aloud/silently and producing equivalent sign with each word (or some of the words) simultaneously. The emphasis on signed speech reveals that the books were intended for the hearing audience but also that research results on sign language were still inadequate.

A beginner was advised to speak and sign simultaneously. The number of signs was still considered fewer than the number of words so the learner was encouraged to sign only key words. Furthermore, there was advice on e.g. word order, gestures and expressing time and place.

The signed speech requires rather good spoken skills from both the speaker and receiver. For a hearing person it was easy to learn signs and use them in line with the spoken word order. The proper sign language was described as a natural language, but with the lack of academic research its description remained superficial.

The ground for signed speech was laid during the time of oralism, i.e. teaching in spoken language; it was widely thought that the sign language should align with the spoken language. New signs were created and the signed speech started gaining popularity, which brought forth a variety of reactions. Deaf considered it as a bizarre “sign language of hearing people” where as some saw the sign language finally having become a full-scale language, equivalent with other languages. Others dedicated themselves to researching differences between the two signing systems.

As the Pictorial Dictionary was a general dictionary, there was a call for additional material, especially in the field of education. A glossary of mathematical and technical signs was published in 1974 for technical education in comprehensive and vocational schools.

A glossary on educational sciences, psychology, social policy, and sociology (“Kasvatustieteen, psykologian, sosiaalipolitiikan ja sosiologian viittomistoa”) was published in 1988. It includes over 500 photographed signs with supplemented directional arrows, in alphabetical order by spoken key word. The Swedish equivalents appear underneath the Finnish version and also in the index. The glossary was compiled due to the earlier lack of Deaf students and Deaf expertise in corresponding academic fields; signs had not developed in the natural way.