State of Libya
Total Population
6.8 million
Deaf Population
3,000
Nation's Official Language
Libyan Spoken Arabic, Standard Arabic
Other Languages
The number of established languages listed in Ethnologue is 10. Some of these are:
- Awjilah
- Ghadamès
- Nafusi
- Tagalog
- Zaghawa
Name of Sign Language
Libyan Sign Language (LBS)
Overview Of Deaf Community And Education
In 2006, it was reported that there are 13 schools for the deaf with more than over 1,505 students. Further there is little information available about these schools. Two hard back dictionaries of LBS were produced in 1984 (Suwed 1984).
Sign Language Overview
In a lexico-statistical study using the 1992 dictionary which compared sign languages in the Arabic speaking world Libyan SL was assessed as being not related to the other sign languages studied.
However Al-Fityani and Padden (2010)161 discuss the standardization of sign languages that is taking place in several Arab countries including Libya leading to a creolization across the varieties used within Libya.
An indication of a lively culture is the fact that a group of young people from Benghazi recently developed an app for signing.
Deaf Organizations In Country
Overview of Interpreting Services
- No information is available on interpreting or media exposure to LBS.
Sign Language Resources In The Country
Resources
List of Contributors
Anne Baker
