A Grammar of Turkish Sign Language (TİD)

Loss of hearing leads to common obstacles for the members of the Deaf community. These obstacles arise from the systematic or disorderly exclusive practices of social institutions or individuals of the surrounding majority group. In terms of legislative discourse, sign language is not yet regarded to be a linguistic human right of the Deaf community that are composed of autonomous agents, but rather as a service for dependent citizens. Considering the legal documents, the shift of responsibility from Turkish Language Association (TDK) to the Ministry of Family and Social Policies, and that TİD interpreting was first under a Social Service Law (5799) which states its aim in Article 1 as related to social services supplied to people who are in need of care and help.

Kemaloğlu, an otorhinolaryngologist and researcher in Deaf studies, notes that ‘hearing impaired’ is defined only by medical criteria regarding hearing tests to get disability reports (specifically the regulation about medical disability reports in 2010) given. However, the communication problems in social settings are not necessarily direct reflections of medical tests. Kemaloğlu cites various social variables that needs to be considered as suggested by American Speech-Language-Hearing Association such as the reaction of the individual and other individuals. In addition, that there is not a single reference to sign language in this regulation and state statistics about disability (but rather to language and speech disorders) reflects an attitude that totally ignores the linguistic culture and even implies it to be a disorder. A similar uninformed statement exists in Article 15 of the 2005 Disability Law: “To provide the education and communication of the hearing disabled, Turkish sign language system is created by the directorate of Turkish Language Association.” (emphasis added by the author). Though it turned out that documentation or standardization is meant by the ‘creation’ of Turkish Sign Language ‘system’, the literal meaning is that TİD is to be created by an institution as if it is not a natural language with its own history.

TİD first appeared on television in the program News for the Hearing Impaired in 1993 by the state channel Türkye Radyo ve Televizyonları TRT-1 narrated by Nermin Merdanoğlu. In recent years, TİD interpreting was included in certain popular TV shows and news programs in private news channels. Moreover, TRT and two other private TV channels Star and Kanal-D provide TİD interpreting. While TRT arranges interpreting for the news, the private channels have interpretation in soap operas.