Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Sign languages

Since Wikimania one of the things I am hopefull of is the inclusion of sign languages and oral languages in the Ultimate Wiktionary. Thinking of sign languages for me is really difficult; I do not sign I am not deaf and I do not know anyone who is. Wolfgang gave me an impression of what it is to be deaf; to me it is clear that the only thing I want to do is to create this resource that is there for them as well. It has to be their resource. It has to be their dictionary, they have to create the movies, categorise the content so that it can be found.

Consider what is going to happen when we can Free all the recordings of sign languages that exist in many universities and combine them with the content that we hope / expect to have, it will be a lexicological resource that will be awesome. Because of its scope it will get a relevance of its own and that is why it so great that an organisation like the Wikimedia Foundation will host it; it is not party in any of the rivalries between organisations or institutions it is just there to provide information to all the people of this world in their own language.

Thanks,
GerardM

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