Conrad Svendsens beskrivelse av norsk tegnspråk

Abstract

This text presents an introductory investigation of Conrad Svendsen’s analysis of Norwegian Sign Language, as it appears in a set of handwritten notes that have been preserved after him, supposedly from around 1910. The notes are significant for the history of the field sincelittle material has been preserved about Norwegian Sign Language before the late20th century.Svendsen was an important personality, at first in Christiania’s [Oslo’s] community for the education of deaf children, then in the Church’s services for the deaf community, and finally in the establishment of a “home for the deaf”. Since Svendsen’s own sign language political views have paradoxical features,it is interesting to find out to what extent hereallyhad anunderstandingof what sign language is. The introductory investigation concludes that Svendsen had a good understandingofmany aspects of Norwegian Sign Languageand was able to articulatewell his pedagogical presentation of the material.However, he seems to assume that the sign language is less conventionalized than we have a reason today to believe that it may have been in his day. And to be able to assess how autonomous his understanding was, a closer investigation is needed of how he may have been influenced by earlier authors, not least authors writing in German.