Editing New Zealand Sign Language (section)

{{Short description|None}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = New Zealand Sign Language
| nativename       = 
| states           = [[New Zealand]]
| speakers         = 23,000
| date             = 2018 census
| ref              = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/2018-census-totals-by-topic-national-highlights-updated/|title=2018 Census totals by topic – national highlights (updated)|publisher=Stats NZ|date=30 April 2020}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Sign
| fam1             = [[BANZSL]]
| nation           = [[New Zealand]]
| iso3             = nzs
| glotto           = newz1236
| glottorefname    = New Zealand Sign Language
| image            = Sw-nzsl.png
| imagescale       = 0.25
| region           = [[New Zealand]]
| altname          = NZSL
}}

'''New Zealand Sign Language''' or '''NZSL''' ({{langx|mi|te reo Turi}}) is the main language of the [[Deaf culture|deaf community]] in [[New Zealand]]. It became an [[official language]] of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was to create rights and obligations in the use of NZSL throughout the legal system and to ensure that the Deaf community had the same access to government information and services as everybody else.<ref>{{cite web|title=New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006|url=http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2006/0018/latest/whole.html|access-date=3 August 2017}}</ref> According to the 2013 Census, over 20,000 New Zealanders know NZSL.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/data-tables/total-by-topic.aspx|title=2013 Census totals by topic|website=archive.stats.govt.nz|language=en-nz|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref>

New Zealand Sign Language has its roots in [[British Sign Language]] (BSL), and may be technically considered a dialect of [[BANZSL|British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language]] (BANZSL). There are 62.5% similarities found in British Sign Language and NZSL, compared with 33% of NZSL signs found in [[American Sign Language]].<ref>McKee, D. and G. Kennedy. 2000. "Lexical Comparisons of Signs from American, Australian, British, and New Zealand Sign Languages" In K. Emmorey & H. Lane (eds) The Signs of Language Revisited: An Anthology to Honor Ursula Bellugi and Edward Klima , New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.</ref>

Like other natural [[sign language]]s, it was devised by and for [[deaf]] people, with no linguistic connection to a spoken or [[written language]].

NZSL uses the same [[two-handed manual alphabet]] as BSL (British Sign Language) and [[Auslan]] (Australian Sign Language).

It uses more lip-patterns in conjunction with hand and facial movement to cue signs than BSL, reflecting New Zealand's history of [[oralism|oralist]] education of deaf people. Its [[vocabulary]] includes [[Māori people|Māori]] concepts such as [[marae]] and [[Māori culture|tangi]], and signs for [[List of New Zealand place name etymologies|New Zealand placenames]] (e.g., [[Rotorua]] – mudpools,<ref>{{cite web|title=Rotorua – NZSL Online|url=http://nzsl.vuw.ac.nz/signs/5385|website=The Online Dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language|publisher=Deaf Studies Research Unit, Victoria University of Wellington|access-date=13 September 2016}}</ref> and [[Christchurch]] – 2 Cs,<ref>{{cite web|title=Christchurch – NZSL Online|url=http://nzsl.vuw.ac.nz/signs/4214|website=The Online Dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language|publisher=Deaf Studies Research Unit, Victoria University of Wellington|access-date=13 September 2016}}</ref> represents ChCh.{{clarify|date=May 2022}})