Translation as Language Making in Sign Language Revitalisation

Abstract

This article highlights the translator's crucial role in the revitalisation of the severely endangered FinlandSwedish Sign Language (FinSSL). By giving voice to professional translators, filling in lexical gaps in FinSSL as part of the translation task, we discuss the concept of “Language Making” in relation to language revitalisation. The data of the study comprises interviews with two translators responsible for translating official information by authorities in Finland from Swedish into FinSSL. The translators taking part in the study identify areas where lexical gaps occur and draw on different resources for filling in gaps. When filling in lexical gaps, the translators use both written Swedish and Finnish Sign Language as well as Swedish Sign Language and Finnish, thus showing a flexible view of linguistic borders not commonly recognised in Translation Studies (cf. Kuusi et al. 2022). Besides resources such as using dictionaries and contacting peers, the community of signers are given a normative role in the choice of signs for filling in gaps. In addition to a professional responsibility for the translation, the translators show moral responsibility in relation to the audience of the translation and in mediating information to the FinSSL community. However, they do not explicitly express a responsibility for the development of the language itself.

Keywords

• finland-swedish sign language
• language making
• lexical gaps
• revitalisation