• From Signed Swedish to Swedish Sign Language in the 1970s
• Brita Bergman (bio)

As hearing people with sign language skills, we are used to answering questions as to why we know sign language. We all have a story to tell, some with surprising coincidences. One of my favorite examples is the young woman who wanted to register for an evening course in guitar playing. The course was fully subscribed, and it was suggested that she take a course in sign language instead. It was the beginning of a professional career as a sign language interpreter. Here is the beginning of my story.

It is not entirely clear when it began. It probably happened back in my hometown, when I was a high school student and spent many afternoons at a café where three deaf, signing men used to meet.

An important episode in my story occurred when I was a student in linguistics and took a course in psycholinguistics (spring 1971). The course coordinator, Inger Ahlgren, arranged a study visit to the school for deaf and hard of hearing children in Stockholm, the Manilla School. We were informed by the headmistress, Rut Madebrink, that sign language was not used in communication with the students. Since I knew that deaf people used sign language, it did not make sense. I could not understand why deaf children were denied access to the language used by deaf adult people. Instead of being approached with a language they had the ability to perceive, deaf children were left to look at the mouths of people whose speech sounds they could not [End Page 474] hear. I found it unbelievably cruel and felt like being thrown back to the Middle Ages.

Later, I learned that The Swedish National Association of the Deaf (henceforth SDR) had since the early twentieth century advocated the use of sign language in deaf education. This work was intensified in the 1970s and began with a conference to which educational authorities and the parents' organization Döva barns målsmän (Guardians of Deaf Children) were invited. An important outcome of this meeting was that for the first time, the deaf organization managed to reach out to parents of deaf and hard of hearing children and that cooperation between the two organizations was initiated. This was a huge success for SDR, whose opposition to the oral policy of the National Board of Education, Skolöverstyrelsen (henceforth SÖ), was now shared with the parents' organization.

The third semester of my studies in linguistics (autumn 1971) included writing a bachelor's thesis. At the first seminar, Professor Bengt Sigurd suggested possible topics, one of which was sign language. My hand flew up in the air. I knew right away it was my topic. I was prepared to fight for it, but no one else seemed to be interested.

The fact that sign language was brought to Bengt Sigurd's attention was a coincidence that can be traced to the early 1950s when he was a student of phonetics at Lund University. One of Sigurd's fellow students was Rut Madebrink, later headmistress of the Manilla School in Stockholm. As a result of the 1970 conference, SÖ could no longer ignore the demands of the deaf community, and a committee was appointed to deal with the situation. Contrary to the tradition in matters of deaf education, medical experts were not invited this time. The committee wanted linguistic expertise. Rut Madebrink proposed her former teacher of phonetics, Professor Bertil Malmberg, now a board member of the deaf school in Lund, and her former fellow student, Bengt Sigurd, holder of the new chair in linguistics at Stockholm University. Both agreed to participate on the committee.

Bengt Sigurd soon found that there was almost no literature on sign language, but a newly published sign dictionary could be a possible beginning (Bjurgate 1968). At the class meeting where I chose my topic, Sigurd handed me a plastic bag containing two partially cut-apart books with photos of signs and a bunch of pictures of signs that [End Page 475] had been cut out of the books. The signs were arranged alphabetically in the book according to the Swedish...

• 20 世纪 70 年代从瑞典手语到瑞典手语
• 布丽塔·伯格曼（简介）

作为具有手语技能的听力正常的人，我们习惯于回答“为什么我们懂手语”的问题。我们都有一个故事要讲，其中有些故事有着令人惊讶的巧合。我最喜欢的例子之一是一位想要报名参加吉他演奏晚间课程的年轻女子。该课程已被全部订阅，建议她改修手语课程。这是手语翻译职业生涯的开始。这是我的故事的开始。

目前还不完全清楚它是从什么时候开始的。这可能发生在我的家乡，当时我还是一名高中生，很多个下午都在一家咖啡馆度过，三个聋哑人经常在咖啡馆里见面。

我的故事中的一个重要插曲发生在我还是一名语言学学生并修读心理语言学课程时（1971 年春季）。课程协调员 Inger Ahlgren 安排了对斯德哥尔摩聋哑儿童学校马尼拉学校的考察访问。校长鲁特·马德布林克 (Rut Madebrink) 告诉我们，与学生交流时不使用手语。因为我知道聋人使用手语，所以这没有意义。我不明白为什么聋哑儿童无法接触聋哑成年人使用的语言。聋哑儿童并没有接受他们能够感知的语言，而是看着他们无法听到的人的嘴巴[第 474 页]。我发现这令人难以置信的残酷，感觉就像被扔回了中世纪。

后来我了解到，瑞典全国聋人协会（以下简称SDR）自二十世纪初以来就提倡在聋人教育中使用手语。这项工作在 20 世纪 70 年代得到加强，并以一次会议开始，教育当局和家长组织 Döva barns målsmän（聋哑儿童监护人）应邀参加。这次会议的一个重要成果是，聋人组织首次成功接触到聋哑儿童的家长，并启动了两个组织之间的合作。这对于 SDR 来说是一个巨大的成功，它对国家教育委员会 Skolöverstyrelsen（以下简称 SÖ）口头政策的反对现在已与家长组织分享。

我学习语言学的第三学期（1971 年秋季）包括撰写学士论文。在第一次研讨会上，Bengt Sigurd 教授提出了可能的主题，其中之一就是手语。我的手飞到了空中。我立刻就知道这是我的主题。我准备为之奋斗，但似乎没有人感兴趣。

手语引起 Bengt Sigurd 的注意是一个巧合，可以追溯到 20 世纪 50 年代初，当时他还是隆德大学语音学的学生。西格德的同学之一是鲁特·马德布林克（Rut Madebrink），后来成为斯德哥尔摩马尼拉学校的校长。1970 年会议的结果是，SÖ 不能再忽视聋人群体的要求，并任命了一个委员会来处理这一情况。与聋人教育方面的传统不同，这次没有邀请医学专家。该委员会需要语言方面的专业知识。鲁特·马德布林克 (Rut Madebrink) 推荐了她的前语音学老师、现任隆德聋人学校董事会成员的贝尔蒂尔·马尔姆伯格 (Bertil Malmberg) 教授，以及她以前的同学、斯德哥尔摩大学语言学新任教席持有人本特·西格德 (Bengt Sigurd)。两人都同意参加该委员会。

Bengt Sigurd 很快发现几乎没有关于手语的文献，但新出版的手语词典可能是一个可能的开始（Bjurgate 1968）。在我选择主题的班会上，西格德递给我一个塑料袋，里面装着两本部分剪开的书，上面有标志的照片，还有一堆[结束第475页]从书中剪下来的标志图片。书中的标志按照瑞典语的字母顺序排列。