9 July 2026, by Paulus/Red.

Photo: UHH/Feuerböther

The UHH is home to more than 6,200 researchers. Every two weeks, in the “Doing the Research” series in the *Hamburger Abendblatt*, we provide insights into their work. In the current issue, Prof. Dr. Liona Paulus explains why sign language interpreting is so important.

People who aren’t deaf themselves, don’t have deaf family members, or don’t work in a profession that involves interacting with deaf people often know very little about the lives and communication of deaf people. Deaf—is that even the right word? Yes, both terms, “deaf” and “hearing-impaired,” are correct. It’s important never to use the term “deaf-mute.” This term is discriminatory because it implies that the person has no language at all. But that’s simply not true.

One of the most common misconceptions that deaf people have to deal with is this: “You may be deaf, but you can read subtitles, so you don’t need sign language interpretation.” However, sign language and written language are two completely different things—that is, two languages in different forms. German Sign Language (DGS), recognized as a legally distinct language since 2002, has its own grammar that is not identical to that of spoken German. From a syntactic perspective, DGS is more similar to Chinese than to German. It is often assumed that deaf people are not competent if the grammar in their written language is incorrect. For deaf people, German is usually a foreign language. That is why the use of interpreters for DGS and German is important.

For centuries, DGS was passed down only orally

Since 2023, I have been working at the University of Hamburg on sign language interpreting, gesture research, and the documentation and study of German Sign Language (DGS). We have established a long-term project here called the DGS Corpus: Since 2008, we have been collecting and documenting sign language texts from more than 300 deaf people in video form. I would like to use these videos to explore DGS even further, such as by identifying new signs or new text types (including not only narratives but also jokes, monologues, and more).

Since DGS was used exclusively in private settings for centuries and no written form was developed for it, DGS was passed down orally and consisted of a private register or text types. With the emergence of better-educated Deaf people, the increased use of interpreters, and video technology as a substitute for writing, additional non-private registers and text types are currently developing. Examples of this include the language of instruction at schools for the deaf and in arts and cultural education, as well as the technical terminology used in various fields such as medicine, linguistics, aeronautical engineering, and public administration—fields in which an increasing number of deaf people are studying or working and using German Sign Language (DGS).

The various registers and text types exhibit characteristics that distinguish them from other existing DGS texts, and I would like to explore and describe these—for example, what DGS looks like among deaf and hard-of-hearing students, including in dialogue with teachers, or among deaf and hard-of-hearing technicians or medical professionals. Examples of places in Hamburg where these new registers are used include the Elbschule, Airbus, the Museumsdienst, Kampnagel, Beiersdorf, the UKE, and, of course, the University of Hamburg—specifically in the faculties of the humanities and education, as well as in other academic disciplines, to name a few.

Many deaf and hard-of-hearing people grew up with language deficits

The reason why many deaf people did not gain access to written language can be explained by our educational system. For a long time, this system focused on teaching deaf and hard-of-hearing people to speak. With the individual words these people then learned, the meaning was sometimes not at all clear to them. This is referred to as “speech-focused,” meaning the emphasis was on reproducing words rather than on understanding. DGS had been banned at the time. As a result, many deaf and hard-of-hearing people grew up with language deficits and the resulting psychological and financial disadvantages. This is referred to as “speech-focused,” meaning the emphasis was on reproducing words rather than on understanding. DGS had been banned at the time. As a result, many deaf and hard-of-hearing people grew up with language deficits and the resulting psychological and financial disadvantages.

In the 1980s, DGS began to be recognized as a language in its own right—a movement spearheaded, among others, by the IDGS in Hamburg, the oldest institute of its kind in Germany, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year.

(This content has been translated automatically.)