BANZSL, or British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language, is the name given to the parent language which British Sign Language (BSL), Auslan and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) may be considered dialects of. These languages may technically be considered dialects of a single language due to their use of the same grammar, manual alphabet, and the high degree of lexical sharing (overlap of signs).

BSL, Auslan and NZSL all have their roots in a deaf sign language used in Britain during the 19th century.

ASL and BANZSL are ostensibly unrelated sign languages, and share far fewer signs. However there is still a significant overlap, probably due largely to relatively recent borrowing of lexicon by signers of all three dialects of BANZSL, with many younger signers unaware which signs are recent imports.

Auslan, BSL and NZSL have 82% of signs identical (using concepts from a Swadesh list). When considering identical as well as similar or related signs there are 98% cognate signs between the languages. By comparison, ASL and BANZSL have only 31% signs identical, or 44% cognate.

The term BANZSL is not meant to replace the terms BSL, Auslan and NZSL. While each dialect retains its individuality, they may be referred to collectively as BANZSL.

References

1. Trevor Johnston, BSL, Auslan and NZSL: Three Signed Languages or One?, paper from Tilsa 2000