• In the language itself: Gronings Gebarentaal
• ISO 639-3 standard: n/a

^{Click here for a full overview of the language vitality colour codes.}

• Classification: Sing Language → French sign language. For more information, see Dutc1253 at Glottolog
• Script: No script

There is no standardised orthography, as there is no script. There is also no standardised visual lexicon that focuses solely on Gronings Sign Language. However, signs from the Gronings Sign Language have been incorporated in the CorpusNGT ¹⁾ and the Signlab seeks to incorporate it in the Signbank²⁾.

Gronings Sign Language is spoken in and around the municipality Groningen. It was specifically concentrated around the original deaf school in Groningen, ‘Instituut ter Onderwijzing van Dooven en Stommen’ (now known as the H.D. Guyot Institute).³⁾ The exact size of the language area is unknown. Because a large amount of NGT users from the northern region went to the H.D. Guyen Institute, it is likely that they use or are fmailiar with the Gronings Sign language. This is also more likely considering people from these regions often stayed here after draduating and still meet at deaf clubhouses or associations (Nederlands Gebarencentrum, personal communication, October 2nd 2025).

There are no records of the numbers of speakers

While Gronings Sign Language has not been officially taught in the Netherlands, it has been closely tied to Sign Language Education in the Netherlands. The first school for the deaf was founded by Henri Daniël Guyot in 1790 in Groningen. Guyot visited the school for deaf Children in 1784. Here he was taught the basic principles of teaching deaf children using French Sing Language. For this reason, an influence of French Sign Language can be found in Gronings Sign Language ⁴⁾. From 1864 to 1980, the oral method was used at the institute. The actual enforcement of it was much more lenient. Deaf students were still allowed to communicate in sign and often met outside of school hours ⁵⁾⁶⁾ The H.D. Guyot institute still exists today and works together closely Het Clubhuis voor de Doven, a deaf clubhouse that organises activities for the Deaf community in Groningen.⁷⁾

Considering this, it is likely that while not being supported in the education system, the institute indirectly contributed to the spread and maintenance of the Gronings Sign Language until now. As mentioned previously, it also work together with het Clubhuis voor de Doven. This means that there is likely still transmission of Gronings Sign Language between older and younger generations.

The language has not been recognised via the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages or the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by the national government. This means that Gronings Sign Language is not a recognised nor protected language.

There is no legislation on a national level.

There is no legislation on a local level.

There is no official instutional support for Groning Sign Language. There is however a

There is no financial support.

There are no official learning materials, besides the acknowledgement in the courses mentioned below.

There is no training nor support for teachers.

There is no formal education in Gronings Sign Language nor is it taught as a language.

e.g.:

• Is the language being taught in- or outside of school?
• If the language is taught during school hours,
  • in which grades is it being taught?
  • for how many hours per week?
  • to how many children / what percentage of the population?
  • are language skills being evaluated in any way?
  • what level of competence do students reach?
• Is the language used as medium of instruction in school?
• What school systems with respect to multilingualism are there (bilingual, trilingual)?

e.g.:

• Is the language taught or studied at vocational level?
• Which types of study programmes or courses are these?
• How many students are there, taking these?

e.g.:

• Is the language taught or studied at university level?
• Which types of study programmes or courses are these?
• How many students are there, taking these?

e.g.:

• Are there courses available for adults?
• which types of courses are these?
• How many participants are there?

Please provide links to online learning resources. Feel free to add points, and to structure your information using chapter heading, e.g.: