Television New Zealand Archive

Work starts on the modern NZSL dictionary

1993
A look behind the scenes at the team creating the modern NZSL dictionary including interviews with Kevin Stokes and Graeme Kennedy.
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Work has begun on the development of the modern New Zealand Sign Language dictionary, at Victoria University of Wellington.  Kevin Stokes explains that he has never seen himself as disabled, but rather as a Deaf person who has a culture and a language.

We see Shaun Fahey hard at work, drawing the illustrations of the signs that will go into the dictionary. This is an detailed process, where he has to watch videos several times, of people expressing the sign, for him to first draw in pencil then ink.

Graeme Kennedy, the editor of the dictionary tells us that as NZSL is a language of its own, the dictionary will be bilingual, alongside the English vocabulary. The clip ends with Kevin sharing some popular vocabulary specific to New Zealand.

  1. Freda Hassan

  2. Graeme Kennedy

  3. Kevin Stokes

  4. Shaun Fahey

Donated by Television New Zealand Archive
Copyright Television New Zealand
Original format VIDEOTAPE BETACAM SP COLOUR CASSETTE (Comp), VIDEOTAPE DIGITAL BETACAM (Ex-Air) (Dub)
Reference number TVNZ23-01-TV93