1. The earliest information on sign language used in Finland

The earliest information on the sign language used in Finland consists of verbal descriptions. These descriptions appear in a newspaper article written by Carl Oscar Malm, the founder of the first Finnish Deaf School, and in a booklet on home child care of deaf children, from Carl Henrik Alopaeus, the headmaster of Turku Deaf School.

Malm had received his education at the Stockholm-based Manilla School, which used Swedish Sign Language as working language. It is apparent from Malm’s certificate that the school covered a variety of subjects in sign language. In 1852, Malm wrote an article on “Deaf-and-dumb, their psychical status, language and teaching methods” to the Helsingfors Tidningar -newspaper, introducing sign language to the reading audience.

Malm pointed out that sign language was born within Deaf community from the need to communicate with each other, that it was Deaf people’s mother tongue and a natural language. It was equal to spoken languages and could express anything a spoken language could. Sign language consisted of signs that correlated spoken words, “they were vivid but transient drawings in the air”, composed of movements, formations and directions made by fingers, hands and arms. In his article, Malm gives varied examples of signs, some of which he describes verbally.

“Index finger raised towards sky signifies God; Right hand on the heart means Love; Index and middle finger together on the palm means Truth; Index finger drawing a ring around the face means Sun; Arm bent with thumb outstretched Moon; Stroking a cross on chest with index finger means a Bishop; Taking index finger on ear means Hearing; Hands crossed with fingers together Friendship; Rubbing index fingertips together repeatedly means Hatred; Arms crossed Laziness.”

Almost all the signs Malm described still exist in Finnish Sign Language. Malm’s sign language flourished in Deaf Schools, and passed down from generation to generation all the way to today’s sign language.

In addition to sign language used in Deaf Schools, hearing families with deaf children had their own, need-based visual sign systems. This type of informal communication method was first described in 1866, in Alopaeus’ book “Lyhykäinen Ohje Kuuromykkiä Kotona Kaswattamaan ja Opettamaan” (“A short advice on how to raise and teach deaf-and-dumb at home”). The book gives advice to parents on how to communicate with their deaf child and what kind of signs to use.

“To mark an object one takes a sign from its kind, shape, effect or use. Thus, one marks a cat by scratching or stroking an arm with hand upwards, a dog by patting one’s thigh, a cow by milking and horns on its head, a bull with horns on its head and its angry nature presented by a head-butt. A good sign for a man is taking of the hat, or beard and short hair etc. whereas the easiest sign for a woman are the curving breasts.”

The Deaf Schools have had an important role in offering a place to learn and absorb sign language. In schools, the sign language replaced home signs. The language used in the early Deaf community has been called “the sign language introduced by C. O. Malm”. Malm also renewed sign language.

At the beginning of the 1890s as many as a thousand students had been involved with the language that Malm originally had learned in Stockholm. In Finland, the Swedish Sign Language started to develop in its own direction so that at the beginning of 20th century it had grown into a new language. In Finnish Deaf Schools, Malm’s sign language gradually further separated into Finnish and Finland-Swedish Sign Language.