The Survey of SASL Place Names

Signed toponomastics, the study of place names in signed languages, is a niche focus area internationally. Our department initiated the pioneering research project, the Survey of South African Sign Language (SASL) in 2021. The aim is to address the knowledge gap regarding the SASL toponomy by systematically collecting and documenting SASL place names. A sociolinguistic analysis is included to contextualise the variation found in the dataset. In 2022, the Department paired up with the Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Futures (ICDF) to collaborate on the project, ‘Advancing SASL for 4IR Technological Development Using Place Names’ (April 2022 — June 2025). We remained responsible for the sociolinguistic component of the project, with the ICDF taking the lead on the computational aspect. Our focus is now to continue processing SASL toponymic data.

Our Department has been established as the international leading entity on signed toponymy research. Locally, we have added value by conducting research that focusses on a positive aspect of the Deaf community, in other words, place names as meaningful cultural expression.

Explore some of our exciting products below:

• An Omeka S Archive, Variation in SASL Place Names, which presents a curated selection of SASL place names: https://pokello.ufs.ac.za/s/sasl/page/about.
• Its associated figshare repository: https://doi.org/10.38140/ufs.23741892.
• A research dataset on SASL place-name signs: https://doi.org/10.38140/ufs.29376494.
• The rerecorded place-name signs are also available in the Our Places mobile app.
• Follow our evolving figshare collection for updated and new data items: https://ufs.figshare.com/collections/South_African_Sign_Language_SASL_Place_Names/7886741.
• Siyavoshi S & Sibanda P. 2024. Urban Toponymy in South African Sign Language (SASL): Patterns and Variations. Sign Language Studies 24(4): 942-960. https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.2024.a936338.
• Sibanda P, Loth C & Siyavoshi S. Ethical Practices for Gaining Access for Research with Deaf Communities in South Africa: A Case of South African Sign Language. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 2025;0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/15562646251353471.