One of the country's three official languages, New Zealand Sign Language evolved in the communities that grew from networks of Deaf children at three schools for the Deaf from the late-nineteenth-century.
The Dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language (1997) -- now an invaluable online resource -- and the Concise Dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language (BWB, 2003) were landmarks in documenting the language. A formidable body of scholarly research lies in these volumes, driven by the Deaf Studies Research Unit at Victoria University, led first by Graeme Kennedy and later by David and Rachel McKee.
