The Ukrainian Orthodox Church publishing house Glas plans to publish a manual for visual-gestural interpreters, the deaf and hard-of-hearing people - Dictionary of Signed Speech: Church Terminology - in 1Q 2006.

The manual contains approx. 600 gestures with subtitle and sound record in Russian and Ukrainian. Each of the terms in the dictionary is accompanied by a lexical explanation.

This is a first result of the synthesis of practical experience in visual-gestural interpretation at Orthodox parishes in Russia and Ukraine.

Visual-gestural interpreters working with hearing impaired people in Orthodox parishes will be provided with video records of simultaneous and adjusted visual-gestural interpretation of prayers, parts of the Liturgy with visual-gestural interpretation where words form the dictionary were used. The manual contained recommendations on a more effective visual-gestural interpretation of Devine services.

Using this dictionary visual-gestural interpreters will be able to help the deaf to 'hear' a Devine service and facilitate their integration in parish life and the world of hearing Orthodox Christians.

The manual has no overall objective of unifying gestures, but rather it suggests several possible variants of gestures for each word of the dictionary. Visual-gestural interpreters are granted the right to choose the variant of showing this or that word.

The deaf and hard-of-hearing people will be able to use this manual to select gestures that correspond with a correct understanding of Orthodox terminology.

Authors: D.A. Zavaritsky, Ye.A. Diatlova

Advisory board:

• N.V. Ivaniusheva, visual-gestural interpreter of higher category, teacher of the deaf;
• Archpriest Ioann Korzhevoy, spiritual father of the community of hearing impaired people, Chernovtsy;
• D.A. Zavaritsky, visual-gestural interpreter of the community of hearing impaired people, St. Petersburg, head of the Centre for the deaf Slovo;
• S.A. Vishnevskaya, teacher of the deaf, expert;
• Ye.A. Diatlova, visual-gestural interpreter of the TV channel Glas and of the community of hearing impaired people, Kiev.

The dictionary will be put on the market on VHS, CD, DVD.

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