Polish Sign Language (polski język migowy, PJM) is a natural language that serves as a means of everyday communication and an important marker of identity for tens of thousands of Deaf Poles — one of the largest linguistic minorities in Poland. PJM differs significantly from spoken Polish in its grammatical structure and lexical system. For many Deaf individuals, Polish is a second language and, like other foreign languages, it often presents serious communication challenges.
Although PJM has been developing since the early 19th century (the first school for Deaf children in what is now Polish territory was established in 1817), its users still face numerous barriers in exercising their full communication rights. Recently, however, Polish legislation has begun to acknowledge the communicative needs of this minority. A key milestone in this regard was the Act on Sign Language and Other Means of Communication, adopted in 2011.
Implementing the provisions of this law has often encountered a fundamental challenge: the lack of professional interpreting services. One major obstacle to providing these services is the absence of appropriate specialized terminology — particularly in two areas of critical importance for Deaf individuals: medical and legal vocabulary.
Because PJM developed for decades as a stigmatized language, its lexicon has traditionally centered on everyday vocabulary, with limited development of specialized terms. However, over the past two decades, specialized vocabulary has begun to grow rapidly, driven by the increasing levels of education among Deaf individuals and the more frequent use of PJM in academic communication.