Language Contact in Legal Contexts

This study investigates the challenges faced by Zimbabwean Sign Language (ZSL) court interpreters and Deaf litigants in Harare Magistrate Court, emphasizing the impacts of language contact within the Deaf community. Through qualitative methods—including 15 interviews with interpreters and Deaf individuals, 20 hours of courtroom observations, and analysis of policy documents and court transcripts—the research reveals that linguistic variations, driven by contact with spoken languages (e.g., Shona, English) and foreign sign systems (e.g., ASL), coupled with technological influences and a lack of standardization, critically hinder interpreter efficacy. Key issues include a severe shortage of trained interpreters, ad-hoc lexical borrowing, and the rapid spread of informal signs through digital platforms, which fragment ZSL and risk misinterpretation in legal contexts. The absence of a standardized legal glossary exacerbates inconsistencies, potentially compromising due process.