What does “Gebärdensprache” mean in German?

German names sign language by describing exactly what it is: Gebärde means gesture or sign, Sprache means language, and together they form Gebärdensprache — “gesture language.” That compounding logic runs through the whole language: once you see how German stacks nouns to name things, Gebärdensprache becomes a template, not just a word. The clip features Fräulein Da Capo, a Swiss one-woman-band, giving concerts in partnership with MUX, the Verein für Musik und Gebärdensprache.

The word Gebärde goes back to Old High German gibārida, “bearing” or “demeanor” — how you carry yourself bodily. It grows from the same ancient root (ber-, “to bear, carry”) that gave gebären (“to bear a child”) and English “to bear”: a gesture is, at root, how you bear yourself. Sprache shares its root with sprechen (to speak). The clip mentions that Frölein Da Capo had already run sign-language concerts in 2011 and 2012, with two more planned for December 2013 — one solo show in Jona, St. Gallen, and one band programme in Lucerne — each with a Gebärdensprache interpreter alongside.