List of sign languages

Last updated

There are perhaps three hundred sign languages in use around the world today. The number is not known with any confidence; new sign languages emerge frequently through creolization and de novo (and occasionally through language planning). In some countries, such as Sri Lanka and Tanzania, each school for the deaf may have a separate language, known only to its students and sometimes denied by the school; on the other hand, countries may share sign languages, although sometimes under different names (Croatian and Serbian, Indian and Pakistani). Deaf sign languages also arise outside educational institutions, especially in village communities with high levels of congenital deafness, but there are significant sign languages developed for the hearing as well, such as the speech-taboo languages used in aboriginal Australia. Scholars are doing field surveys to identify the world's sign languages. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

The following list is grouped into three sections :

The list of deaf sign languages is sorted regionally and alphabetically, and such groupings should not be taken to imply any genetic relationships between these languages (see List of language families). [5]

Sign language list

Contemporary deaf sign languages

Africa

There are at least 25 sign languages in Africa, according to researcher Nobutaka Kamei. [6] [7] [8] Some have distributions that are completely independent of those of African spoken languages. At least 13 foreign sign languages, mainly from Europe and America, have been introduced to at least 27 African nations; some of the 23 sign languages documented by Kamei have originated with or been influenced by them.

LanguageOrigin [9] Notes
Adamorobe Sign Language village sign (ADS) (Ghana)
Algerian Sign Language French
Bamako Sign Language local deaf community used by adult men. Threatened by ASL.
Berbey Sign Language familyDogon region, Mali
Bouakako Sign Language villageIvory Coast
Bura Sign Language villagein Nigeria
Burkina Sign Language local [10] Ouagadougou (Langue des Signes Mossi)
Chadian Sign Language ASL:Nigerian?
Douentza Sign Language local? village?Dogon region, Mali
Eritrean Sign Language creole
Eswatini Sign Language Irish, British, & local
Ethiopian sign languages 1 million signers of an unknown number of languages
Francophone African Sign Language ASL & spoken FrenchThe development of ASL in Francophone West Africa
Gambian Sign Language ASL
Ghanaian Sign Language ASL(GSE)
Guinean Sign Language ASL
Guinea-Bissau Sign Language localincipient/basic
Hausa Sign Language local"Maganar Hannu" (HSL) – Northern Nigeria (Kano State)
Kenyan Sign Language local?(KSL or LAK)
Lesotho Sign Language BANZL
Libyan Sign Language Arab?
Malagasy Sign Language French:Danish:Norwegian(or "Madagascan Sign Language") May be a dialect of Norwegian SL
Maroua Sign Language localCameroon
Mauritian Sign Language isolate
Moroccan Sign Language ASL
Mozambican Sign Language
Mbour Sign Language local M'Bour, Senegal
Namibian Sign Language Paget-Gorman
Nanabin Sign Language villagea deaf family in Nanabin, Ghana
Nigerian Sign Language ASL
Rwandan Sign Language
Sao Tome and Principe Sign Language rural
Sierra Leonean Sign Language ASL
Somali Sign Language Kenyan SL
South African Sign Language Irish & British(SASL)
Sudanese sign languages village & local?Government proposal to unify local languages
Tanzanian sign languages local(seven independent languages, one for each deaf school in Tanzania, with little mutual influence)
Tebul Sign Language village(Tebul Ure SL) Mopti, Mali (village of Tebul Ure)
Tunisian Sign Language French:Italian
Ugandan Sign Language local?(USL)
Yoruba Sign Language local(YSL)
Zambian Sign Language (ZASL)
Zimbabwean sign languages "sign language" is an official language

Americas

LanguageOriginNotes
American Sign Language United States and CanadaASL is also officially recognized as a language in Canada due to the passage of Bill C-81, the Accessible Canada Act. Black American Sign Language is a dialect of ASL.
Argentine Sign Language Spain and Italy[ citation needed ](Lengua de Señas Argentina – LSA)
Bay Islands Sign Language villageHonduras. Deaf-blind. French Harbour Sign Language
Bolivian Sign Language ASL/Andean"Lenguaje de Señas Bolivianas" (LSB)
Brazilian Sign Language FrenchLibras (Lingua Brasileira de Sinais) [11]
Recognized legally as a means of communication among the Brazilian Deaf community. [12]
Bribri Sign Language village?
Brunca Sign Language village?
Carhuahuaran Sign Language familyPeru
Chatino Sign Language family
Chilean Sign Language French?Lenguaje de Señas Chileno (LSCH)
Colombian Sign Language Andean(CSN) / Lengua de Señas Colombiana (LSC)
Costa Rican Sign Language at least four languages in Costa Rica (Woodward 1991)
Old Costa Rican Sign Language
Cuban Sign Language
Dominican Sign Language ASL
Ecuadorian Sign Language Andean
Greenlandic Sign Language Danish"Kalaallisut Ussersuutit" (DTS)
Guatemalan Sign Language
Guyanese Sign Language  ?
Haitian Sign Language ASL
Honduras Sign Language Mexican?"Lengua de señas hondureña" (LESHO)
Inmaculada Sign Language PeruvianLima, Peru. Inmaculada is a school for the deaf. (see ref under Sivia SL)
Inuit Sign Language village"Inuit Uqausiqatigiit Uukturausiq Uqajuittunut (General Inuit Sign Language for deaf)" [ citation needed ] also known as Tikuraq (ᑎᑯᕋᖅ)
There may be more than one. The indigenous languages is an isolate.
Jamaican Sign Language ASL(JSL)
Jamaican Country Sign Language local(JCSL)
Kajana Sign Language villageKajana Gebarentaal
Keresan Sign Language village(KPISL)
Macushi Sign Language  ?Brazil [no data]
Marajo Sign Language home sign?Brazil
Maritime Sign Language British
Maxakali Sign Language home sign?if not home sign, at least a young language. Brazil
Mayan Sign Language village
Mexican Sign Language French"Lengua de señas mexicana" (LSM)
Navajo Sign Language
Nicaraguan Sign Language local"Idioma de señas nicaragüense" (ISN)
Old Cayman Sign Language villagegave rise to Providence Island SL?
Panamanian Sign Language ASL, some Salvadoran influence"Lengua de señas panameñas"
Paraguayan Sign Language related to Uruguayan, Old-French Sign Language"Lengua de Señas Paraguaya" (LSPy)
Papiu Yanomama Sign Language  ?Brazil [no data]
Peruvian Sign Language Andean [13] "Lengua de señas peruana"
Plains Sign Language historically a trade pidgin distinct from national normsnational forms maintained by some Plains nations
Puerto Rican Sign Language ASL"Lengua de señas puertorriqueña"
Providence Island Sign Language village
Quebec Sign Language French-ASL mix"Langue des Signes Québécoise" (LSQ)
Salvadoran Sign Language LESSA"Lengua de señas salvadoreña"
Sivia Sign Language villagePeru
South Rupununi Sign Language village?Guyana
Terena Sign Language villageBrazil
Trinidad and Tobago Sign Language isolate?ASL taught in schools; most deaf bilingual
Uruguayan Sign Language Old French Sign Language"Lengua de Señas Uruguaya"
Ka'apor Sign Language village(a.k.a. Urubu Sign Language, although this name is pejorative)
Venezuelan Sign Language isolate"Lengua de señas venezolana" (LSV)

Asia-Pacific

LanguageOriginNotes
Afghan Sign Language indig, or ASL creole?
Alipur Sign Language village
Amami Oshima Sign Language village or idioglossia Japan
Auslan British(Australian Sign Language)
Ban Khor Sign Language village(Plaa Pag is a dialect)
Bhutanese Sign Language  ?
Burmese sign language ASLmay be two languages
Cambodian Sign Language = mixed LSF, BSL, ASL, various dialects within
Chinese Sign Language Chinese"中國手語" (ZGS)
Enga Sign Language villagePNG
Esharani isolateIranian Sign Language, main sign language used in Iran
Filipino Sign Language mixed ASL, various dialects(FSL) or Philippine Sign Language (Filipino: Wikang pasenyas ng mga Pilipino).
Ghandruk Sign Language village(Nepal)
Hawaiʻi Sign Language HSLIndigenous unique sign language, Hoailona ʻŌlelo o Hawaiʻi [14] [15] [16] [17]
Hong Kong Sign Language Shanghai Sign Language"香港手語" (HKSL). Derives from the southern dialect of CSL.
Huay Hai Sign Language village(Thailand) [no data]
Indo-Pakistani Sign Language Indianconflicting reports on whether Indian and Pakistani SL are one language or two.
Jakarta Sign Language ASL:Malaysian?:Indonesiana variety of Indonesian Sign Language
Japanese Sign Language Japanese"Nihon Shuwa (日本手話)" (JSL)
Jhankot Sign Language village(Nepal)
Jumla Sign Language village(Nepal)
Kailge Sign Language village, perhaps related to SSSLPNG
Kata Kolok village(a.k.a. Bali Sign Language, Benkala Sign Language)
Laotian Sign Language (related to Vietnamese languages; may be more than one SL)
Korean Sign Language (KSDSL)Japanese"한국수어 (or 한국수화)" / "Hanguk Soo-hwa"

Korean standard sign language – manually coded spoken Korean

Macau Sign Language Shanghai Sign Language"澳門手語" (MSL). Derives from the southern dialect of CSL.
Malaysian Sign Language ASL"Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia" (BIM)
Maldivian Sign Language (Dhivehi Sign Language)Indian, ASL
Maunabudhuk–Bodhe Sign Language villageNepal
Mehek Sign Language home sign? incipient?PNG
Miyakubo Sign Language villageJapan
Mongolian Sign Language  ?"Монгол дохионы хэл"
Mount Avejaha Sign Language villagePNG
Na Sai Sign Language village(Thailand) [no data]
Naga Sign Language village?(India) last reported in 1921
Nepali Sign Language IndianIndigenous sign language with inputs from Indian Sign Language, American Sign Language, International Sign, and others
New Zealand Sign Language British(NZSL)
Old Bangkok Sign Language local (or village?)
Old Chiangmai Sign Language local (or village?)
Papua New Guinean Sign Language British
Penang Sign Language local(Malaysia)
Rennellese Sign Language home sign, not a full language(Solomon Islands)
Rossel Island Sign Language villagePNG
Samoan Sign Language Auslan
Selangor Sign Language ASL?(Malaysia)
Sinasina Sign Language village?PNG, not clear if developed
Singapore Sign Language FrenchA blend of ASL, Auslan, BSL, SEE2, SSL and locally-developed signs.
Solomon Islands Sign Language
Sri Lankan sign languages local(14 deaf schools with different languages)
Taiwanese Sign Language Japanese臺灣手語 / Taiwan Ziran Shouyu
Tibetan Sign Language local
Thai Sign Language ASL(TSL) "แบบสะกดนิ้วมือไทย" (incl. Hai Yai)
Vietnamese sign languages local(Hanoi Sign Language, Ho Chi Minh Sign Language, Haiphong Sign Language; some may be related to some of the Thai languages)
Wanib Sign Language villagePNG
Yogyakarta Sign Language ASL:Malaysian?:Indonesiana variety of Indonesian Sign Language
Yolŋu Sign Language local

Europe

LanguageOriginNotes
Albanian Sign Language "Gjuha e Shenjave Shqipe"
Armenian Sign Language isolate
Azerbaijani Sign Language French:Austro-Hungarian"Azərbaycan işarət dili" (AİD)
Austrian Sign Language French:Austro-Hungarian"Österreichische Gebärdensprache" (ÖGS)
British Sign Language British(BSL)
Bulgarian Sign Language French:Austro-Hungarian:Russian
Catalan Sign Language Catalan(or "Catalonian Sign Language") "Llengua de Signes Catalana" (LSC)
Croatian Sign Language French:Austro-Hungarian:Yugoslav(Croslan) "Hrvatski Znakovni Jezik" (HZJ) [18]
Czech Sign Language French:Austro-Hungarian"Český znakový jazyk" (ČZJ)
Cypriot Sign Language ASL×GSL"Κυπριακή Νοηματική Γλώσσα" (CSL) [19]
Danish Sign Language French"Dansk Tegnsprog" (DTS)
Dutch Sign Language French"Nederlandse Gebarentaal" (NGT)
Estonian Sign Language "Eesti viipekeel"
Finnish Sign Language Swedish"Suomalainen viittomakieli" (SVK)
Finland-Swedish Sign Language Swedish"finlandssvenskt teckenspråk" (Swedish) or "suomenruotsalainen viittomakieli" (Finnish). A single Swedish school in Finland, now closed.
Flemish Sign Language Belgian"Vlaamse Gebarentaal" (VGT)
French Sign Language "Langues des Signes Française" (LSF)
Georgian Sign Language  ?
German Sign Language German"Deutsche Gebärdensprache" (DGS)
Greek Sign Language French-ASL mix"Ελληνική Νοηματική Γλώσσα" (GSL)
Hungarian Sign Language "Magyar jelnyelv"
Icelandic Sign Language French:Danish"Íslenskt Táknmál"
Irish Sign Language French"Teanga Chomharthaíochta na hÉireann" (ISL/ISG and TCÉ)
Italian Sign Language French"Lingua dei Segni Italiana" (LIS)
Kosovar Sign Language French:Austro-Hungarian:Yugoslav"Gjuha e Shenjave Kosovare" (GjShK)
Latvian Sign Language French"Latviešu zīmju valoda"
Lithuanian Sign Language "Lietuvių gestų kalba"
Macedonian Sign Language French:Austro-Hungarian:YugoslavМакедонски знаковен јазик / Makedonski znakoven jazik
Maltese Sign Language "Lingwi tas-Sinjali Maltin" (LSM)
Northern Ireland Sign Language British (mixed)
Norwegian Sign Language French:Danish"Tegnspråk" (NSL)
Polish Sign Language Old-French, German"Polski Język Migowy" (PJM)
Portuguese Sign Language Swedish"Língua Gestual Portuguesa" (LGP)
Romanian Sign Language French"Limbaj Mimico-Gestual Românesc" (LMG)
Russian Sign Language French:Austro-Hungarian"Russkiy zhestovyi yazyk" / русский жестовый язык
Slovakian Sign Language "Slovenský posunkový jazyk"
Slovenian Sign Language French:Austro-Hungarian:Yugoslav"Slovenski znakovni jezik" (SZJ)
Spanish Sign Language isolate"Lengua de signos española" (LSE)
Swedish Sign Language Swedish"Svenskt teckenspråk" (STS)
Swiss-French Sign Language French?"Langage Gestuelle"
Swiss-German Sign Language French?"Deutschschweizer Gebärdensprache" (DSGS)
Swiss-Italian Sign Language French?
Turkish Sign Language Isolate"Türk İşaret Dili" (TİD)
Ukrainian Sign Language French"Українська жестова мова (УЖМ)"
Valencian Sign Language "Llengua de Signes en la Comunitat Valenciana" (LSCV)
Walloon Sign Language Belgian"Langue des Signes de Belgique Francophone" (LSFB)
Yugoslav Sign Language French:Austro-Hungarian

Middle East

LanguageOriginNotes
Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language village(ABSL), Negev Israel
Central Taurus Sign Language villageTurkey
Egyptian Sign Language Arab
Emirati Sign Language Arab
Ghardaia Sign Language village(Algerian Jewish Sign Language) deaf & hearing, Algeria → Israel
Iraqi Sign Language Arabلغة الاشارة العراقية Perhaps close to Levantine.
Israeli Sign Language Large lexical base from DGSשפת סימנים ישראלית (שס"י SHaSI)
Jordanian Sign Language Arab, LevantineLughat il-Ishaarah il-Urduniah / لغة الاشارة الأردنية (LIU)
Kafr Qasem Sign Language Arab, village Kafr Qasim Israel
Kurdish Sign Language localZHK
Kuwaiti Sign Language Arabلغة الاشارة الكويتية
Lebanese Sign Language Arab, LevantineLughat al-Isharat al-Lubnaniya / لغة الإشارات اللبنانية
Mardin Sign Language familyone extended family in Turkey [20]
Omani Sign Language Arab?
Palestinian Sign Language Arab, Levantine"لغة الاشارات الفلسطينية"
Persian Sign Language Persianزبان اشاره پارسى
Qahvehkhaneh Sign Language urbanTehran. Moribund.
Qatari Unified Sign Language Artificial/ArabUnclear what the Qatari deaf community actually uses. An artificial attempt to standardize all Arab sign languages has resulted in a variety used mainly by hearing Qatari interpreters.
Saudi Sign Language isolate"لغة الإشارة السعودية"
Seraglio Sign Language Ottoman court
Syrian Sign Language Arab, Levantine
Yemeni Sign Language Arab"لغة الإشارة اليمنية"

Historical deaf sign languages

Auxiliary sign languages

Manual modes of spoken languages

Manual modes of spoken languages include:

Genetic classification of sign languages

Languages are assigned families (implying a genetic relationships between these languages) as British, Swedish (perhaps a branch of BSL), French (with branches ASL (American), Austro-Hungarian, Danish, Italian), German, Japanese, and language isolates.

BANZSL family tree
Old British Sign Language
(c.1760–1900)
Maritime SL
(c. 1860–present)
Swedish SL family?
(c. 1800–present)
Papua NG SL
(c. 1990–present)
Auslan
(c. 1860–present)
New Zealand SL
(c. 1870–present)
British SL
(c. 1900–present)
Northern Ireland SL
(c. 1920–present)
South African SL
(c. 1860–present)
Danish Sign Language family tree
French Sign
(c. 1760–present)
local/home sign
Danish Sign
(c. 1800–present)
Faroese Sign
(c. 1960–present)
Greenlandic Sign
(c. 1950–present)
Icelandic Sign
(c. 1910–present)
Norwegian Sign
(c. 1820–present)
Malagasy Sign
(c. 1950–present)
French Sign Language family tree
Old French Sign Language
(influenced by l'Epée c. 1760–89)
Belgian Sign Language
(c. 1790–2000)
Austro-Hungarian Sign Language
(c. 1780–1920)
American Sign Language
(c. 1820–present)
French Sign Language
(c. 1790–present)
French Belgian Sign Language
(c. 1970–present)
Flemish Sign Language
(c. 1970–present)
Dutch Sign Language
(c. 1790–present)
Italian Sign Language
(c. 1830–present)
Swedish Sign Language family tree
Old British Sign Language?
(c.1760–1900)
Swedish Sign Language
(c. 1800–present)
Portuguese Sign Language
(c. 1820–present)
Finnish Sign Language
(c. 1850–present)
Cape Verdian Sign Language
(c. 20th century–present)
Finland-Swedish Sign Language
(c. 1850–present)
Eritrean Sign Language
(c. 1950–present)
São Tomé and Príncipe Sign Language?
(c. 21st century–present)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Sign Language</span> Sign language used predominately in the US

American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is expressed by employing both manual and nonmanual features. Besides North America, dialects of ASL and ASL-based creoles are used in many countries around the world, including much of West Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. ASL is also widely learned as a second language, serving as a lingua franca. ASL is most closely related to French Sign Language (LSF). It has been proposed that ASL is a creole language of LSF, although ASL shows features atypical of creole languages, such as agglutinative morphology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sign language</span> Language that uses manual communication and body language to convey meaning

Sign languages are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign languages are full-fledged natural languages with their own grammar and lexicon. Sign languages are not universal and are usually not mutually intelligible, although there are similarities among different sign languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Sign Language</span> Sign language used in the United Kingdom

British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom and is the first or preferred language among the deaf community in the UK. While private correspondence from William Stokoe hinted at a formal name for the language in 1960, the first usage of the term "British Sign Language" in an academic publication was likely by Aaron Cicourel. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' on the 2011 Scottish Census, the British Deaf Association estimates there are 151,000 BSL users in the UK, of whom 87,000 are Deaf. By contrast, in the 2011 England and Wales Census 15,000 people living in England and Wales reported themselves using BSL as their main language. People who are not deaf may also use BSL, as hearing relatives of deaf people, sign language interpreters or as a result of other contact with the British Deaf community. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face and head.

Makaton is a communication tool with speech, signs, and symbols to enable people with disabilities or learning disabilities to communicate. Makaton supports the development of essential communication skills such as attention, listening, comprehension, memory and expressive speech and language. The Makaton language programme has been used with individuals who have cognitive impairments, autism, Down syndrome, specific language impairment, multisensory impairment and acquired neurological disorders that have negatively affected the ability to communicate, including stroke and dementia patients.

Signing Exact English is a system of manual communication that strives to be an exact representation of English language vocabulary and grammar. It is one of a number of such systems in use in English-speaking countries. It is related to Seeing Essential English (SEE-I), a manual sign system created in 1945, based on the morphemes of English words. SEE-II models much of its sign vocabulary from American Sign Language (ASL), but modifies the handshapes used in ASL in order to use the handshape of the first letter of the corresponding English word.

Cued speech is a visual system of communication used with and among deaf or hard-of-hearing people. It is a phonemic-based system which makes traditionally spoken languages accessible by using a small number of handshapes, known as cues, in different locations near the mouth to convey spoken language in a visual format. The National Cued Speech Association defines cued speech as "a visual mode of communication that uses hand shapes and placements in combination with the mouth movements and speech to make the phonemes of spoken language look different from each other." It adds information about the phonology of the word that is not visible on the lips. This allows people with hearing or language difficulties to visually access the fundamental properties of language. It is now used with people with a variety of language, speech, communication, and learning needs. It is not a sign language such as American Sign Language (ASL), which is a separate language from English. Cued speech is considered a communication modality but can be used as a strategy to support auditory rehabilitation, speech articulation, and literacy development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Canada</span>

A multitude of languages have always been spoken in Canada. Prior to Confederation, the territories that would become Canada were home to over 70 distinct languages across 12 or so language families. Today, a majority of those indigenous languages are still spoken; however, most are endangered and only about 0.6% of the Canadian population report an Indigenous language as their mother tongue. Since the establishment of the Canadian state, English and French have been the co-official languages and are, by far, the most-spoken languages in the country.

The American Manual Alphabet (AMA) is a manual alphabet that augments the vocabulary of American Sign Language.

Hawaiʻi Sign Language or Hawaiian Sign Language, also known as Hoailona ʻŌlelo, Old Hawaiʻi Sign Language and Hawaiʻi Pidgin Sign Language, is an indigenous sign language native to Hawaiʻi. Historical records document its presence on the islands as early as the 1820s, but HSL was not formally recognized by linguists until 2013.

Manually Coded English (MCE) is an umbrella term referring to a number of invented manual codes intended to visually represent the exact grammar and morphology of spoken English. Different codes of MCE vary in the levels of adherence to spoken English grammar, morphology, and syntax. MCE is typically used in conjunction with direct spoken English.

Simultaneous communication, SimCom, or sign supported speech (SSS) is a technique sometimes used by deaf, hard-of-hearing or hearing sign language users in which both a spoken language and a manual variant of that language are used simultaneously. While the idea of communicating using two modes of language seems ideal in a hearing/deaf setting, in practice the two languages are rarely relayed perfectly. Often the native language of the user is the language that is strongest, while the non-native language degrades in clarity. In an educational environment this is particularly difficult for deaf children as a majority of teachers who teach the deaf are hearing. Results from surveys taken indicate that communication for students is indeed signing, and that the signing leans more toward English rather than ASL.

A contact sign language, or contact sign, is a variety or style of language that arises from contact between deaf individuals using a sign language and hearing individuals using an oral language. Contact languages also arise between different sign languages, although the term pidgin rather than contact sign is used to describe such phenomena.

Manually coded languages (MCLs) are a family of gestural communication methods which include gestural spelling as well as constructed languages which directly interpolate the grammar and syntax of oral languages in a gestural-visual form—that is, signed versions of oral languages. Unlike the sign languages that have evolved naturally in deaf communities, these manual codes are the conscious invention of deaf and hearing educators, and as such lack the distinct spatial structures present in native deaf sign languages. MCLs mostly follow the grammar of the oral language—or, more precisely, of the written form of the oral language that they interpolate. They have been mainly used in deaf education in an effort to "represent English on the hands" and by sign language interpreters in K-12 schools, although they have had some influence on deaf sign languages where their implementation was widespread.

Catalan Sign Language is a sign language used by around 18,000 people in different areas of Spain including Catalonia. As of 2012, the Catalan Federation for the Deaf estimates 25,000 LSC signers and roughly 12,000 deaf people around the Catalan lands. It has about 50% intelligibility with Spanish Sign Language (LSE). On the basis of mutual intelligibility, lexicon, and social attitudes, linguists have argued that LSC and LSE are distinct languages.

Hausa Sign Language is the indigenous sign language of the Deaf community in northern Nigeria.

Singapore Sign Language, or SgSL, is the native sign language used by the deaf and hard of hearing in Singapore, developed over six decades since the setting up of the first school for the Deaf in 1954. Since Singapore's independence in 1965, the Singapore deaf community has had to adapt to many linguistic changes. Today, the local deaf community recognises Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) as a reflection of Singapore's diverse culture. SgSL is influenced by Shanghainese Sign Language (SSL), American Sign Language (ASL), Signing Exact English (SEE-II) and locally developed signs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swedish Sign Language family</span> Language family of sign languages

The Swedish Sign Language family is a language family of sign languages, including Swedish Sign Language, Portuguese Sign Language, Cape Verdian Sign Language, Finnish Sign Language and Eritrean Sign.

There are one or two known sign languages in Myanmar. There are three schools for the deaf in the country: the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf in Yangon, the School for the Deaf, Mandalay, and the Immanuel School for the Deaf in Kalay. At least in Yangon, instruction in oral, in the Burmese language, with sign used to support it. The sign of Yangon and Mandalay is different, but it's not clear if they are one language or two. Influences on the language(s) include ASL in all schools, as well as Korean Sign Language, Australian Sign Language, Thai Sign Language, and possibly a local substratum. A government project was set up in 2010 to establish a national sign language with the aid of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varieties of American Sign Language</span> Dialects and descendants of American Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) developed in the United States, starting as a blend of local sign languages and French Sign Language (FSL). Local varieties have developed in many countries, but there is little research on which should be considered dialects of ASL and which have diverged to the point of being distinct languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonmanual feature</span> Sign language syntax

A nonmanual feature, also sometimes called nonmanual signal or sign language expression, are the features of signed languages that do not use the hands. Nonmanual features are grammaticised and a necessary component in many signs, in the same way that manual features are. Nonmanual features serve a similar function to intonation in spoken languages.

References

  1. Woodward, James (1991), "The relationship of sign language varieties in India, Pakistan, and Nepal", Sign Language Studies, 78: 15–22.
  2. Parkhurst, Stephen; Parkhurst, Dianne (1998), "Introduction to Sign Language survey", Notes on Sociolinguistics, 3: 215–42.
  3. Ciupek-Reed, Julia (2012), Participatory methods in sociolinguistic sign language survey: A case study in El Salvador (PDF) (MA thesis), University of North Dakota, archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-26, retrieved 2012-09-10.
  4. Aldersson, Russell R; McEntee-Atalianis, Lisa J (2007), A Lexical Comparison of Icelandic Sign Language and Danish Sign Language, Studies in Applied Linguistics, Birkbeck, archived from the original on 2021-05-14, retrieved 2012-09-10.
  5. For a classification, Wittmann, Henri (1991), "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement" [Linguistic classification of non vocally signed languages](PDF), Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée (in French), 10 (1): 215–88, archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-04-12, retrieved 2012-10-30.
  6. Kamei, Nobutaka. The Birth of Langue des Signes Franco-Africaine: Creole ASL in West and Central French-speaking Africa, paper presented at Languages and Education in Africa (LEA), University of Oslo, June 19–22, 2006.
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