List of sign languages
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
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]
The following list is grouped into three sections :
- Deaf sign languages, which are the preferred languages of Deaf communities around the world; these include village sign languages, shared with the hearing community, and Deaf-community sign languages
- Auxiliary sign languages, which are not native languages but sign systems of varying complexity, used alongside spoken languages. Simple gestures are not included, as they do not constitute language.
- Signed modes of spoken languages, also known as manually coded languages, which are bridges between signed and spoken languages
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]
Contents
Sign language list[edit]
Contemporary deaf sign languages[edit]
Africa[edit]
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.
| Language | Origin[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. |
| Bura Sign Language | village | in Nigeria |
| Burkina Sign Language | local[10] | Ouagadougou (Langue des Signes Mossi) |
| Chadian Sign Language | ASL:Nigerian? | |
| Dogon Sign Language | local? village? | |
| Eritrean Sign Language | artificial | |
| Ethiopian sign languages | 1 million signers of an unknown number of languages | |
| Francophone African Sign Language | ASL & spoken French | The development of ASL in Francophone West Africa |
| Gambian Sign Language | ASL | |
| Ghanaian Sign Language | ASL | (GSE) |
| Guinean Sign Language | ASL | |
| Guinea-Bissau Sign Language | local | incipient/basic |
| Hausa Sign Language | local | "Maganar Hannu" (HSL) – Northern Nigeria (Kano State) |
| Kenyan Sign Language | local? | (KSL or LAK) |
| Libyan Sign Language | Arab? | |
| Malagasy Sign Language | French:Danish:Norwegian | (or "Madagascan Sign Language") May be a dialect of Norwegian SL |
| 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 | village | a deaf family in Nanabin, Ghana |
| Nigerian Sign Language | ASL | |
| Rwandan Sign Language | ? | |
| 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[edit]
| Language | Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| American Sign Language | United States | (ASL) |
| Argentine Sign Language | Spain and Italy[citation needed] | (Lengua de Señas Argentina - LSA) |
| Bolivian Sign Language | ASL | "Lenguaje de Señas Bolivianas" (LSB) |
| Brazilian Sign Language | French | Libras (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? | |
| Chatino Sign Language | village | |
| Chilean Sign Language | French? | Lenguaje de Señas Chileno (LSCH) |
| Colombian Sign Language | (CSN) / Lengua de Señas Colombiana (LSC) | |
| Costa Rican Sign Language | at least 4 languages in Costa Rica (Woodward 1991) | |
| Old Costa Rican Sign Language | ||
| Cuban Sign Language | ||
| Dominican Sign Language | ASL | |
| Ecuadorian Sign Language | ||
| Greenlandic Sign Language | Danish | "Kalaallisut Ussersuutit" (DTS) |
| Guatemalan Sign Language | ||
| Guyanese Sign Language | ? | |
| Honduras Sign Language | Mexican? | "Lengua de señas hondureña" (LESHO) |
| Inuit Sign Language | village | "Inuit Uqausiqatigiit Uukturausiq Uqajuittunut (General Inuit Sign Language for deaf)"[citation needed] also known as Inuiuuk (ᐃᓄᐃᐆᒃ) 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 | village | Kajana Gebarentaal |
| Keresan Sign Language | village | (KPISL) |
| Maritime Sign Language | British | |
| 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 | village | gave rise to Providence Island SL? |
| Quebec Sign Language | French-ASL mix | "Langue des Signes Québécoise" (LSQ) |
| Panamanian Sign Language | ASL, some Salvadoran influence | "Lengua de señas panameñas" |
| Paraguayan Sign Language | related to Uruguayan? | "Lengua de Señas Paraguaya" (LSPy) |
| Peruvian Sign Language | isolate | "Lengua de señas peruana" |
| Plains Sign Language |
||
| Puerto Rican Sign Language | ASL | "Lengua se señas puertorriqueña" |
| Providence Island Sign Language | village | |
| Salvadoran Sign Language | isolate | |
| Trinidad and Tobago Sign Language | isolate? | ASL taught in schools; most deaf bilingual |
| Uruguayan Sign Language | "Lengua de Señas Uruguaya" | |
| Urubú Sign Language | village | (AKA Kaapor Sign Language) |
| Venezuelan Sign Language | isolate | "Lengua de señas venezolana" (LSV) |
Asia/Pacific[edit]
| Language | Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ASL | may 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 | village | PNG |
| Ghandruk Sign Language | village | (Nepal) |
| Hawaiʻi Sign Language | ? | |
| 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 | Indian | conflicting reports on whether Indian and Pakistani SL are one language or two. |
| Jakarta Sign Language | ASL:Malaysian?:Indonesian | a 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) |
| Kata Kolok | village | (AKA Bali Sign Language, Benkala Sign Language) |
| Laotian Sign Language | (related to Vietnamese languages; may be more than one SL) | |
| Korean Sign Language | "한국수어 (or 한국수화)" / "Hanguk Soo-hwa" | |
| Macau Sign Language | "澳門手語"[citation needed] | |
| Malaysian Sign Language | ASL | "Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia" (BIM) |
| Mongolian Sign Language | ? | "Монгол дохионы хэл" |
| Na Sai Sign Language | village | (Thailand) [no data] |
| Naga Sign Language | village? | (India) last reported in 1921 |
| Nepali Sign Language | Indian | Indigenous 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) |
| Philippine Sign Language | French | (PSP) |
| Rennellese Sign Language | home sign, not a full language | (Solomon Islands) |
| Solomon Islands Sign Language | ||
| Samoan Sign Language | Auslang | |
| Selangor Sign Language | ASL? | (Malaysia) |
| Singapore Sign Language | "新加坡手语" is actually just Signed Exact English. The daily language is unknown. | |
| 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) |
| Yogyakarta Sign Language | ASL:Malaysian?:Indonesian | a variety of Indonesian Sign Language |
| Yolŋu Sign Language | local |
Europe[edit]
| Language | Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | French? | (or "Catalonian Sign Language") "Llengua de Signes Catalana" (LSC) |
| Croatian Sign Language | French:Austro-Hungarian:Yugoslav | (Croslan) "Hrvatski Znakovni Jezik" (HZJ)[13] |
| Czech Sign Language | French:Austro-Hungarian | "Český znakový jazyk" (CZJ) |
| Cypriot Sign Language | ASL×GSL | "Κυπριακή Νοηματική Γλώσσα" (CSL) [14] |
| 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 | Lyons?:Belgian | "Vlaamse Gebarentaal" (VGT) |
| French Sign Language | "Langues des Signes Française" (LSF) | |
| Georgian Sign Language | ? | [1] |
| 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" | |
| Lyons Sign Language | isolate (or Lyons family) | |
| Macedonian Sign Language | ? | Македонски 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" |
| Spanish Sign Language | isolate | "Lengua de signos española" (LSE) |
| Swedish Sign Language | Swedish | "Svenskt teckenspråk" (TSP) |
| 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 | Lyons?:Belgian | "Langue des Signes de Belgique Francophone" (LSFB) |
| Yugoslav Sign Language | French:Austro-Hungarian |
Middle East[edit]
| Language | Origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language | village | (ABSL), Negev |
| Central Taurus Sign Language | village | Turkey |
| Egyptian Sign Language | Arab | |
| Emirati Sign Language | Arab | |
| Ghardaia Sign Language | village | (Algerian Jewish Sign Language) deaf & hearing, Algeria → Israel |
| Iraqi Sign Language | Arab | العراقى مترجمي لغة الاشارة Perhaps close to Levantine. |
| Israeli Sign Language | local | שפת סימנים ישראלית |
| Jordanian Sign Language | Arab, Levantine | Lughat il-Ishaarah il-Urduniah / الاردنية مترجمي لغة الاشارة (LIU) |
| Kurdish Sign Language | local | ZHK |
| Kuwaiti Sign Language | Arab | لغة الاشارة الكويتية |
| Lebanese Sign Language | Arab, Levantine | Lughat al-Isharat al-Lubnaniya / لغة الإشارات اللبنانية |
| Mardin Sign Language | village | one extended family in Turkey[15] |
| Omani Sign Language | Arab? | |
| Palestinian Sign Language | Arab, Levantine | "لغة الاشارات الفلسطينية" |
| Persian Sign Language | ||
| Qatari Unified Sign Language | Arab? | |
| 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[edit]
- Martha's Vineyard Sign Language
- Old French Sign Language – ancestral to the French family
- Old Kent Sign Language
Auxiliary sign languages[edit]
- Australian Aboriginal sign languages (Warlpiri Sign Language, Yolngu Sign Language, etc.)
- Baby Sign – using signs to assist early language development in young children.
- Contact Sign – a pidgin or contact language between a spoken language and a sign language, e.g. Pidgin Sign English (PSE).
- Curwin Hand Signs – a technique which allows musical notes to be communicated through hand signs.
- International Sign (previously known as Gestuno) – an auxiliary language used by deaf people in international settings.
- Makaton – a system of signed communication used by and with people who have speech, language or learning difficulties.
- Mofu-Gudur Sign Language
- Monastic sign language
- Plains Indian Sign Language
- Plateau Sign Language
- Signalong – international sign assisted communication techniques used to support children and adults with communication or learning difficulties
Manual modes of spoken languages[edit]
- For a more extensive list see Manually Coded Language. This page lists only those MCLs with pages on Wikipedia.
- General
- Cued Speech – a hand/mouth system (HMS) to render spoken language phonemes visually intelligible.
- Fingerspelling – alphabetic signs to represent the written form of a spoken language.
- English
- Malay
- Bahasa Malaysia Kod Tangan (BMKT)
- Speech-taboo languages
- Caucasian Sign Language
- Australian Aboriginal sign languages (though Yolŋu Sign Language does not correspond to any one language, and doubles as a language of the deaf)
Genetic classification of sign languages[edit]
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.
See also[edit]
- Contact sign
- Intercultural competence
- Legal recognition of sign languages
- List of sign languages by number of native signers
- Manual alphabet
- Sign language
- World Federation of the Deaf
References[edit]
- ^ Woodward, James (1991), "The relationship of sign language varieties in India, Pakistan, and Nepal", Sign Language Studies, 78: 15–22.
- ^ Parkhurst, Stephen; Parkhurst, Dianne (1998), "Introduction to Sign Language survey", Notes on Sociolinguistics, 3: 215–42.
- ^ Ciupek-Reed, Julia (2012), Participatory methods in sociolinguistic sign language survey: A case study in El Salvador (PDF) (MA thesis), University of North Dakota.
- ^ Aldersson, Russell R; McEntee-Atalianis, Lisa J (2007), A Lexical Comparison of Icelandic Sign Language and Danish Sign Language, Studies in Applied Linguistics (2), Birkbeck.
- ^ For a classification, {(Citation | last = Wittmann | first = Henri | year = 1991 | title = Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement | language = fr | trans-title = Linguistic classification of non vocally signed languages | journal = Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée |volume = 10 | number = 1 | page = 215–88 | url = http://www.nou-la.org/ling/1991a-class.pdf | format = PDF}).
- ^ 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.
- ^ Kamei, Nobutaka (2004). The Sign Languages of Africa, "Journal of African Studies" (Japan Association for African Studies) Vol. 64, March, 2004. [NOTE: Kamei lists 23 African sign languages in this article].
- ^ "History of the deaf and sign languages in Africa" (in Japanese). Aacore. December 25, 2006.
- ^ "Africa - Sign Language". LibGuides. Gallaudet University Library. 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
- ^ Diane Brentari, Sign Languages, p 406
- ^ "Structure of ASL and Libras". University of Connecticut. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
- ^ "Lei 10.436 de 24 de abril de 2002". Brazilian Government. Archived from the original on 10 September 2010. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
- ^ Pamela Perniss, Roland Pfau, Markus Steinbach; Visible Variation. Walter de Gruyter, 2007. (p.ix)
- ^ EUD. "European Union of the deaf: Cyprus". Eud.eu. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
- ^ "Mardin Sign Language". University of Central Lancashire. 2010-09-16. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
External links[edit]
- Ethnologue – Deaf sign languages
- Multiple accessible sign languages dictionaries
- Signes du Monde, directory for all online Sign Languages dictionaries (in French) / (in English)
