List of sign languages

There are perhaps around two 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, though sometimes under different names (Croatian and Serbian, Indian and Pakistani). Deaf sign languages also arise outside of 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.

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
• Signed modes of spoken languages, also known as manually coded languages, which are a bridge between the deaf and oral languages
• Auxiliary sign systems, which are not native languages, but are signed systems of varying complexity used in addition to oral languages. Simple gestures are not included, as they do not constitute language.

The list is sorted alphabetically and regionally, and such groupings should not be taken to imply any genetic relationships between the languages (see List of language families).^[1]

Deaf sign languages

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

Contemporary

Africa

There are at least 25 sign languages in Africa, according to researcher Nobutaka Kamei.^[2][3][4] 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.

America

Asia/Pacific

Europe

Middle East

Historical sign languages

• Martha's Vineyard Sign Language
• Old French Sign Language – ancestral to French family
• Old Kent Sign Language

Auxiliary sign systems

• Australian Aboriginal sign languages (Warlpiri Sign Language, Yolngu Sign Language,^[22] etc)
• Baby Sign – using signs to assist early language development in young children.
• Baseball Sign – a method used in baseball and softball to communicate strategic plays without the opponent knowing
• 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.
• Military hand and arm signals – a standardised system of communicating commands and information silently.
• Monastic sign language
• Mudra – word-like gestures and poses uses in Hindu and Buddhist dance drama and religious iconography
• Plains Indian Sign Language
• Plateau Sign Language
• Tic tac – a traditional British system of communicating betting odds at racecourses.

Signed modes of spoken languages

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
  • Manually Coded English
  • Signing Exact English (SEE2)
• Malay
  • Bahasa Malaysia Kod Tangan (BMKT)
• Speech-taboo languages
  • Caucasian Sign Language
  • Warlpiri Sign Language
  • Yolŋu Sign Language

See also

• 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

1. ^ For a classification, see Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 10:1.215-88.PDF
2. ^ 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. Article online (PDF)
3. ^ 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].
4. ^ "History of the Deaf and sign languages in Africa" (in Japanese). Kamei.aacore.jp. December 25, 2006. http://kamei.aacore.jp/akashi2006-e.html. 
5. ^ "Africa - Sign Language - LibGuides at Gallaudet University Library". Libguides.gallaudet.edu. 2012-03-07. http://libguides.gallaudet.edu/content.php?pid=114804&sid=997853. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
6. ^ Diane Brentari, Sign Languages, p 406
7. ^ "Francophone African Sign Language - AASL". Aasl.aacore.jp. http://aasl.aacore.jp/wiki/Francophone_African_Sign_Language. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
8. ^ http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/cr_files/2009-015_lsy.pdf
9. ^ "Bribri Sign Language". MultiTree. 2009-06-22. http://multitree.org/codes/1ku. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
10. ^ "Brunca Sign Language". MultiTree. 2009-06-22. http://multitree.org/codes/1kv. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
11. ^ "Original Costa Rican Sign Language". MultiTree. 2009-06-22. http://multitree.org/codes/1a4. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
12. ^ "Country Sign - University of Central Lancashire". Uclan.ac.uk. 2010-09-16. http://www.uclan.ac.uk/schools/journalism_media_communication/islands/villagesign/country_sign.php. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
13. ^ http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/cr_files/2008-088_lst.pdf
14. ^ "Alipur Sign Language - Alipur SL - University of Central Lancashire". Uclan.ac.uk. 2011-01-19. http://www.uclan.ac.uk/schools/journalism_media_communication/islands/villagesign/alipur_sl.php. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
15. ^ "Alipur Sign Language". MultiTree. 2009-06-22. http://multitree.org/codes/1kt. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
16. ^ "Asia - Sign Language - LibGuides at Gallaudet University Library". Libguides.gallaudet.edu. 2012-03-07. http://libguides.gallaudet.edu/content.php?pid=114804&sid=997860. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
17. ^ "Yogyakarta Sign Language". MultiTree. 2009-06-22. http://multitree.org/codes/1ky. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
18. ^ Pamela Perniss, Roland Pfau, Markus Steinbach; Visible Variation. Walter de Gruyter, 2007. (p.ix)
19. ^ EUD. "European Union of the Deaf: Cyprus". Eud.eu. http://www.eud.eu/Cyprus-i-178.html. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
20. ^ "Mardin Sign Language - Mardin SL - University of Central Lancashire". Uclan.ac.uk. 2010-09-16. http://www.uclan.ac.uk/schools/journalism_media_communication/islands/villagesign/mardin_sl.php. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 
21. ^ Lanesman, S. & Meir, I. (2007). The sign language of Algerian immigrants in Israel. Paper presented at the workshop Cross-linguistic Research and International Cooperation in Sign Language Linguistics, Nijmegen.
22. ^ "Yolngu Sign Language - Yolngu SL - University of Central Lancashire". Uclan.ac.uk. 2010-10-27. http://www.uclan.ac.uk/schools/journalism_media_communication/islands/villagesign/yolngu_sl.php. Retrieved 2012-05-21. 

External links

• Ethnologue – Deaf sign languages
• Signes du Monde, directory for all online Sign Languages dictionaries (French) / (English)
• Video samples of 43 sign languages (Jehovah's Witnesses' official Sign Language website)