List of sign languages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sign language is not universal. Like spoken languages, sign languages emerge naturally in communities and change through time. The following list is grouped into three sections:

  • Deaf sign languages, which are the preferred languages of Deaf communities around the world;
  • Signed modes of spoken languages, also known as Manually Coded Languages;
  • Auxiliary sign systems, which are not "native" languages, but are signed systems of varying complexity used in addition to native languages. Simple gestures are not considered auxiliary sign systems for the purposes of this page.

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#Sign languages).

Contents

[edit] Deaf sign languages

[edit] Contemporary

[edit] Africa

There are at least 25 sign languages in Africa, according to researcher Nobutaka Kamei.[1][2][3] 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.

  • Adamorobe Sign Language (ADS) (Ghana)
  • Algerian Sign Language
  • Bamako Sign Language (in a school in Mali)
  • Bura Sign Language — Nigeria (PDF link)
  • Chadian Sign Language
  • Congolesian Sign Language
  • Egypt Sign Language
  • Ethiopian Sign Language
  • Franco-American Sign Language — a pidgin observed in Cameroon and elsewhere in West and Central Africa.
  • Gambian Sign Language
  • Ghana Sign Language (or "Ghanaian Sign Language") (GSE)
  • Guinean Sign Language
  • Hausa Sign Language "Maganar Hannu" (HSL) — Northern Nigeria (Kano State)
  • Kenyan Sign Language (KSL or LAK)
  • Libyan Sign Language الجماهيرية مترجمي لغة الاشارة
  • Malagasy Sign Language (or "Madagascan Sign Language")
  • Malinese Sign Language "Langue des Signes Malienne" (LaSiMa)
  • Morroccan Sign Language "المغربي لغة الأشارة"
  • Mozambican Sign Language
  • Mbour Sign Language — Senegal
  • Namibian Sign Language
  • Nigerian Sign Language
  • Sierra Leone Sign Language
  • South African Sign Language (SASL)
  • Tanzanian Sign Language (seven independent languages, one for each deaf school in Tanzania)
  • Tunisian Sign Language "التونسي مترجمي لغة الاشارة"
  • Uganda Sign Language (USL)
  • Zambian Sign Language (ZASL)
  • Zimbabwe Sign Language

[edit] The Americas

[edit] Asia/Pacific

[edit] Europe

[edit] Middle East

  • Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL), Southern Israel
  • Iraqi Sign Language العراقى مترجمي لغة الاشارة
  • Israeli Sign Language שפת סימנים ישראלית
  • Jordanian Sign Language Lughat il-Ishaarah il-Urduniah / الاردنية مترجمي لغة الاشارة (LIU)
  • Kuwaiti Sign Language لغة الاشارة الكويتية
  • Lebanese Sign Language Lughat al-Isharat al-Lubnaniya / لغة الإشارات اللبنانية
  • Omani Sign Language "العماني لغة الأشارة"
  • Palestinian Sign Language "لغة الاشارات الفلسطينية"
  • Persian Sign Language
  • Qatari Sign Language "القطري لغة الأشارة"
  • Saudi Arabian Sign Language "السعودية مترجمي لغة الاشارة"
  • United Arab Emirates Sign Language "الامارات مترجمي لغة الاشارة"
  • Yemeni Sign Language "اليمني لغة الأشارة"

[edit] Historical sign languages

[edit] Auxiliary sign systems

[edit] Signed modes of spoken languages

For a more extensive list see Manually Coded Language. This page lists only those MCLs with pages on Wikipedia.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ 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)
  2. ^ 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].
  3. ^ History of the Deaf and sign languages in Africa, published (December 25, 2006) on Kamei's website. In Japanese.

[edit] External links