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:
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]
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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.
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.
| Language | Family | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Adamorobe Sign Language | isolate | (ADS) (Ghana) |
| Algerian Sign Language | French | |
| Bamako Sign Language | isolate? ASL? | (Malian Sign Language) in a school in Mali. Ethnologue contradicts itself. |
| Bura Sign Language | isolate | in Nigeria (PDF link) |
| Burkina Sign Language | isolate | Ouagadougou |
| Chadian Sign Language | French:ASL:Nigerian? | |
| Congolesian Sign Language | ? | |
| Egyptian Sign Language | ? | |
| Ethiopian sign languages | 1 million signers of an unknown number of languages | |
| Franco-American Sign Language | French × ASL | a pidgin observed in Cameroon and elsewhere in West and Central Africa. |
| Gambian Sign Language | French:ASL | |
| Ghanaian Sign Language | French:ASL | (GSE) |
| Guinean Sign Language | French:ASL | |
| Guinea-Bissau Sign Language | isolate | |
| Hausa Sign Language | isolate | "Maganar Hannu" (HSL) – Northern Nigeria (Kano State) |
| Kenyan Sign Language | isolate | (KSL or LAK) |
| Libyan Sign Language | ||
| Malagasy Sign Language | French:Danish:Norwegian | (or "Madagascan Sign Language") May be a dialect of Norwegian SL |
| Moroccan Sign Language | French:ASL | |
| Mozambican Sign Language | ||
| Mbour Sign Language | isolate | Mbour, Senegal |
| Namibian Sign Language | ||
| Nanabin Sign Language | isolate | a deaf family in Nanabin, Ghana |
| Nigerian Sign Language | French:ASL | |
| Sierra Leone Sign Language | French:ASL | |
| Somali Sign Language | ||
| South African Sign Language | British | (SASL) |
| Sudanese Sign Language | local | Government proposal to unify local languages |
| Tanzanian sign languages | several isolates | (seven independent languages, one for each deaf school in Tanzania, with little mutual influence) |
| Tebul Sign Language | (Tebul Ure SL) Mopti, Mali (village of Tebul Ure) | |
| Tunisian Sign Language | French:Italian | |
| Ugandan Sign Language | ? | (USL) |
| Zambian Sign Language | (ZASL) | |
| Zimbabwean Sign Language |
| Language | Family | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| American Sign Language | French | (ASL) |
| Argentine Sign Language | ? | (LSA) |
| Bolivian Sign Language | French:ASL | "Lenguaje de Señas Bolivianas" (LSB) |
| Brazilian Sign Language | isolate | "Lingua Brasileira de Sinais" (LIBRAS) |
| Chilean Sign Language | French? | Lenguaje de Señas Chileno (LSCH) |
| Colombian Sign Language | (CSN) | |
| Costa Rican sign languages | at least 4 language (Woodward 1991) | |
| Cuban Sign Language | ||
| Ecuadorian Sign Language | ||
| Greenlandic Inuit Sign Language | "Kalaallisut Ussersuutit" | |
| Guatemalan Sign Language | ||
| Honduras Sign Language | "Lengua de señas hondureña" (LESHO) | |
| Inuit Sign Language | French:ASL? isolate |
"Inuit Uqausiqatigiit Uukturausiq Uqajuittunut (General Inuit Sign Language for Deaf)" There may be more than one. The indigenous languages is an isolate. |
| Inuktitut Sign Language | French:ASL? | "Inuktitut Uukturausiq/Tikuqqat" |
| Jamaican Country Sign Language | (JCSL) | |
| Maritime Sign Language | British | |
| Mayan Sign Language | isolate | |
| Mexican Sign Language | French | "Lengua de señas mexicana" (LSM) |
| Nicaraguan Sign Language | isolate | "Idioma de señas nicaragüense" (ISN) |
| Quebec Sign Language | French-ASL mix | "Langue des Signes Québécoise" (LSQ) |
| Panamanian Sign Language | "Lengua de señas panameñas" | |
| Peruvian Sign Language | isolate | "Lengua de señas peruana" |
| Puerto Rican Sign Language | French:ASL | "Lengua se señas puertorriqueño" |
| Providence Island Sign Language | isolate | |
| Salvadoran Sign Language | isolate | |
| Tijuana Sign Language | isolate | |
| Uruguayan Sign Language | "Lengua de Señas Uruguaya" | |
| Urubú Sign Language | isolate | (aka Kaapor Sign Language) |
| Venezuelan Sign Language | isolate | "Lengua de señas venezolana" (LSV) |
| Language | Family | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Afghan Sign Language | ||
| Auslan | British | (Australian Sign Language) |
| Bruneian Sign Language | "Bahasa Isyarat Brunei" | |
| Cambodian Sign Language | ||
| Chinese Sign Language | isolate | "中國手語" (ZGS) |
| Filipino Sign Language | French | (Philippine Sign Language, PSP) |
| Ghandruk Sign Language | isolate? | (Nepal) |
| Hawaii Pidgin Sign Language | French:ASL | |
| Hong Kong Sign Language | Chinese | "香港手語" (HKSL). Derives from the southern dialect of CSL. |
| Huay Hai Sign Language | (Thailand) [may be dialect of Ban Khor] | |
| Indo-Pakistani Sign Language | Indian | conflicting reports on whether Indian and Pakistani SL are one language or two. |
| Indonesian Sign Language | French:ASL:Malaysian | "Bahasa Isyarat Indonesia" (BII) |
| Japanese Sign Language | Japanese | "Nihon Shuwa (日本手話)" (JSL) |
| Jhankot Sign Language | isolate | (Nepal) |
| Jumla Sign Language | isolate | (Nepal) |
| Kata Kolok | isolate | (aka Bali Sign Language, Benkala Sign Language) |
| Laotian Sign Language | (related to Vietnamese languages; may be more than one SL) | |
| Korean Sign Language | Japanese | "한국수어 (or 한국수화)" / "Hanguk Soo-hwa" |
| Macau Sign Language | "澳門手語" | |
| Malaysian Sign Language | French:ASL | "Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia" (BIM) |
| Mongolian Sign Language | ? | |
| Na Sai Sign Language | (may be dialect of Ban Khor) | (Thailand) |
| Nepali Sign Language | Indian | |
| New Zealand Sign Language | British | (NZSL) |
| Penang Sign Language | isolate | (Malaysia) |
| Rennellese Sign Language | isolate | (Solomon Islands) |
| Samoan Sign Language | ||
| Selangor Sign Language | (Malaysia) | |
| Singapore Sign Language | "新加坡手语" is actually just Signed Exact English. The daily language is unknown. | |
| Sri Lankan sign languages | several isolates | (14 deaf schools with different languages) |
| Taiwanese Sign Language | Japanese | 臺灣手語 / Taiwan Ziran Shouyu |
| Tibetan Sign Language | ? | |
| Thailand sign languages (Thai Sign Language | French:ASL | (TSL) "แบบสะกดนิ้วมือไทย" (incl. Hai Yai); Ban Khor Sign Language (Plaa Pag is a dialect); Old Bangkok Sign Language; Old Chiangmai Sign Language; possibly other undocumented village SLs) |
| Vietnamese sign languages | isolates or small family? | (Hanoi Sign Language, Ho Chi Minh Sign Language, Haiphong Sign Language; some may be related to some of the Thai languages) |
| Language | Family | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Albanian Sign Language | "Gjuha e Shenjave Shqipe" | |
| Armenian Sign Language | isolate | |
| 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)[5] |
| Czech Sign Language | French:Austro-Hungarian | "Český znakový jazyk" (CZJ) |
| Cyprus Sign Language | "Κυπριακή Νοηματική Γλώσσα" (CSL) [6] | |
| Danish Sign Language | French | "Tegnsprog" |
| Dutch Sign Language | French | "Nederlandse Gebarentaal" (NGT), also commonly known as "Sign Language of the Netherlands" (SLN) |
| Estonian Sign Language | "Eesti viipekeel" | |
| Finnish Sign Language | Swedish | "Suomalainen viittomakieli" (SVK) |
| Finland-Swedish Sign Language | Swedish | "finlandssvenskt teckenspråk" (Swedish) or "suomenruotsalainen viittomakieli" (Finnish) |
| Flemish Sign Language | Lyons?:Belgian | "Vlaamse Gebarentaal" (VGT) |
| French Sign Language | "Langues des Signes Française" (LSF) | |
| 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 | German | "Polski Język Migowy" (PJM) |
| Portuguese Sign Language | Swedish | "Língua Gestual Portuguesa" (LGP) |
| Romanian Sign Language | French | |
| Russian Sign Language | French:Austro-Hungarian | "Russkiy zhestovyi yazyk" / русский жестовый язык |
| Slovakian Sign Language | "Slovník Posunkovej Reči" | |
| 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 | "Türk İşaret Dili" (TİD) | |
| Ukrainian Sign Language | "українська жестова мова" | |
| 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 | "Srpski znak jezika" / "Српски знак језика" |
| Language | Family | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language | isolate | (ABSL), Negev |
| Ghadaia Sign Language | isolate? | deaf & hearing, Algeria → Israel[7] |
| Iraqi Sign Language | العراقى مترجمي لغة الاشارة | |
| Israeli Sign Language | German? | שפת סימנים ישראלית |
| Jordanian Sign Language | ≈ Palestinian | Lughat il-Ishaarah il-Urduniah / الاردنية مترجمي لغة الاشارة (LIU) Related to Palestinian, but not to Kuwaiti or Libyan |
| Kuwaiti Sign Language | لغة الاشارة الكويتية | |
| Lebanese Sign Language | Lughat al-Isharat al-Lubnaniya / لغة الإشارات اللبنانية | |
| Libyan Sign Language | ||
| Omani Sign Language | "العماني لغة الأشارة" | |
| Palestinian Sign Language | ≈ Jordanian | "لغة الاشارات الفلسطينية" |
| Persian Sign Language | ||
| Qatari Sign Language | "القطري لغة الأشارة" | |
| Saudi Sign Language | isolate | "السعودية مترجمي لغة الاشارة" |
| United Arab Emirates Sign Language | "الامارات مترجمي لغة الاشارة" | |
| Yemeni Sign Language | "اليمني لغة الأشارة" | |
| Yiddish Sign Language |