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GU Home > Sign Languages of the World, by Country

FAQ: Sign Language of the World, by Country

To see a list of these Sign Languages arranged by the name of the language plus bibliographic references where possible, see the document "Sign Languages of the World, by Name."

Derived from the Ethnologue database (www.ethnologue.com/, 11/8/01, "SEARCH THE WEB VERSION" link), with many additional sign languages, categorization, and much other information added by Thomas R. Harrington. Known now-extinct sign languages are indicated by "(defunct)."

 

Sign languages are divided into three categories:

 

DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES are the natural languages developed by Deaf people and used in everyday life. In many countries, the Deaf sign languages are barred in schools for the deaf and are used mainly outside the classroom and within the Deaf community. Often, particularly in developing countries, non-native Deaf sign languages have been introduced by religious missionaries and by educators of the Deaf who were trained in other countries. This explains the apparent oddity of finding, as just one example out of many, Norwegian Sign Language used by some Deaf people in Madagascar. Numerous other countries have had more than one foreign sign language imported. In many countries, in the absence of a unifying national institution or agency for the Deaf, different regional sign language dialects have developed in the areas around different schools for the Deaf.

 

CODE SYSTEMS attempt to represent a spoken language in manual form, and are usually invented by hearing people, often borrowing signs from the local Deaf sign language but in the word order of, and following the grammar and syntax of, the spoken language. These systems are used for pedagogical purposes in the schools, and only rarely by Deaf people outside the classroom. This category also includes the pidgins, or contact languages, which arise when Deaf and hearing people attempt to communicate with each other. Pidgins commonly use signs from the local Deaf sign language, but use them in the spoken language's word order and omit both the spoken language's and Deaf language's details of grammar and syntax. Cued Speech, a system of manual signals to supplement speechreading, and the similar Danish Mouth-Hand System are also included in this Code Systems category. So is the Rochester Method, which consists of fingerspelling everything in spoken English.

 

ALTERNATIVE SIGN LANGUAGES are non-Deaf sign languages, developed and used primarily by some groups of hearing people for various special purposes when speaking is not possible or not permitted, though those languages may also be used by Deaf members of that particular group.

Algeria

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Algerian Sign Language

American Samoa

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • American Sign Language

Argentina

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Argentine Sign Language
      • DIALECT:
        Dot-itemCórdoba Sign Language

Armenia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Armenian Sign Language
  • ALTERNATIVE SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Armenian Women's Sign Language = Caucasian Sign Language (defunct)

Australia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Australian Sign Language (derived from British Sign Language, with influences from American Sign Language and Irish Sign Language.)
    • "Australasian Sign Language" is an attempt to merge Australian Sign Language and New Zealand Sign Language into one common sign language.
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Cued Speech (especially in Catholic schools for the deaf)
  • ALTERNATIVE SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Australian Aborigines Sign Language
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item Aranda (or Arunta or Arrente) Sign Language
        Dot-item Dieri Sign Language
        Dot-item Djingili Sign Language
        Dot-item Jaralde Sign Language
        Dot-item Kaititj/Akitiri Sign Language
        Dot-item Manjiljarra Sign Language
        Dot-item Mudbura Sign Language
        Dot-item Murngin Sign Language
        Dot-item Ngada Sign Language
        Dot-item Torres Straits Islander Sign Language
                  Apparently exists in eastern and western sub-dialects.
        Dot-item Walpari [or Walpiri or Walbiri] Sign Language
        Dot-item Warumungu [or Warramunga] Sign Language
        Dot-item Western Desert Sign Language (Yurira Watjalku)
        Dot-item Worora Kinship Sign Language

Austria

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Austrian Sign Language (related to both French Sign Language and Russian Sign Language)

Bangladesh

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Bengali Sign Language
    • Indian Sign Language

Belgium

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Belgian Sign Language
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item North Belgian Sign Language
        Dot-item South Belgian Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Van Beek (Signed Dutch/Flemish, Vlamisch met Gebaren)
    • Signed French [Belgian] (le Français Signé)

Belize

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Belizean Sign Language (based upon American Sign Language, with local modifications)
    • Deaf and hard of hearing persons in rural villages are reported to use improvised home signs.
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signed English (based on signs from American Sign Language)

Bolivia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Bolivian Sign Language (based on American Sign Language, modified for Spanish spelling)

Botswana

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • American Sign Language
    • Danish Sign Language
    • German Sign Language

Brazil

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Brazilian Sign Language (Língua Brasileira de Sinais or Linguagem das Mãos)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item Brazilian Cities Sign Language
        Dot-item São Paulo Sign Language
    • Urubú-Kaapor Sign Language = Urubú Sign Language
    • Isolated Brazilian Indian tribes are also reported to have their own sign languages.

Bulgaria

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Bulgarian Sign Language
    • Russian Sign Language

Burkina Faso

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • American Sign Language

Burundi

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • American Sign Language

Cameroon

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Franco-American Sign Language
      A pidgin language, apparently a mixture of French Sign Language and American Sign Language each brought in by missionaries, reported from Cameroon and elsewhere in Central and West Africa.

Canada

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • American Sign Language
    • French Canadian Sign Language = Québéc Sign Language (Langue des Signes Québécois)
      Sex differences exist due to segregated-sex schools.
    • Inuit Sign Language = Eskimo Sign Language
    • Nova Scotian Sign Language = Maritime Sign Language
    • Maritime Sign Language = Nova Scotian Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Pidgin Sign English
    • Signed English
    • Pidgin Sign French
    • Signed French [Canadian]
  • ALTERNATIVE SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Sawmill Sign Language (British Columbia)

Chad

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Chadian Sign Language (derived from American Sign Language via Nigerian Sign Language)

Chile

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Chilean Sign Language

China (People's Republic)

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Chinese Sign Language (中国手语)
      • DIALECT:
        Dot-item Shanghai Sign Language
        Dot-item Other dialects exist. Some linguists divide Chinese Sign Language into a Northern Dialect Group and a Southern Dialect Group.
    • Hong Kong Sign Language (香港手語)
    • Macao Sign Language
    • Tibetan Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signed Exact Chinese

China (Taiwan)

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Taiwanese Sign Language (Ziran Shouyu, descended from Japanese Sign Language)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item Chiying
        Dot-item Taipei
        Dot-item Tainan
    • [Mainland] Chinese Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signed Mandarin (Wenfa Shouyu)

Colombia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Colombian Sign Language (Lenguaje manual Colombiáno)
    • Providencia Sign Language

Costa Rica

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Costa Rican Sign Language

Croatia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Croatian Sign Language (Hrvatskog Znakovnog Jezika)

Cuba

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Cuban Sign Language (Lengua de Señas Cubanas)

Cyprus

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Cyprus Sign Language (developed mainly from American Sign Language and Greek Sign Language influences)

Czech Republic

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Czech Sign Language (Ceský znakový jazyk)

Denmark

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Danish Sign Language
    • Scandinavian Pidgin Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Mouth-Hand System
    • Signed Danish

Djibouti

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Somali Sign Language (used among deaf ethnic Somalis living in Djibouti)

Dominican Republic

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Dominican Sign Language

Ecuador

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Ecuadorian Sign Language

Egypt

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Egyptian Sign Language

El Salvador

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • El Salvadoran Sign Language

Estonia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Estonian Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signed Exact Estonian

Ethiopia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Ethiopian Sign Language
      Different signs are used in different regional schools for the deaf.
    • American Sign Language
    • Finnish Sign Language
    • Swedish Sign Language

Europe (in general)

  • ALTERNATIVE SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Augustinian Sign Language = Canons Sign Language (defunct)
    • Benedictine Sign Language
    • Cistercian Sign Language
    • Trappist Sign Language

Fiji

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Fiji Sign Language

Finland

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Finnish Sign Language (Suomalainen viittomakieli)
    • Finnish-Swedish Sign Language (in danger of extinction, less than 200 users in 2004)
    • Scandinavian Pidgin Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Signed Finnish
    • Signed Swedish

France

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • French Sign Language (Langue des Signes Française)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item Marseilles Sign Language = Southern French Sign Language
    • Lyons Sign Language
    • Old French Sign Language (defunct)
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signed French [France] (le Français Signé)
  • ALTERNATIVE SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Augustinian Sign Language = Canons Sign Language (defunct)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item Paris (defunct)
    • Benedictine Sign Language
    • Cistercian Sign Language (Cluny dialect)
    • Trappist Sign Language

Germany

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache)
      Many regional lexical variations in western Germany.
      Eastern Germany has some different sign languages, a legacy from the Communist days.
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Speech-Accompanied Signs = Signed German (Lautbegleitende Gebärden)
    • Phonemic Manual System (Phonembestimmes Manualsystem)

Ghana

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Ghanian Sign Language (descended from American Sign Language)
    • Adamorobe Sign Language
    • American Sign Language

Great Britain

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • British Sign Language
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item Scottish Sign Language
        Dot-item Welsh Sign Language
    • Old Kentish Sign Language (defunct)
    • There is a report of a "Northern Ireland Sign Language," but it is not clear if this is related to [Irish] Deaf Sign Language or to British Sign Language, or is a separate language.
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Makaton Vocabulary
    • Manually Coded English
    • Paget-Gorman Sign System
    • Sign Supported English (SSE)
    • Signed English [British]
  • ALTERNATIVE SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Anglo-Saxon Monastic Sign Language (defunct)
    • Augustinian Sign Language = Canons Sign Language (defunct)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item Dublin Cathedral (defunct)
        Dot-item Ely Cathedral (defunct)
    • Benedictine Sign Language
    • Monastery of Zion Sign Language (defunct)
    • Trappist Sign Language

Greece

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Greek Sign Language (Ελληνική Νοηματική Γλώσσα)

Guatemala

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Guatemalan Sign Language

Guinea

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Guinean Sign Language

Guyana

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Guyana Sign Language (derived from American Sign Language)

Honduras

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • American Sign Language
    • Honduran Sign Language = Lengua de Señas Hondureñas

Hong Kong, see China (People's Republic)

Hungary

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Hungarian Sign Language (Magyar jelnyelv)

Iceland

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Icelandic Sign Language (Táknmál; evolved from Danish Sign Language)

India

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Indian Sign Language
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item Bangalore-Madras Sign Language
        Dot-item Bombay Sign Language
        Dot-item Calcutta Sign Language
    • Indo-Pakistan Sign Language
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item Delhi Sign Language
        Dot-item North West Frontier Province Sign Language
        Dot-item Punjab/Sindh Sign Language
    • Indian Sign Language and Pakistan Sign Language, and their respective dialects, have traditionally been considered separate sign languages, but recent research indicates that they are actually both dialects of a broader-based Indo-Pakistan Sign Language. More research is needed to determine the relationship among other Indian and Pakistani regional and dialectal sign languages.
    • Naga Sign Language (defunct? last known report is from 1921)
  • ALTERNATIVE SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Hindu Dance Gesture Language

Indonesia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Indonesian Sign Language (based on Malaysian Sign Language)
    • Bali Sign Language (Kata Kolok)

International

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • International Sign Language = Gestuno
    • Home Signs
      • Not actually a language and not at all uniform anywhere. Home Signs develop where a deaf person lives in isolation among hearing persons, usually his/her own family, without contact with other Deaf persons and without access to education. In such situations, often the family makes up a set of crude iconic gestures to facilitate a basic level of communication on basic daily life functions. The resulting gestures have little or no correlation with real local Deaf Sign Languages or with local signed code systems, and one family's home signs are very different from another family's home signs due to this isolation.
  • ALTERNATIVE SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Paleno
    • Streeter's International Sign Language
      • Not really a sign language but a set of 72 individual signs published in booklet form and offered as an aid to international travelers. It never caught on. A few Streeter signs are similar to their American Sign Language equivalents, but the rest appear to have been invented from scratch.
    • Worldsign

Iran

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Persian Sign Language
    • Tea House Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Cued Persian

Ireland

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • [Irish] Deaf Sign Language
    • There is a report of a "Northern Ireland Sign Language," but it is not clear if this is related to [Irish] Deaf Sign Language or to British Sign Language, or is a separate language.
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Irish Sign Language
    • Old Irish Sign Language = Cabra Schools Sign Language
      Traditionally in male and female dialects, almost mutually unintelligible, due to strictly sex-segregated education. The two dialects are gradually being merged into one uniform national manual-English version, called Irish Sign Language.
    • Signed English [Irish]

Israel

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Israeli Sign Language (Sfàt ha-simaním ha-israelít)
      Minor dialects exist. Rooted in German Sign Language but has evolved so much it is now a distinctly separate language.
    • Yiddish Sign Language
    • Al Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Manually Coded Hebrew

Italy

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Italian Sign Language (Lingua Italiana dei Segni or Lingua dei Segni Italiana)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-item Bologna Sign Language
        Dot-item Florence Sign Language
        Dot-item Genova Sign Language
        Dot-item Milan Sign Language
        Dot-item Naples/Palermo Sign Language
        Dot-item Padua Sign Language
        Dot-item Rome Sign Language
        Dot-item Siena Sign Language
        Dot-item Trieste Sign Language
        Dot-item Turin Sign Language
  • ALTERNATE SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Sicilian Sign Language
    • Naples Gesture Language

Jamaica

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Jamaica Country Sign Language
      This Sign Language differs considerably from region to region. No standardized national Sign Language.
    • American Sign Language

Japan

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Japanese Sign Language (日本手話 or Shuwa or Temane or Nihon Syuwa)
    • American Sign Language (increasingly in use among deaf Japanese as a second signed language)
    • Amami O Shima Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Manually Coded Japanese = Signed Japanese = Simultaneous Methodic Signs
    • Pidgin Sign Japanese = Middle Type Signs

Jordan

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Jordanian Sign Language (Lughat il-Ishaarah il-Urduniah)

Kenya

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Kenyan Sign Language
    • Belgian Sign Language (in one school only)
    • British Sign Language (in one school only)
    • American Sign Language

Korea (South)

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Korean Sign Language

Kuwait

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Kuwaiti Sign Language

Laos

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Laos Sign Language

Latvia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Latvian Sign Language

Libya

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Libyan Sign Language

Lithuania

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Lithuanian Sign Language (Lietuviu gestu kalba)

Luxembourg

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Luxembourgish Sign Language (partially based on German Sign Language, the rest indigenous)
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Sign-Supported German (Lautsprachbegleitende Gebärden)
    • Sign-Supported Luxembourgish

Macao, see China (People's Republic)

Madagascar (Malagasy Republic)

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • American Sign Language
    • Malagasy Sign Language
    • Norwegian Sign Language

Malaysia (Peninsular)

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Kuala Lumpur Sign Language (descended from American Sign Language)
    • Penang Sign Language
    • Selangor Sign Language
    • Chinese Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Malaysian Sign Language (Bahasa Malaysia Kod Tangan, created by the government since 1978; heavily influenced by American Sign Language)

Mali

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • American Sign Language
    • Bamako Sign Language
      Used in one school for the deaf; uncertain whether it is used in the deaf community outside the school.
    • French Sign Language
    • French Canadian Sign Language

Malta

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Maltese Sign Language (Lingwi tas-Sinjali Maltin)

Mexico

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Mexican Sign Language (Lenguaje de Señas Mexicanas)
      • DIALECT:
        Dot-item Ixtapalapa DF Sign Language
    • Mayan Sign Language = Nohya Sign Language = Yucatec Maya Sign Language (Lenguaje Mímico Maya)

Mongolia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Mongolian Sign Language

Morocco

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Moroccan Sign Language (developed by the Peace Corps from local and American signs)
    • Algerian Sign Language (in town of Oujda)

Mozambique

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Mozambican Sign Language

Namibia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Namibian Sign Language

Nepal

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Nepalese Sign Language (developed by the Peace Corps from local and American signs)

Netherlands

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Dutch Sign Language (developed from French Sign Language)
      5 regional dialects, each associated with a particular Dutch school for the deaf.
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Sign Supported Dutch
    • Van Beek (Signed Dutch, Nederlands met Gebaren)

New Zealand

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • New Zealand Sign Language
    • "Australasian Sign Language" is an attempt to merge Australian Sign Language and New Zealand Sign Language into one common sign language.

Nicaragua

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Nicaraguan Sign Language (Idioma de Signos Nicaragüense)
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Lenguaje de Signos Nicaragüense (Although this term translates as "Nicaraguan Sign Language", it is in fact a hearing educator-invented code system created for pedagogical purposes, and is separate from the true Deaf-created Nicaraguan Sign Language, or Idioma de Signos Nicaragüense.)

Nigeria

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Bura Sign Language
    • Nigerian Sign Language (derived from American Sign Language with local and Ghanian sign influences)
    • Hausa Sign Language (Maganar Hannu or Managar Bebaye)
    • American Sign Language

Norway

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Norwegian Sign Language (Norsk Tegnspråk)
        DIALECTS:
        Dot-itemHolmestrand School
        Dot-itemOslo School
        Dot-itemTrondheim School
    • Scandinavian Pidgin Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signed Norwegian

Ottoman Empire, see Turkey

Pakistan

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Indo-Pakistan Sign Language
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-itemKarachi Sign Language
        Dot-itemBeluchistan Sign Language
        Dot-itemPakistan Sign Language (Isharon Ki Zaban or Isharon Ki Zubann)
        Dot-itemPunjab/Sindh Sign Language
    • Pakistan Sign Language and Indian Sign Language have traditionally been considered separate sign languages, but recent research indicates that they are actually both dialects of a broader-based Indo-Pakistan Sign Language. More research is needed to determine the relationship among other Indian and Pakistani regional and dialectal sign languages.
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Sign Urdu

Palestine

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Palestinian Sign Language

Panama

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Panamanian Sign Language (Lengua de Señas Panameñas)

Papua New Guinea

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Enga Sign Language

Paraguay

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE
    • Paraguayan Sign Language (Manual Mimico Paraguayo)

Peru

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Peruvian Sign Language

Philippines

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Philippine Sign Language
    • American Sign Language (common as a second language among Philippine deaf people)

Poland

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Polish Sign Language (Polski Jezyk Migowy)
      Various regional dialects exist.
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Polish Finger Language = School Sign Language (Migany Jezyk Polski)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-itemSeeing Essential Polish
        Dot-itemSigning Exact Polish

Portugal

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Portuguese Sign Language (Lingua Gestual Portuguesa, descended from Swedish Sign Language)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-itemLisbon
        Dot-itemOporto
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signed Portuguese

Puerto Rico

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Puerto Rican Sign Language
    • American Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Signed Spanish
    • Signed English

Romania

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Romanian Sign Language

Russia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Russian Sign Language (Russkii Zhestovyi Iazyk, developed from Austrian Sign Language and French Sign Language with local influence)

Rwanda

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • French Sign Language

Samoa Islands

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Samoan Sign Language (totally different from the American Sign Language used in neighboring American Samoa)

Saudi Arabia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Saudi Arabian Sign Language

Senegal

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Mbour Sign Language

Singapore

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Singapore Sign Language (developed from Shanghai Sign Language and American Sign Language plus local signs)
    • Shanghai Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signing Exact English (SEE II)

Slovakia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Slovakian Sign Language

Slovenia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Slovenian Sign Language (actually a dialect of Yugoslavian Sign Language)
    • Yugoslavian Sign Language

Solomon Islands: Rennell Island

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Rennellese Sign Language

Somalia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Somali Sign Language (derived, beginning about 1996, from Kenyan Sign Language)

South Africa

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • South African Sign Language (descended from British Sign Language)
    • DIALECTS:
      South African Indian Sign Language (Lenasia School)
      Other school-based dialects exist.
    • British Sign Language
    • Irish Sign Language
    • American Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signed Afrikaans

Spain

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Spanish Sign Language (Lenguaje Gestual Español or Lenguaje Mímico Español or Mimico Español)
    • Catalonian Sign Language = Catalan Sign Language (Llengua de Signes Catalana)
    • Valencian Sign Language = (Llengua de Signes en la Comunitat Valenciana)

Sri Lanka

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Sri Lankan Sign Language
    • Different deaf schools use different sign languages.

Swaziland

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • British Sign Language

Sweden

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Swedish Sign Language
    • Scandinavian Pidgin Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signed Swedish

Switzerland

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Swiss-German Sign Language (Deutschschweizer Gebärdensprache or Natürliche Gebärde)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-itemBern Sign Language
        Dot-itemZurich Sign Language
    • Swiss-French Sign Language (Langue des Signes de Suisse Romande or Langage Gestuelle)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-itemGeneva Sign Language
        Dot-itemNeuchatel Sign Language
    • French Sign Language
    • Swiss-Italian Sign Language
  • CODE SYSTEM:
    • Signed German
    • Speech-Supported Signs (Lautsprachbegleitendes Gebärden)

Taiwan, see China (Taiwan)

Tanzania

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Tanzanian Sign Language
    • American Sign Language
    • Danish Sign Language
    • Finnish Sign Language
    • German Sign Language
    • Swedish Sign Language

Thailand

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Thai Sign Language (heavily influenced by American Sign Language)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-itemChiangmai Sign Language
        Dot-itemTak Sign Language
    • Ban Khor Sign Language
    • Hill Country Sign Language
      • At least 5 ethnic groups in mountain regions are also reported to have their own Sign Languages. These have been referred to, collectively and unofficially, as Hill Country Sign Language.
    • Original Chiangmai Sign Language (<1951, defunct)
    • Original Bangkok Sign Language (<1951, defunct)

Tibet

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Tibetan Sign Language (reportedly developed about 2003 by four Tibetans with international aid, for teaching to deaf Tibetans)

Togo

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • American Sign Language
    • French Sign Language

Tunisia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Tunisian Sign Language

Turkey / Ottoman Empire

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Turkish Sign Language (Türk İşaret Dili)
    • Seraglio Sign Language = Harem Sign Language (defunct) (İşaret or Ixarette)

Uganda

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Ugandan Sign Language (in 1988, several local sign languages were merged into one)
    • American Sign Language
    • British Sign Language

Ukraine

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Ukrainian Sign Language

United Kingdom, see Great Britain

United States of America (also see Puerto Rico)

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • American Sign Language
      • DIALECT:
        Dot-itemBlack American Sign Language = Black Southern Sign Language
    • Hawaii Pidgin Sign Language
    • Puerto Rican Sign Language
    • Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (defunct, descended from Old Kentish Sign Language)
  • CODE SYSTEMS:
    • Cued Speech
    • Linguistics of Visual English (LOVE)
    • Lyon Code of English Sounds
    • Morphemic Sign System
    • Pidgin Sign English = Conceptually Accurate Signed English (CASE)
    • Rochester Method
    • Seeing Essential English (SEE I)
    • Signed English [American]
    • Signing Exact English (SEE II)
  • ALTERNATIVE SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Benedictine Sign Language
    • Cistercian Sign Language (St. Joseph dialect)
    • Gang Sign Language
      Most gang signs are just a few isolated gestures, identifying particular gangs or expressing an attitude or opinion, therefore do not qualify as languages. However, there are reports that in a certain few locations, entire bodies of signs have been developed that are complete enough and expressive enough to carry on a full two-way conversation on various different topics. Those may be regarded as alternative sign languages.
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-itemEl Paso Gang Sign Language
    • Keresan Pueblo Indian Sign Language
    • Motorcycle Sign Language
    • Plains Indians Sign Language
    • Sawmill Sign Language (Oregon, Washington)
    • Trappist Sign Language
    • Underwater Sign Language = Scuba Sign Language (developed by scuba divers, based on American Sign Language)

Uruguay

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Uruguayan Sign Language
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-itemMontevideo Sign Language
        Dot-itemSalto Sign Language

Venezuela

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Venezuelan Sign Language

Vietnam

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Vietnamese Sign Language
      • DIALECTS:
        Haiphong Sign Language
        Hanoi Sign Language
        Ho Chi Minh City Sign Language = Saigon Sign Language
      In the past, French Sign Language was used by missionary teachers in some schools for the deaf.

Yugoslavia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Yugoslavian Sign Language (descended from Austrian Sign Language and Hungarian Sign Language)
      • DIALECT:
        Dot-itemSerbian Sign Language
    • Slovenian Sign Language

Zaïre

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Congolese Sign Language
    • French Sign Language

Zambia

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGES:
    • Zambian Sign Language
    • American Sign Language

Zimbabwe

  • DEAF SIGN LANGUAGE:
    • Zimbabwe Sign Language (Zimsign)
      • DIALECTS:
        Dot-itemZimbabwe School Sign Language
        Dot-itemMasvingo School Sign Language
        Dot-itemZimbabwe Community Sign Language

* * * * * * * * * *

Prepared by Tom Harrington
Reference and Instruction Librarian
May, 2007

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