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American Sign Language (ASL) developed in the United States, starting as a blend of local sign languages andFrench Sign Language (FSL).[1] Local varieties have developed in many countries, but there is little research on which should be considered dialects of ASL (such as Bolivian Sign Language) and which have diverged to the point of being distinct languages (such as Malaysian Sign Language).
The following are sign language varieties of ASL in countries other than the US and Canada, languages based on ASL withsubstratum influence from local sign languages, andmixed languages in which ASL is a component. Distinction follow political boundaries, which may not correspond to linguistic boundaries.
| Bolivian Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Lengua de Señas Bolivianas LSB | |
| Native to | Bolivia |
Native speakers | 22,600 (2008)[2] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bvl |
| Glottolog | boli1236 |
| ELP | Bolivian Sign Language |
Bolivian Sign Language (Lengua de Señas Bolivianas, LSB) is a dialect ofAmerican Sign Language (ASL) used predominantly by the Deaf in Bolivia.
In 1973,American Sign Language was brought to Bolivia by Eleanor and Lloyd Powlison, missionaries from the United States.[3] An indigenous sign language (or perhaps sign languages) existed before the introduction and adoption of American Sign Language, though it is unknown how widespread or unified it was.[4]
The first book of LSB was published in 1992, but more than 90% of the signs were from ASL.[5] Due to research work in the 1990s and 2000s a lot of expressions in LSB were collected by Bolivian Deaf, and education materials for learning LSB or teaching in LSB were published. The dependence on words used in ASL was reduced, but the usage of ASL words still is over 70%.
Today LSB is used by more deaf Bolivians than the reported 400 in 1988 in theEthnologue report,[2] due to the introduction of bilingual education (LSB as primary language and Spanish as secondary language) originally inRiberalta and its adoption to other schools in Bolivia with the support of the Education Ministry of Bolivia and the growing social exchange of the Deaf.
In 1988, there were a total of 9 deaf institutions in the country and 46,800 deaf Bolivians.[2] In 2002 there were approximately 25 deaf schools.[5]
| Burundian Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Langue des Signes Burundaise | |
| Native to | Burundi |
Native speakers | 5,000 (2020) to estimated 35,000–70,000 (2021)[6] |
American Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | lsb |
| Glottolog | buru1325 Burundi Sign Language |
Burundian Sign Language (LSB) is the national sign language of Burundi's Deaf community. It dates fromAndrew Foster's introduction of ASL into Burundi, but has diverged since. Mouthing and initialization are mostly based on French. ASL signers from the US are reported to have a hard time understanding videos in LSB, and LSB signers have a hard time understanding ASL videos, and Burundian Deaf consider their language to be distinct from ASL and from neighboring sign languages, such asUgandan andRwandan Sign.[7]
| Costa Rican Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| New Costa Rican Sign Language | |
| Native to | Costa Rica |
Native speakers | estimated 10,000–20,000 (2021)[8] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | csr |
| Glottolog | cost1249 |
Costa Rican Sign Language, also known New Costa Rican Sign Language or Modern Costa Rican Sign Language, is the nationalsign language ofCosta Rica'sDeaf community. It is used primarily by people born after 1960, and is about 60% cognate withAmerican Sign Language (Woodward 1991, 1992). It is unrelated to two known village sign languages of Costa Rica,Bribri Sign Language andBrunca Sign Language.[9][10]
| Dominican Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Dominican Republic |
Native speakers | estimated 21,000–43,000 (2021)[11] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | doq |
| Glottolog | domi1236 |
Dominican Sign Language (DGS) is a local variant of American Sign Language (ASL) used in the Dominican Republic. Many deaf Dominicans usehome sign, and are not fluent in Dominican Sign Language.
Dominican Sign Language originated from French Sign Language (LSF), which was introduced to Dominica by French missionaries and combined with local gesture traditions. Therefore, it has many similarities with French Sign Language.
There may also be some differences in grammatical structure between Dominican Sign Language and American Sign Language. For example, there may be differences in sentence structure, verb morphology, and word order.
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| Francophone African Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Ivory Coast,Benin,Cameroon,Gabon, and other areas ofFrancophone West andCentral Africa |
Native speakers | 12,500 in Benin (2008), 100,000 / est. 60,000–120,000 in Burkina Faso (2021), est. 14,000–28,000 in CAR (2021), est. 16,000–32,000 in Congo (2021), 2,000 (2008) to 7,000 (2021) in Gabon, est. 38,000–76,000 in Guinea (2021),[12] est. 77,000–155,000 in Ivory Coast (2021), est. 20,000–35,000 in Mali (2021), est. 24,000–48,000 in Togo (2021), no data elsewhere[13] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis)Individual code: gus – Guinean Sign Language |
| Glottolog | guin1250 Guinean Sign Languagelang1335 Langue des Signes Zairoise |
Francophone African Sign Language (Langue des signes d'Afrique francophone, or LSAF) is the variety, or varieties, ofAmerican Sign Language (ASL) used in several francophone countries of Africa. Education for the deaf in these countries is based on ASL and writtenFrench; there is therefore a French influence on the language of the classroom.[14]
With the exception ofAlgerian Sign Language, the sign languages offrancophone Africa are unrelated toFrench Sign Language, except indirectly through their derivation from ASL. This is because most schools for the deaf in the region were founded by the American missionaryAndrew Foster or by his students, starting in 1974.Chadian Sign Language may be closest toNigerian Sign Language. A few countries have languages unrelated to either:Madagascar Sign Language derives from Norwegian SL, andTunisian Sign Language is apparently a language isolate.[citation needed]
The relationship of LSAF to standard American Sign Language has not been systematically assessed.[13] For instance, Gabonese Sign Language has diverged and may be a separate language,[13] and Togo Sign Language is not mutually intelligible with standard American Sign Language.[13]
As in other African derivations of ASL, the language has been affected by local gestures and conventions. This is especially true of taboo topics such as sex (Dalle 1996).
As an example of the French influence on francophone ASL, the word for 'she' is made by pointing with an L-shaped hand, rather than with a simple index finger, because the name of the letter el is homonymous withelle ('she') in French. It is not clear to what extent such influence continues outside the classroom.
Francophone African countries which use ASL as the language of Deaf instruction are:
| Haitian Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Langue des Signes Haïtienne | |
| Native to | Haiti |
Native speakers | 40,000 (2008)[13] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | hait1245 |
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WhileAmerican Sign Language is sometimes used in theHaitian Deaf community, it is not the most prominent inHaiti. The local variant, Haitian Sign Language, orLSH (Langue des Signes Haïtienne), is the sign language variant most often used. There are five government-run schools for Deaf children, and LSH is used and spread through these schools and other social areas for the Deaf community. Historically, LSH has not been widely documented or recognized, leading to the creation of theLSHDoP, the Haitian Sign Language Documentation Project. This project is run by the Haitian Deaf Community, in collaboration withGallaudet University.[15]
| Ghanaian Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Ghana |
Native speakers | estimated 91,000–182,000 (2021)[16] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gse |
| Glottolog | ghan1235 |
Ghanaian Sign Language is the national sign language of deaf people inGhana, descended fromAmerican Sign Language.[16][17] It was introduced in 1957 byAndrew Foster, a deaf African-American missionary, as there had been no education or organizations for the deaf previously. Foster went on to establish the first school for the deaf in Nigeria a few years later, andNigerian Sign Language shows influence from GSL. GSL is unrelated to indigenous Ghanaian sign languages such asAdamorobe Sign Language andNanabin Sign Language.
There are currently fourteen schools for the deaf in Ghana, thirteen primary schools and two secondary schools in Ghana, one atAkuapim-Mampong, the other atNavrongo.[18] GSL is supported by the Ghana National Association of the Deaf which has their headquarters inAccra. The Bible Society of Ghana has started translation of the Bible into Ghanaian sign language.
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| Jamaican Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| JSL | |
| Native to | Jamaica |
Native speakers | 7,500 (2011)[19] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | jls |
| Glottolog | jama1263 |
Jamaican Sign Language (JSL) is a local variant ofAmerican Sign Language used in Jamaica. It is supplanting the indigenousJamaican Country Sign Language.
| Moroccan Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| MSL | |
| Native to | Morocco |
| Region | Tetouan |
Native speakers | 63,000 (2008)[21] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xms |
| Glottolog | moro1242 |
Moroccan Sign Language (MSL) is the language of the deaf community ofTetouan and some other cities of Morocco.
American Peace Corps volunteers created Moroccan Sign Language in 1987 in Tetouan from American Sign Language (ASL) and the existing signs; there is less than a 50% lexical similarity with ASL. It is not clear if the 'existing signs' werehome sign or an establishedvillage sign language. The language is used in three programs for the deaf, but not throughout the country: It is not used in the large cities of Rabat, Tangier, or Casablanca, for example. InOujda, near the Algerian border,Algerian Sign Language is used, or at least the local sign language has been strongly influenced by it.[21]
| Nigerian Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Nigeria,Chad,Republic of Congo |
Native speakers | 2,800 (2008) to estimated 48,000–96,000 (2021) in Chad;[22] estimated 600,000–1,000,000 in Nigeria (2021)[23] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:nsi – Nigerian Signcds – Chadian Sign |
| Glottolog | nige1259 |
Nigerian Sign Language (NSL) is the nationalsign language of deaf people inNigeria, however, Nigeria does not have a national sign language yet. ASL (with a possible mix of Signed English) was introduced in 1960, a few years afterGhanaian Sign Language, byAndrew Foster, a deaf African-American missionary, thereby raising a signing system some scholars have referred to as a dialect of ASL. Deaf education in Nigeria was based on oral method and existing indigenous sign languages were generally regarded as gestural communication prior to Andrew Foster's arrival. The conventional "Nigerian Sign Language" today has been described as the "School Sign Language" and is coded asnsi on the repository of languages of the world bySIL International. There is a Ghanaian influence in NSL; both are based onAmerican Sign Language. The School Sign Language has little relationship with the various Indigenous Nigerian sign languages such asHausa Sign Language,Yoruba Sign Language, andBura Sign Language. The Save the Deaf and Endangered Languages Initiative[24] and Nigerian National Association of the Deaf[25] have been working to document indigenous and national varieties of NSL both for research and reference for the Nigerian deaf population.[24][25]
Chadian and Congolese teachers for the deaf are trained in Nigeria. There are deaf schools in Chad in N’Djamena, Sarh, and Moundou.[citation needed]
| Panamanian Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Lengua de señas panameñas | |
| Native to | Panama |
Native speakers | 9,000 (2008)[26] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | lsp |
| Glottolog | pana1308 |
| ELP | Panamanian Sign Language |
Panamanian Sign Language(Lengua de señas panameñas, LSP) is one of twodeaf sign languages ofPanama. It derived fromAmerican Sign Language and influenced bySalvadoran Sign Language.[26][27]
See alsoChiriqui Sign Language.
| Puerto Rican Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Lengua de señas puertorriqueña | |
| Native to | Puerto Rico |
| Ethnicity | 8,000 to 40,000 deaf (1986)[31] |
Native speakers | est. 6,000–13,000 (2021)[31] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | psl |
| Glottolog | puer1237 |
| ELP | Puerto Rican Sign Language |
Puerto Rican Sign Language (PRSL) is a variety or descendant ofAmerican Sign Language, which was introduced to Puerto Rico in 1907. It is not clear how far PRSL may have diverged from ASL, butEthnologue speaks of bilingualism in ASL as well as speakers who know only PRSL.[31]
| Sierra Leonean Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Sierra Leone |
| Region | Freetown |
| Ethnicity | 3,000–5,000 (2008)[32] |
Native speakers | 200 (2008) to est. 23,000–46,000 (2021)[32] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sgx |
| Glottolog | sier1246 |
Sierra Leonean Sign Language is a variety or descendant ofAmerican Sign Language (ASL) used inschools for the deaf inSierra Leone, or at least in the capitalFreetown. As in much of West Africa, the first schools for the deaf were founded by the American missionaryAndrew Foster or his students.
| Selangor Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Bahasa Isyarat Selangor | |
| Native to | Malaysia |
| Region | Kuala Lumpur andSelangor |
Native speakers | 500 (no date)[33] Mostly elderly, all bilingual inMalaysian Sign |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kgi |
| Glottolog | sela1253 |
| ELP | Selangor Sign Language |
Selangor Sign Language (SSL), also known as Kuala Lumpur Sign Language (KLSL), is a sign language used inMalaysia. It was originally based onAmerican Sign Language (ASL) but has diverged significantly enough to now be considered a language in its own right. Kuala Lumpur was formerly located in the state ofSelangor before it became a federal territory in 1974.
LikePenang Sign Language (PSL), it now mainly used by older people, although many younger people can understand it.
