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| Mexican Sign Language (LSM) | |
|---|---|
| Lengua de Señas Mexicana (LSM) | |
| Native to | Mexico |
| Region | Cities |
Native speakers | 130,000 (2010 projection)[1] |
French Sign
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mfs |
| Glottolog | mexi1237 |
| ELP | Mexican Sign Language |
 Map of the North AmericanFrancosign languages, featuring Mexican Sign Language (labelled as "LSM") | |
Mexican Sign Language (Spanish:Lengua de señas mexicana,LSM; also previously known by several other names) is the predominant language of theDeaf community inMexico. LSM is a complete and organized visual language, which is expressed with the hands, face, and body, with its own distinct history, community, and culture.[2] There are several dialects based on regional variation and LSM may be learned as asecond language by hearing and Deaf signers. LSM is closely related toFrench Sign Language (LSF) andAmerican Sign Language (ASL), although it ismutually unintelligible.[3]
LSM originated in the mid-19th century following the establishment of the first school for the Deaf in Mexico City, Escuela Nacional de Sordomudos (ENS), in 1869.[2] Deaf students at the school were instructed by educators usingOld French Sign Language, but also brought with them their ownhome signs and signing systems, which led to the formation of LSM.[2]
The number of native LSM signers is estimated to be between 49,000 and 195,000 people.[2] LSM is classified as vulnerable.[4]
Core signing populations are found inMexico City,Guadalajara andMonterrey, with a number of smaller cities containing signing communities. There is also a growing number of LSM signers in theUnited States, particularly in areas along theMexico–United States border and inWashington, D.C., due to educational and economic opportunities.[3] Some members of the Deaf Latino community in the United States also use LSM.
Some regional variation is found (80–90% lexical similarity across the country according to Faurot et al. 2001) and there islexical variation based on age and gender in thenumeral system.[2]
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LSM is quite distinct fromSpanish, with completely different verb inflections, different discourse structure and preferences forword order, and little use of the verbto be. However, there is extensive use ofinitialised signs with one study finding 37% of a 100-word list are initialised, compared to 14% for American Sign Language (Faurot et al. 2001). The same authors suggest that the Deaf community's comprehension of the Spanish language is very low.
The term "Signed Spanish" refers to signing that uses LSM signs (lexicon) in a Spanish word order, with some representations of Spanish morphology. There is a group of suffixes that signed Spanish uses in a way similar to that ofsigned English, e.g. signed symbols for -dor and -ción (for nouns). Articles and pronouns are fingerspelled. Signed Spanish (orPidgin Signed Spanish) is often used by interpreters and during public reading or song-leading. Signed Spanish is also used by some hard of hearing and late deafened people.
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LSM is widely believed by the Deaf community to have derived fromOld French Sign Language (OFSL), which combined with pre-existing local sign languages andhome sign systems when Deaf schools were first established in 1869. However, it is mutually unintelligible with American Sign Language, which emerged from OFSL 50 years earlier in the US, although theAmerican manual alphabet is almost identical to the Mexican one.Spanish Sign Language used in Spain is different from Mexican Sign Language, though LSM may have been influenced by it.
In 2005, Mexican Sign Language was officially declared a national language in Mexico, along with Spanish and indigenous languages, to be used in the national education system for the Deaf.[5] Before 2005, the major educational philosophy in the country focused onoralism (speech and lipreading) and with few schools that conducted classes in LSM.[6]
A five-minute signed segment of a nightly television news program was broadcast inSigned Spanish in the mid-1980s, then again in the early 1990s, discontinued in 1992, and resumed as a 2-minute summary of headlines in 1997.[citation needed]
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