Varieties of American Sign Language

Varieties and descendants of ASL are used throughout the Caribbean, West and Central Africa, and Southeast Asia

American Sign Language (ASL) developed in the United States, starting as a blend of local sign languages and French Sign Language (FSL). 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 with substratum influence from local sign languages, and mixed languages in which ASL is a component. Distinction follow political boundaries, which may not correspond to linguistic boundaries.

Bolivian Sign Language

Bolivian Sign Language
Lengua de Señas Bolivianas LSB
Native to	Bolivia
Native speakers	22,600 (2008)
Language family	French Sign American Sign Bolivian Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bvl
Glottolog	boli1236
ELP	Bolivian Sign Language

Bolivian Sign Language (Lengua de Señas Bolivianas, LSB) is a dialect of American Sign Language (ASL) used predominantly by the Deaf in Bolivia.

History

In 1973, American Sign Language was brought to Bolivia by Eleanor and Lloyd Powlison, missionaries from the United States. 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.

The first book of LSB was published in 1992, but more than 90% of the signs were from ASL. 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 the Ethnologue report, due to the introduction of bilingual education (LSB as primary language and Spanish as secondary language) originally in Riberalta 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. In 2002 there were approximately 25 deaf schools.

Burundian Sign Language

Burundian Sign Language
Langue des Signes Burundaise
Native to	Burundi
Native speakers	5,000 (2020) to estimated 35,000–70,000 (2021)
Language family	American Sign Burundian Sign Language
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 from Andrew 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 as Ugandan and Rwandan Sign.

Costa Rican Sign Language

Costa Rican Sign Language
New Costa Rican Sign Language
Native to	Costa Rica
Native speakers	estimated 10,000–20,000 (2021)
Language family	Creole of American Sign (French family) and Old Costa Rican Sign
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 national sign language of Costa Rica's Deaf community. It is used primarily by people born after 1960, and is about 60% cognate with American Sign Language (Woodward 1991, 1992). It is unrelated to two known village sign languages of Costa Rica, Bribri Sign Language and Brunca Sign Language.

Dominican Sign Language

Dominican Sign Language
Native to	Dominican Republic
Native speakers	estimated 21,000–43,000 (2021)
Language family	French Sign American Sign Dominican Sign Language
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 use home 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.

Francophone African Sign Language

Francophone African Sign Language
Native to	Ivory Coast, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, and other areas of Francophone West and Central 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), 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
Language family	French Sign American Sign Francophone African Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis) Individual code: gus – Guinean Sign Language
Glottolog	guin1250  Guinean Sign Language lang1335  Langue des Signes Zairoise

Francophone African Sign Language (Langue des signes d'Afrique francophone, or LSAF) is the variety, or varieties, of American Sign Language (ASL) used in several francophone countries of Africa. Education for the deaf in these countries is based on ASL and written French; there is therefore a French influence on the language of the classroom.

With the exception of Algerian Sign Language, the sign languages of francophone Africa are unrelated to French 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 missionary Andrew Foster or by his students, starting in 1974. Chadian Sign Language may be closest to Nigerian Sign Language. A few countries have languages unrelated to either: Madagascar Sign Language derives from Norwegian SL, and Tunisian Sign Language is apparently a language isolate.

The relationship of LSAF to standard American Sign Language has not been systematically assessed. For instance, Gabonese Sign Language has diverged and may be a separate language, and Togo Sign Language is not mutually intelligible with standard American Sign Language.

Characteristics

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 with elle ('she') in French. It is not clear to what extent such influence continues outside the classroom.

Location

Francophone African countries which use ASL as the language of Deaf instruction are:

• Senegal
• Mauritania
• Mali
• Guinea
• Ivory Coast
• Burkina Faso
• Togo
• Benin
• Niger
• Chad (from Nigeria)
• Central African Republic
• Gabon
• Republic of Congo (Brazzaville; from Nigeria)
• Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa; French Sign Language is also used)
• Burundi
• Morocco

Haitian Sign Language

Haitian Sign Language
Langue des Signes Haïtienne
Native to	Haiti
Native speakers	40,000 (2008)
Language family	French Sign American Sign Haitian Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	hait1245

While American Sign Language is sometimes used in the Haitian Deaf community, it is not the most prominent in Haiti. The local variant, Haitian Sign Language, or LSH (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 the LSHDoP, the Haitian Sign Language Documentation Project. This project is run by the Haitian Deaf Community, in collaboration with Gallaudet University.

Ghanaian Sign Language

Ghanaian Sign Language
Native to	Ghana
Native speakers	estimated 91,000–182,000 (2021)
Language family	French Sign American Sign Ghanaian Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gse
Glottolog	ghan1235

Ghanaian Sign Language in action

Ghanaian Sign Language is the national sign language of deaf people in Ghana, descended from American Sign Language. It was introduced in 1957 by Andrew 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, and Nigerian Sign Language shows influence from GSL. GSL is unrelated to indigenous Ghanaian sign languages such as Adamorobe Sign Language and Nanabin Sign Language.

There are currently fourteen schools for the deaf in Ghana, thirteen primary schools and two secondary schools in Ghana, one at Akuapim-Mampong, the other at Navrongo. GSL is supported by the Ghana National Association of the Deaf which has their headquarters in Accra. The Bible Society of Ghana has started translation of the Bible into Ghanaian sign language.

Greek Sign Language

This section is an excerpt from Greek Sign Language.[edit]

Greek Sign Language (Greek: Ελληνική νοηματική γλώσσα, romanized: Ellinikí noimatikí glóssa, ENG) is a sign language used by the Greek deaf community.

Indonesian sign languages

This section is an excerpt from Indonesian Sign Language.[edit]

Indonesian Sign Language (Indonesian: Bahasa Isyarat Indonesia, BISINDO) is any of several related deaf sign languages of Indonesia, at least on the island of Java. It is based on American Sign Language, with local admixture in different cities. Although presented as a coherent language when advocating for recognition by the Indonesian government and use in education, the varieties used in different cities may not be mutually intelligible.

Jamaican Sign Language

Jamaican Sign Language
JSL
Native to	Jamaica
Native speakers	7,500 (2011)
Language family	French Sign American Sign Jamaican Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	jls
Glottolog	jama1263

Jamaican Sign Language (JSL) is a local variant of American Sign Language used in Jamaica. It is supplanting the indigenous Jamaican Country Sign Language.

Malaysian Sign Language

This section is an excerpt from Malaysian Sign Language.[edit]

Malaysian Sign Language (Malay: Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia, or BIM) is the principal language of the deaf community of Malaysia. It is also the official sign language used by the Malaysian government to communicate with the deaf community and was officially recognised by the Malaysian government in 2008 as a means to officially communicate with and among the deaf, particularly on official broadcasts and announcements. BIM has many dialects, differing from state to state.

Moroccan Sign Language

Moroccan Sign Language
MSL
Native to	Morocco
Region	Tetouan
Native speakers	63,000 (2008)
Language family	French Sign American Sign-based creole? Moroccan Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xms
Glottolog	moro1242

Moroccan Sign Language (MSL) is the language of the deaf community of Tetouan 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' were home sign or an established village 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. In Oujda, near the Algerian border, Algerian Sign Language is used, or at least the local sign language has been strongly influenced by it.

Nigerian Sign Language

Nigerian Sign Language
Native to	Nigeria, Chad, Republic of Congo
Native speakers	2,800 (2008) to estimated 48,000–96,000 (2021) in Chad; estimated 600,000–1,000,000 in Nigeria (2021)
Language family	French Sign American Sign Nigerian Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: nsi – Nigerian Sign cds – Chadian Sign
Glottolog	nige1259

Nigerian Sign Language (NSL) is the national sign language of deaf people in Nigeria, 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 after Ghanaian Sign Language, by Andrew 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 as nsi on the repository of languages of the world by SIL International. There is a Ghanaian influence in NSL; both are based on American Sign Language. The School Sign Language has little relationship with the various Indigenous Nigerian sign languages such as Hausa Sign Language, Yoruba Sign Language, and Bura Sign Language. The Save the Deaf and Endangered Languages Initiative and Nigerian National Association of the Deaf have been working to document indigenous and national varieties of NSL both for research and reference for the Nigerian deaf population.

Chadian and Congolese teachers for the deaf are trained in Nigeria. There are deaf schools in Chad in N’Djamena, Sarh, and Moundou.

Panamanian Sign Language

Panamanian Sign Language
Lengua de señas panameñas
Native to	Panama
Native speakers	9,000 (2008)
Language family	French Sign American Sign Panamanian Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	lsp
Glottolog	pana1308
ELP	Panamanian Sign Language

Panamanian Sign Language (Lengua de señas panameñas, LSP) is one of two deaf sign languages of Panama. It derived from American Sign Language and influenced by Salvadoran Sign Language.

See also Chiriqui Sign Language.

Philippine Sign Language

This section is an excerpt from Filipino Sign Language.[edit]

Filipino Sign Language (FSL) or Philippine Sign Language (Filipino: Wikang pasenyas ng mga Pilipino), is a sign language originating in the Philippines. Like other sign languages, FSL is a unique language with its own grammar, syntax and morphology; it is not based on and does not resemble Filipino or English. Some researchers consider the indigenous signs of FSL to be at risk of being lost due to the increasing influence of American Sign Language.

Puerto Rican Sign Language

Puerto Rican Sign Language
Lengua de señas puertorriqueña
Native to	Puerto Rico
Ethnicity	8,000 to 40,000 deaf (1986)
Native speakers	est. 6,000–13,000 (2021)
Language family	French Sign American Sign Puerto Rican Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	psl
Glottolog	puer1237
ELP	Puerto Rican Sign Language

Puerto Rican Sign Language (PRSL) is a variety or descendant of American Sign Language, which was introduced to Puerto Rico in 1907. It is not clear how far PRSL may have diverged from ASL, but Ethnologue speaks of bilingualism in ASL as well as speakers who know only PRSL.

Sierra Leonean Sign Language

Sierra Leonean Sign Language
Native to	Sierra Leone
Region	Freetown
Ethnicity	3,000–5,000 (2008)
Native speakers	200 (2008) to est. 23,000–46,000 (2021)
Language family	French Sign American Sign Sierra Leonean Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sgx
Glottolog	sier1246

Sierra Leonean Sign Language is a variety or descendant of American Sign Language (ASL) used in schools for the deaf in Sierra Leone, or at least in the capital Freetown. As in much of West Africa, the first schools for the deaf were founded by the American missionary Andrew Foster or his students.

Selangor Sign Language

Selangor Sign Language
Bahasa Isyarat Selangor
Native to	Malaysia
Region	Kuala Lumpur and Selangor
Native speakers	500 (no date) Mostly elderly, all bilingual in Malaysian Sign
Language family	French Sign American Sign, with local mixture Selangor Sign Language
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 in Malaysia. It was originally based on American 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 of Selangor before it became a federal territory in 1974.

Like Penang Sign Language (PSL), it now mainly used by older people, although many younger people can understand it.

Singapore Sign Language

This section is an excerpt from Singapore Sign Language.[edit]

Singapore Sign Language, or SgSL, is the native sign language used by the deaf and hard of hearing in Singapore, developed over six decades since the setting up of the first school for the Deaf in 1954. Since Singapore's independence in 1965, the Singapore deaf community has had to adapt to many linguistic changes. Today, the local deaf community recognises Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) as a reflection of Singapore's diverse culture. SgSL is influenced by Shanghainese Sign Language (SSL), American Sign Language (ASL), Signing Exact English (SEE-II) and locally developed signs.

Thai Sign Language

This section is an excerpt from Thai Sign Language.[edit]

Thai Sign Language (TSL; Thai: ภาษามือไทย), or Modern Standard Thai Sign Language (MSTSL), is the national sign language of Thailand's deaf community and is used in most parts of the country by the 20 percent of the estimated 56,000 pre-linguistically deaf people who go to school.

See also

• Black American Sign Language – Dialect of American Sign Language

Bibliography

• Kamei, Nobutaka ed. 2008. Langue des Signes d'Afrique Francophone (LSAF) (DVD). Fuchu: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
• Tamomo, Serge. 1994. Le language des signes du sourd Africain Francophone. Cotonou, Bénin: PEFISS.
• Garay, S. (2004). Understanding the Panama Deaf Community & Sign Language: Lengua de Señas Panameñas. (Instructional CD) Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Panamá.
• —— (1990). Panama's sign language dictionary: Lengua de señas panameñas. Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Panamá.

External links

• Sophie Dalle, 1996–1997, Rapport de Stage: La language de signes au Congo (in French)