List of sign languages
From Freepedia
Sign language is not universal. Like spoken languages, sign languages change through time. The following is a list of various sign languages thoughout the world and those that have fallen out of use. Also, at the end there are some constructed languages that do not meet the linguistic standards required in order to be called a language, but they are commonly referred to in everyday speech as sign languages.
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Contemporary Deaf Sign Languages
Sign Languages of European origin
- American Sign Language (ASL)
- Australian Sign Language (Auslan)
- Austrian Sign Language "Österreichische Gebärdensprache" (ÖGS)
- BANZSL - 'Parent' language of which BSL, Auslan, and NZSL can be considered dialects
- Belgian-French Sign Language "Langue des Signes de Belgique Francophone" (LSBF)
- Brazilian Sign Language "Língua Brasileira de Sinais" (LIBRAS)
- British Sign Language (BSL)
- Catalan Sign Language (or "Catalonian Sign Langauge") "Llengua de Signes Catalana" (LSC)
- Chinese Sign Language "中国手语" (CSL)
- Croatian Sign Language (Croslan) "Hrvatskog Znakovnog Jezika" (HZJ)
- Czech Sign Language "Český znakový jazyk" (CZJ)
- Danish Sign Language "Tegnesprog"
- Dutch Sign Language "Nederlandse Gebarentaal" (NGT), also commonly known as "Sign Language of the Netherlands" (SLN)
- Filipino Sign Language "Philippine Sign Language" (PSL)
- Finnish Sign Language "Suomalainen viittomakieli" (SVK)
- Flemish Sign Language "Vlaamse Gebarentaal" (VGT)
- French Sign Language "Langues des Signes Français" (LSF)
- German Sign Language "Deutsche Gebärdensprache" (DGS)
- Greek Sign Language "Ελληνική Νοηματική Γλώσσα" (GSL)
- Icelandic Sign Language "Táknmál"
- Irish Sign Language (ISL)
- Italian Sign Language "Lingua dei Segni Italiana"
- Lithuanian Sign Language "Lietuvių gestų kalba"
- Maltese Sign Language "Lingwi tas-Sinjali Maltin" (LSM)
- Mexican Sign Language "Lengua de Señas Mexicana"
- New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL)
- Northern Ireland Sign Language (NISL)
- Norwegian Sign Language "Tekenspråk" (NSL)
- Polish Sign Language "Polski Język Migowy" (PJM)
- Portuguese Sign Language "Lingua Gestual Portuguesa" (LGP)
- Quebec Sign Language "Langue des Signes Québécois" (LSQ)
- Russian Sign Language "Russkii Zhestovyi Iazyk"
- South African Sign Language (SASL)
- Spanish Sign Language "Lengua de signos española" (LSE)
- Swedish Sign Language "Svenskt teckenspråk" (TSP)
- Swiss-French Sign Language "Langage Gestuelle"
- Swiss-German Sign Language "Deutschschweizer Gebärdensprache" (DSGS)
- Turkish Sign Language (Türk Isaret Dili)
Middle Eastern Sign Langauges
- Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL), Southern Israel
- Israeli Sign Language
- Jordanian Sign Language
African Sign Langauges
- Adamorobe Sign Language (ADS) (Ghana)
- Bura Sign Language (Nigeria) (PDF link)
- Hausa Sign Language
- Mbour Sign Language (Senegal)
Sign Languages originating in the Americas
- Nicaraguan Sign Language "Idioma de Signos Nicaragüense" (ISN)
- Providence Island Sign Language
- Urubú Sign Language
- Yucatec Maya Sign Language
Asia/Pacific Sign Langauges
- Hawaii Pidgin Sign Language
- Hong Kong Sign Language "香港手語" (HKSL)
- Indo-Pakistani Sign Language
- Japanese Sign Language "日本手話" (Nihon shuwa), (JSL)
- Korean Sign Language
- Malaysian Sign Language "Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia" (BIM)
- Penang Sign Language (used in Malaysia)
- Selangor Sign Language (used in Malaysia)
- Taiwanese Sign Language (TSL)
Archaic Sign Languages
Auxiliary sign languages and manual communication systems
- Australian Aboriginal sign languages
- Baby Sign - using signs to assist early language development in young children.
- Contact Sign - a pidgin or contact language between a spoken language and a sign language, eg. Pidgin Sign English (PSE).
- International Sign (previously known as Gestuno) - an auxiliary language used by deaf people in international settings.
- Makaton - a system of signed communication used by and with people who have speech, language or learning difficulties.
- Tic tac - a traditional British system of communicating betting odds at racecourses.
Manual representation of spoken languages
- Arabic Sign Language
- Cued Speech
- Fingerspelling
- Manually Coded English
- Signing Exact English (SEE2)
- Signuno - Signed Esperanto, using vocabulary from International sign.
- Tecknad svenska (TS) - a Swedish equivalent of SEE2, developed in the early 1970's but now largely out of use.
There are also a large number of less formally organised but still widely understood gesticulations and mimes sometimes, if mistakenly, called sign language.
These range from expressing universal needs such as pointing to the mouth or rubbing the stomach to indicate a desire for food, to more insulting gestures such as the one-finger salute. It should be noted that not only do these not form a coherent language but their meaning may vary between cultures.
