List of sign languages by number of native signers
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2009) |
The following are sign languages reported to be used by at least 10,000 people. Additional languages, such as Chinese Sign Language, are likely to have more speakers, but no data is available. Estimates for sign language use are very crude, and definitions of what counts as proficiency varied. For most sign languages, there are no concrete estimate. For instance, it has been reported there are a million signers in Ethiopia, but there are only a fifth that number of deaf people, less than half of whom are fluent in sign, and in addition it is unknown how many different sign languages they use.
| Language | Family or origin | Legal recognition and where spoken natively by significant population | Ethnologue estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indo-Pakistani Sign Language | Related to Nepalese Sign Language and possibly other sign languages of the region | No legal recognition. Native to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. | 6,300,000 (2019) |
| Indonesian Sign Language | French Sign Language family | Native to Indonesia | 900,000 (2016)[1] |
| Russian Sign Language | French Sign Language family | Native to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Bulgaria; partly in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania. | 715,000 (2014)[2] |
| Brazilian Sign Language | Language isolate | Legally recognized by law 10.436, April 24, 2002[3] - Native to Brazil. | 600,000 (2019) |
| Spanish Sign Language | Unknown origin. | Officially recognized by Spanish Government. Native to Spain except Catalonia and Valencia. | 523,000 (2017) |
| Egyptian Sign Language | Arab sign-language family | Native to Egypt | 474,000 (2014)[4] |
| American Sign Language | Old French Sign Language and Martha's Vineyard Sign Language | 459,850[5] | |
| Persian Sign Language | Language isolate | Native to Iran | 325,000 (2019)[6] |
| Turkish Sign Language | from Ottoman Sign Language | Native to Turkey | 300,000 (2019)[7] |
| Japanese Sign Language | JSL Family | Native to Japan. | 126,000 (2019) |
| Mexican Sign Language | French Sign Language family | Native to Urban Mexico. | 130,000 (2010 projection) |
| French Sign Language | French Sign Language family. Descended from Old French Sign Language | Native to France. Spoken in Switzerland, Mali, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, Vietnam | 100,000 (2019) |
| British Sign Language | BANZSL | Native to United Kingdom. | 80,000 (2014) |
| German Sign Language | German Sign Language family | Native to Germany. | 80,000 (2014) |
| Malaysian Sign Language | French: ASL | 60,000 (2013) | |
| Polish Sign Language | German Sign Language family | Native to Poland. | 38,000 to 50,000 signers (2014) |
| Italian Sign Language | French Sign Language family | Recognized language in Sicily. | 40,000 (2014) |
| Yugoslav Sign Language | French: Austro-Hungarian | Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia | 22,000 (2010-2014) |
| Uruguayan Sign Language | French Sign Language family | Native to Uruguay. Used since 1910, legally recognized in 2001 under Law 17.378.[8][9] | 20,000 (2019)[10] |
| Hong Kong Sign Language | Chinese | 20,000 (2007) | |
| Dutch Sign Language | French | 15,000 (2019) | |
| Auslan | BANZSL | Native to Australia. | 10,000 (2016 census) |
See also[]
- List of sign languages
- List of languages by number of native speakers
References[]
- ^ "Indonesian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ "Russian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ Lei 10.436 de 24 de abril de 2002 Archived 2010-09-10 at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese)
- ^ "Egyptian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ "American Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ "Iranian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ "Turkish Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ Meyers, Stephen; Lockwood, Elizabeth (2014-12-06). "The Tale of Two Civil Societies: Comparing disability rights movements in Nicaragua and Uruguay". Disability Studies Quarterly. 34 (4). doi:10.18061/dsq.v34i4.3845. ISSN 2159-8371.
- ^ "Ley N° 17378". www.impo.com.uy. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ Observador, El. "Lengua de señas en Uruguay: cómo es, dónde se estudia y en qué programas se incluirá". El Observador. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
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^a Sign-language names reflect the region of origin. Natural sign languages are not related to the spoken language used in the same region. For example, French Sign Language originated in France, but is not related to French. Conversely, ASL and BSL both originated in English-speaking countries but are not related to each other; ASL however is related to French Sign Language.
^b Denotes the number (if known) of languages within the family. No further information is given on these languages. ^c Italicised languages demark which languages have gone to sleep or have become extinct. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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