The Malagasy Sign Language is a sign language used for communication among hearing impaired people in Madagascar. An estimated 110,000 to 170,000 people (or 1% of the population of Madagascar) are deaf. It also shows similarities with the Norwegian Sign Language. Seven deaf schools in Madagascar are being sponsored by Evangelical Lutherans.[1]
^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.
