The following are sign languages reported to be spoken by at least 10,000 people.
Estimates for sign language use are very crude, and definitions of what counts as proficiency varied. For most sign languages we do not have even a crude estimate. For instance, there are reported to be a million signers in Ethiopia, but it is unknown which or how many sign languages they use.
The 2013 edition of Ethnologue lists 137 sign languages.[ 1]
Language
Family or origin
Legal recognition and where spoken natively by significant population
Ethnologue estimate
Chinese Sign Language
Language isolate
Native to China .Also spoken in Malaysia and Taiwan .
unknown
Brazilian Sign Language
Language isolate ?
French Sign Language ?
Legally recognized by law 10.436, April 24, 2002[ 2] - Native to Brazil .
3,000,000 (no date)
Indo-Pakistani Sign Language
Related to Nepalese Sign Language and possibly other sign languages of the region
No legal recognition. Native to India , Bangladesh and Nepal .
2,700,000 in India (2003)
American Sign Language
French Sign Language family . Descended from Old French Sign Language and Martha's Vineyard Sign Language
Usually recognized as a "foreign language" by several colleges and used as the language of instruction in most deaf schools . Native to United States , Canada and Guatemala . Used in varying degrees in Philippines , Singapore , Hong Kong , Côte d'Ivoire , Burkina Faso , Ghana , Togo , Benin , Nigeria , Chad , Gabon , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Central African Republic , Mauritania , Kenya , Madagascar and Zimbabwe .
≈ 500,000 in the USA
Hungarian Sign Language
French: Austrian
≈ 350,000 (2006)
Kenyan Sign Language
Unknown
Native to Kenya .
340,000
Japanese Sign Language
JSL Family
Native to Japan .
320,000
Ecuadorian Sign Language
Isolate?
188,000 (1986)
Norwegian -Malagasy Sign Language
Danish SL
Native to Norway . Also used in Madagascar
185,000 (5,000 in Norway; 2006)
British Sign Language
BANZSL . Descended, in part, from Old Kent Sign Language among other home sign systems in Britain
Native to United Kingdom .
125,000
Russian Sign Language
French Sign Language family
Native to Russia , Ukraine , Belarus , Kazakhstan , Moldova , Bulgaria ; partly in Latvia , Estonia , Lithuania .
121,000
French Sign Language
French Sign Language family . Descended from Old French Sign Language
Native to France . Signed in Switzerland , Mali , Rwanda , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Togo , Vietnam
50,000–150,000
Philippine Sign Language
French Sign Language family .
Native to Philippines
100,000 (1986)
Spanish Sign Language
Unknown origin.
Officially recognized by Spanish Government. Native to Spain except Catalonia and Valencia .
100,000
Mexican Sign Language
French Sign Language family
Native to Urban Mexico .
87,000–100,000 (1986)
German Sign Language
Related to Polish Sign Language
Native to Germany .
50,000
Greek Sign Language
French-ASL mix
43,000
Irish Sign Language
French
40,000
Yugoslav Sign Language
French: Austro-Hungarian
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia
30,000
New Zealand Sign Language
BANZSL . Descended from British Sign Language .
Native to New Zealand .
24,000 (2006)
Malaysian Sign Language
French: ASL
24,000
Hong Kong Sign Language
Chinese
20,000 (2007)
Dutch Sign Language
French
20,000
Catalan Sign Language
French?
18,000
Auslan
BANZSL . Descended from British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language .
Native to Australia .
14,000
Swedish Sign Language
Isolate, or maybe British
Native to Sweden .
over 8,000
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
By region[a]
Sign languages by region
Oceania
Asia
Africa
Europe
North America
South America
International
Language families[a]
American Sign Language
Extinct sign languages
Linguistics
Fingerspelling
Writing
Language contact
Media
Persons
Organisations
Miscellaneous
^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.