Hawaii Pidgin Sign Language
| Hawaii Pidgin Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Hawaii |
| Region | limited to the islands of Hawaii |
| Native speakers | 40; virtually extinct; a few elderly signers are bilingual with the dominant ASL (2013) |
| Language family |
(unknown)
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hps |
Hawaiʻi Pidgin Sign Language, also known as (Old) Hawaiʻi Sign Language (HSL) or Pidgin Sign, is a sign language used in Hawaiʻi. Although historical records document its presence on the islands since the 1820s, it was not described by linguists until 2013.[1][2] Now largely supplanted by American Sign Language (ASL), it is almost extinct and is used only by a few elderly people, who are bilingual in ASL. Although previously believed to be related to ASL,[3] the two languages are in fact unrelated.[2]
The term pidgin in some names used for HSL is due to its association with the spoken language Hawaiʻi Pidgin; HSL is not itself a pidgin,[4] nor even related to Hawaiʻi Pidgin. For this reason, linguists who have begun to document the language prefer the name Hawaiʻi Sign Language.[2]
References [edit]
- ^ "Linguists say Hawaii Sign Language found to be distinct language". Washington Post. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- ^ a b c Lambrecht, Linda; Earth, Barbara; Woodward, James (March 3, 2013), History and Documentation of Hawaiʻi Sign Language: First Report, University of Hawaiʻi: 3rd International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation
- ^ Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 10:1.215–88.[1]
- ^ Ethnologue
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