List of sign languages by number of native signers
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The following are sign languages reported to be spoken by at least 10,000 people.
Estimates for sign language use are so crude, and definitions of what counts as proficiency so varied, that 100,000 speakers is not necessarily more than 10,000. 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.
| 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, Bangladesh and Nepal. | 2,700,000 in India (2003) |
| Chinese Sign Language | Language isolate | Native to China.Also spoken in Malaysia and Taiwan. | unknown[2] |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
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References [edit]
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