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List of sign languages by number of native signers

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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 signers, but no data is available. Estimates for sign language use are very crude, and definitions of what counts as proficiency are varied. For most sign languages, there are no concrete estimates. 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.

According to many highly educated members of the ASL Deaf community, the number of fluent ASL native signers is closer to the tens of millions. Therefore, the statistics listed below, while taken from varying published sources, should be carefully vetted before being disseminated or cited elsewhere.

Language Family or origin Where spoken natively by significant population Legal recognition Ethnologue estimate
Indo-Pakistani Sign Language Related to Nepali Sign Language and possibly others in south Asia India, Pakistan and Bangladesh 6,300,000 (2019)
Chinese Sign Language Chinese Sign Language family China Legally recognized by China 4,000,000 (2021)
Indonesian Sign Language French Sign Language family (based on) Indonesia 810,000 (2021)[1]
Russian Sign Language French Sign Language family Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania 715,000 (2014)[2]
Brazilian Sign Language French Sign Language family Brazil Legally recognized in Brazil, on April 24, 2002 under Law 10.436[3] 600,000 (2019)
Ethiopian sign languages Ethiopian sign language family Ethiopia 560,000 (2021)
Spanish Sign Language French Sign Language family or Language isolate (disputed) Spain except Catalonia and Valencia Officially recognized by Spanish Government 523,000 (2017)
Egyptian Sign Language Arab sign-language family Egypt 474,000 (2014)[4]
American Sign Language Old French Sign Language and Martha's Vineyard Sign Language United States and Anglophone Canada 459,850[5]
Persian Sign Language Language isolate Iran 325,000 (2019)[6]
Papua New Guinean Sign Language Auslan creole (disputed) Papua New Guinea 30,000 (2015)
Turkish Sign Language Ottoman Sign Language Turkey 300,000 (2019)[7]
Algerian Sign Language French Sign Language family Algeria 240,000 (2008)
Japanese Sign Language JSL Family Japan 126,000 (2019)
Mexican Sign Language French Sign Language family 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)
German Sign Language German Sign Language family Germany 80,000 (2014)
British Sign Language BANZSL United Kingdom 80,000 (2014)
Malaysian Sign Language French Sign Language family through ASL Malaysia 60,000 (2013)
Polish Sign Language German Sign Language family Poland 38,000 to 50,000 (2014)
Italian Sign Language French Sign Language family Italy Officially Recognized language in Sicily. 40,000 (2014)
New Zealand Sign Language BANZSL New Zealand An official language of New Zealand since 2006. 23,000 (2018 census)[8]
Yugoslav Sign Language French Sign Language family through Austro-Hungarian Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia 22,000 (2010-2014)
Uruguayan Sign Language French Sign Language family Uruguay Legally recognized in Uruguay since 2001 under Law 17.378[9][10] 20,000 (2019)[11]
Hong Kong Sign Language Chinese Sign Language family Hong Kong 20,000 (2007)
Nepali Sign Language Indo-Pakistani Sign Language orlanguage isolate (disputed) Nepal 20,000 (2014)
Taiwan Sign Language Japenese Sign Language family Taiwan 20,000 (2004)
Dutch Sign Language French Sign Language family Netherlands 15,000 (2019)
Auslan BANZSL Australia 10,000 (2016 census)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Indonesian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Russian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  3. ^ Lei 10.436 de 24 de abril de 2002 Archived 2010-09-10 at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese)
  4. ^ "Egyptian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  5. ^ "American Sign Language". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Iranian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Turkish Sign Language". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  8. ^ "2018 Census totals by topic – national highlights (updated)". Stats NZ. 30 April 2020. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  9. ^ 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. Archived from the original on 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  10. ^ "Ley N° 17378". www.impo.com.uy. Archived from the original on 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  11. ^ Observador, El. "Lengua de señas en Uruguay: cómo es, dónde se estudia y en qué programas se incluirá". El Observador. Archived from the original on 2024-05-26. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
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