Rennellese Sign Language is an extinct form of

home sign Home sign (or kitchen sign) is a gestural communication system, often invented spontaneously by a deaf child who lacks accessible linguistic input. Home sign systems often arise in families where a deaf child is raised by hearing parents and is iso ...

documented from

Rennell Island Rennell Island, locally known as Mugaba, is the main island of two inhabited islands that make up the Rennell and Bellona Province in the nation state of Solomon Islands. Rennell Island has a land area of that is about long and wide. It is t ...

in 1974. It was developed about 1915 by a deaf person named Kagobai and used by his hearing family and friends, but apparently died with him; he was the only deaf person on the island, and there never was an established, self-replicating community of signers. Accordingly, in January 2017 its ISO 639-3 code siwas retired. Kuschel, the only source of information about this communication system, cites no evidence to suggest that there was any contact with any sign language.

References

{{sign language navigation Home sign Languages of the Solomon Islands Rennell and Bellona Islands Languages attested from the 1970s Languages extinct in the 2000s Extinct sign languages