Bouakako Sign Language, known in French as ''la Langue des Signes Bouakako'' (LaSiBo), is an emerging

village sign language A village sign language, or village sign, also known as a shared sign language, is a local indigenous sign language used by both deaf and hearing in an area with a high incidence of congenital deafness. Meir ''et al.'' define a village sign langua ...

in the village of Bouakako, 6 km to the west of the town of

Hiré Hiré is a town in southern Ivory Coast. It is a sub-prefecture and commune of Divo Department in Lôh-Djiboua Region, Gôh-Djiboua District Gôh-Djiboua District (french: District du Gôh-Djiboua) is one of fourteen administrative districts ...

in southern

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. LaSiBo has been used by several generations of deaf people, most of whom are related. Many of the hearing community, who speak Yocoboué Dida, know something of the language as well, and some are fluent. The vocabulary is somewhat variable between speakers, suggesting that the language is still quite young. Based on the age of the oldest deaf signer, it is probably at least 50 years old ().Angoua Jean-Jacques Tano, 2016. ''Etude d'une langue des signes émergente de Côte d'Ivoire: l'exemple de la Langue des Signes de Bouakako (LaSiBo).'' Doctoral dissertation, Leiden University. LaSiBo is similar to

Nanabin Sign Language Nanabin Sign Language is a family sign language of the coastal Fante village of Ekumfi Nanabin in the Central Region of Ghana, ca. 8 km east of Mankessim. It is used by three generations of a single family which is mostly deaf. The secon ...

in Ghana,

Mardin Sign Language Mardin Sign Language is a family sign language of Turkey. It was originally spoken in the town of Mardin, dating back at least five generations in a single extended family. All speakers now live in Izmir or Istanbul, and the younger generation ...

in Turkey and other young village sign language concentrated among one or a few families.

References

Village sign languages Languages of Ivory Coast {{IvoryCoast-stub