Peruvian Sign Language (, LSP) is a Peruvian language created and used by the Deaf community in Peru. It has been officially recognized by Peruvian law since 2010. It is not clear how many users there are in the country; the most recent general census registered little more than 10,000, but the more specific census on people with special needs found around half a million people with hearing disabilities.
Variations exist in several geographically and among generations and religious groups,
while the variety used in
Lima
Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
is the most prestigious one. The government has tried to integrate deaf students into mainstream educational programs with no real success, resulting in low levels of education for deaf students. On the other hand, deaf social gatherings and private schools keep the Peruvian Sign Language strong.
Classification
Clark
notes that Peruvian,
Bolivian
Bolivian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Bolivia
** Bolivian people
** Demographics of Bolivia
** Culture of Bolivia
* SS Bolivian, SS ''Bolivian'', later SS ''Alfios'', a British-built standard cargo ship
{{disambiguation ...
,
Ecuadorian
Ecuadorians () are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source o ...
and
Colombian sign languages "have significant lexical similarities to each other" and "contain a certain degree of lexical influence from ASL" as well (30% in the case of LSP), at least going by the forms in national dictionaries.
Chilean and
Argentinian share these traits, though to a lesser extent. Clark counts the lexical similarities to Peruvian SL as Ecuadorian (54%), Bolivian (53%), Colombian (47%), Chilean (41%), and Argentinean (33%).
See also
*
Sivia Sign Language
*
Inmaculada Sign Language
References
External links
*
Kaipuleohone ha
archived video of Peruvian Sign Language
{{sign language navigation
Languages of Peru
Sign languages of Peru