Spanish Sign Language ( es, Lengua de Signos Española, LSE) is a

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

used mainly by deaf people in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and the people who live with them. Although there are not many reliable statistics, it is estimated that there are over 100,000 speakers, 20-30% of whom use it as a second language. From a strictly linguistic point of view, Spanish Sign Language refers to a sign language variety employed in an extensive central-interior area of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, having Madrid as a cultural and linguistic epicenter, with other varieties used in regions such as

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensi ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to so ...

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the List of municipalities of Spain, seventh largest city in the country. It has a ...

, parts of western

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

and near the

Province of Burgos The Province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Vall ...

.«Un estudio lingüístico: Variación de las lenguas de signos en España», Steven Parkhurst y Dianne Parkhurst. ''Revista Española de Lingüística de Lengua de Signos'' (RELLS), Madrid 2001. Promotora Española de Lingüística ( PROEL) Mutual intelligibility with the rest of the sign languages used in Spain is generally high due to a highly shared lexicon. However,

Catalan Sign Language Catalan Sign Language ( ca, Llengua de signes catalana, LSC; ) is a sign language used by around 18,000 people in different areas of Spain including Barcelona and Catalonia. As of 2012, the Catalan Federation for the Deaf estimates 25,000 LSC ...

, Valencian Sign Language as well as the Spanish Sign Language dialects used in eastern Andalusia,

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

and

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

are the most distinctive lexically (between 10 and 30% difference in the use of nouns, depending on the case). Only the Catalan and Valencian Sign Languages share less than 75% of their vocabulary with the rest of the Spanish dialects, which makes them particularly marked, distinct dialects or even languages separate from Spanish Sign Language, depending on the methods used to determine language versus dialect. Some linguists consider both these and the Spanish Sign language three variants of a polymorphic sign language.

References

External links

Alphabet
Sign language isolates Languages of Spain Sign languages of Spain {{sign-lang-stub

See also

References

External links