Did you know Inuit Sign Language is severely endangered?

ALSO KNOWN AS		Inuit Uukturausingit, IUR
CLASSIFICATION		Sign Language, North American
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		iks
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Baker Lake Rankin Inlet Taloyaok
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Inuit Sign Language” (431-448) . Joke Schuit (2015) , Julie Bakken Jepsen and Goedele De Clerck and Sam Lutalo-Kiingi and William B. McGregor · Walter de Gruyter

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<40
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"Less than 40 deaf native signers."
"The incidence of deafness among the Inuit in Nunavut is estimated to be 0.6%."

DOMAINS OF USE

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"IUR is used by less than 40 people as their first language. Some of these people use more and more ASL... Furthermore, most of these deaf adults who use IUR as their main means of communication mainly use the language with hearing signers, who are second language users. Only on rare occasions is IUR used between two deaf native signers. And as no deaf children acquire IUR as their native language, the status of the language is highly endangered."

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

Neutral or positive

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

"The Department of CLEY funded a project to develop materials for teaching and training of IUR, and is organising support services for deaf and hearing-impaired individuals."

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

No formal education exists

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

English
American Sign Language
Manually Coded English
Inuktitut

PLACES: Canada

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Throughout different communities in Nunavut

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
50
Native speakers worldwide

PLACES: Nunavut, Canada

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: This research in Rankin Inlet (62°48N, 92°05W), Baker Lake (64°19N, 96°01W) and Taloyoak (69°32N, 93°32W)

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
>141
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"For about 47 deaf signers [Inuit Sign Language, or IUR] is the sole means of communication, but these people live in separate communities spread across the immense area. It is difficult to give an estimate of the number of hearing signers, especially since it differs from community to community. I estimate that there are at least two hearing signers to each deaf signer, who have learned IUR because they are in close contact with a deaf IUR signer."

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "About two-thirds of the deaf Inuit use American Sign Language (ASL) or Manually Coded English (MCE), while the remaining one-third use IUR. Also, a few deaf Inuit are bilingual in ASL and IUR... IUR is only used as a primary language by those deaf individuals who have not been to school, or only attended school for a short period."

PLACES: Canada

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "It is possible that IUR is used among deaf people in other regions as well, but the focus of my research has been on Nunavut."

Inuit Sign Language

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<40

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

50

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

>141

Discussion

9781614518174	2015	Inuit Sign Language	Sign Languages of the World: A Comparative Handbook	431-448	Julie Bakken Jepsen and Goedele De Clerck and Sam Lutalo-Kiingi and William B. McGregor	Walter de Gruyter		https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZqnCgAAQBAJ&lpg=PR1&dq=Sign%20Languages%20of%20the%20World%3A%20A%20Comparative%20Handbook&pg=PA431#v=onepage&q&f=false	Joke Schuit		<40	10-99	"Less than 40 deaf native signers." "The incidence of deafness among the Inuit in Nunavut is estimated to be 0.6%."	Hearing signers	English, American Sign Language, Manually Coded English, Inuktitut	"The Department of CLEY funded a project to develop materials for teaching and training of IUR, and is organising support services for deaf and hearing-impaired individuals."	Neutral or positive		No formal education exists	Severely Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	13	"IUR is used by less than 40 people as their first language. Some of these people use more and more ASL... Furthermore, most of these deaf adults who use IUR as their main means of communication mainly use the language with hearing signers, who are second language users. Only on rare occasions is IUR used between two deaf native signers. And as no deaf children acquire IUR as their native language, the status of the language is highly endangered."	14	Canada	Throughout different communities in Nunavut
	2010	"Typological aspects of Inuit Sign Language (Canada)" HRELP Abstract						http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=206	Joke Schuit	Schuit, Joke. 2010. ""Typological Aspects of Inuit Sign Language (Canada)" HRELP Abstract." Online: http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=206.	50	10-99								Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				Nunavut, Canada	This research in Rankin Inlet (62°48N, 92°05W), Baker Lake (64°19N, 96°01W) and Taloyoak (69°32N, 93°32W)	62.8, -92.083; 64.32, -96.02; 69.53, -93.53
9781614512035	2012	Signing in the Arctic: External Influences on Inuit Sign Language	Sign Languages in Village Communities		Ulrike Zeshan and Connie de Vos	de Gruyter	Nijmegen		Joke Schuit	Joke Schuit. 2012. "Signing in the Arctic: External Influences On Inuit Sign Language." In Sign Languages in Village Communities, edited by Ulrike Zeshan and Connie de Vos. de Gruyter.	>141	100-999	"For about 47 deaf signers [Inuit Sign Language, or IUR] is the sole means of communication, but these people live in separate communities spread across the immense area. It is difficult to give an estimate of the number of hearing signers, especially since it differs from community to community. I estimate that there are at least two hearing signers to each deaf signer, who have learned IUR because they are in close contact with a deaf IUR signer."		American Sign Language, Manually Coded English, Inuktitut			"About two-thirds of the deaf Inuit use American Sign Language (ASL) or Manually Coded English (MCE), while the remaining one-third use IUR. Also, a few deaf Inuit are bilingual in ASL and IUR... IUR is only used as a primary language by those deaf individuals who have not been to school, or only attended school for a short period."		Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				Canada	"It is possible that IUR is used among deaf people in other regions as well, but the focus of my research has been on Nunavut."

Inuit Sign Language

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<40

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

50

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

>141

Discussion

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