Did you know Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language is endangered?

ALSO KNOWN AS		ABSL
CLASSIFICATION		Sign Language, Near Eastern
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		syy
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “The emergence of grammar: Systematic structure in a new language” (2661-2665) . Wendy Sandler and Irit Meir and Carol Padden and Mark Aronoff (2005)

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
>150
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
~3,500
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL) has arisen in the last 70 years in an isolated endogamous community with a high incidence of nonsyndromic, genetically recessive, profound pre-lingual neurosensory deafness... Within the past three generations, ≈150 individuals with congenital deafness have been born into the community... the deaf members of the community and a significant fraction of its hearing members communicate by means of a sign language. Siblings and children of deaf individuals and other members of a household (which may include a large extended family) often become fluent signers."

PLACES: Israel

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Small settlement in the Negev desert in southern Israel

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
130?
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
>4,630
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"Deaf and hearing infants are exposed to signing from birth, within the family environment, with additional (deaf and hearing) adult models in the community... the number of inhabitants [of the Al-Sayyid Bedouin community] is estimated to be over 4500, with nearly 130 deaf individuals"

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "The members of the Al-Sayyid shared signing community regularly move between languages; primarily Arabic, Hebrew, the local Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language and Israeli Sign Language. Accordingly, code switching and mixing are increasingly common."

PLACES: Israel

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: A settlement in the Negev Desert

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
140
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
3,500
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
(Sandler et al. 2005)

DATE OF INFO: 2005

PLACES: Israel

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "Negev District, Al-Sayyid village."

	17th		2013	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 17th Edition (2013)			Paul M. Lewis; Gary F. Simons; and Charles D. Fennig	Dallas, Texas: SIL International				http://www.ethnologue.com Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 17th Edition (2013)		Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.), 2013. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 17th edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.	3,500	140	2005	100-999	(Sandler et al. 2005)	"Also used by many of the 3,500 hearing people in the village."				Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	Israel	"Negev District, Al-Sayyid village."
		7	2005	The emergence of grammar: Systematic structure in a new language		2661-2665			Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences	102		http://sandlersignlab.haifa.ac.il/pdf/PNAS.pdf	Wendy Sandler and Irit Meir and Carol Padden and Mark Aronoff	Wendy Sandler, Irit Meir, Carol Padden and Mark Aronoff. 2005. "The Emergence of Grammar: Systematic Structure in a New Language." In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102: 2661-2665. Online: http://sandlersignlab.haifa.ac.il/pdf/PNAS.pdf.	~3,500	>150		100-999	"Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL) has arisen in the last 70 years in an isolated endogamous community with a high incidence of nonsyndromic, genetically recessive, profound pre-lingual neurosensory deafness... Within the past three generations, ≈150 individuals with congenital deafness have been born into the community... the deaf members of the community and a significant fraction of its hearing members communicate by means of a sign language. Siblings and children of deaf individuals and other members of a household (which may include a large extended family) often become fluent signers."					Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	Israel	Small settlement in the Negev desert in southern Israel	30.377614, 34.886169
9781614512035			2012	Demarcating generations of signers in the dynamic sociolinguistic landscape of a shared sign-language: the case of the Al-Sayyid Bedouin	Sign Languages in Village Communities		Ulrike Zeshan and Connie de Vos	de Gruyter			Nijmegen		Shifra Kisch	Shifra Kisch. 2012. "Demarcating Generations of Signers in the Dynamic Sociolinguistic Landscape of a Shared Sign-language: the Case of the Al-Sayyid Bedouin." In Sign Languages in Village Communities, edited by Ulrike Zeshan and Connie de Vos. de Gruyter.	>4,630	130?		100-999	"Deaf and hearing infants are exposed to signing from birth, within the family environment, with additional (deaf and hearing) adult models in the community... the number of inhabitants [of the Al-Sayyid Bedouin community] is estimated to be over 4500, with nearly 130 deaf individuals"		Arabic, Hebrew, Israeli Sign Language	"The members of the Al-Sayyid shared signing community regularly move between languages; primarily Arabic, Hebrew, the local Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language and Israeli Sign Language. Accordingly, code switching and mixing are increasingly common."	Most	Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	Israel	A settlement in the Negev Desert

Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language

Language metadata

Language information by source

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

>150

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

130?

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

140

Discussion

Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language

Language metadata

Language information by source

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

>150

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

130?

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

140

Discussion

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