Swiss-Italian Sign Language
[aka Lingua dei Segni Italiana, LIS-SI]Classification: Sign Language
·endangered
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Endangered
80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
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300
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ca. 7,500
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"...estimates based on the internationally used formula of 0.0 I signing deaf persons per thousand of a population, as well as on membership in various clubs and organizations and on clients of interpreter services, would indicate that of the c.7.5million inhabitants of Switzerland, there are c.7,500 Deaf signers, with c.5,500 in the eighteen primarily German-speaking cantons, 1,700 in the seven primarily French cantons and 300 in the Italian canton. Whether the traditional formula is still valid for the younger generations of deaf children who now routinely receive cochlear implants is an important open question for future research. There are, in addition, c.13,000 hearing signers in the country, an estimate based on the number of participants in sign language classes. There are no figures for children of deaf adults (CODAs)."
- SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
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- TRANSMISSION
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- MORE ON VITALITY
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"In 2006, approximately 80 percent of deaf infants were implanted, many of them at as early as thirteen months of age and the medical staff usually does not encourage parents to use sign language with their deaf child.... The number of pupils in the day and residential schools for the Deaf has been steadily decreasing over the past decade, as the large majority of Swiss deaf children who have received a cochlear implant are integrated into classes with hearing children, usually without signing support."
"Many signers in these more recent deaf generations have learned sign language as adolescents from the adult Deaf community." - GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
- Recognized, but not official; government resources in sign languages; several government acts of support for sign languages; subsidies for sign language classes; inter-cantonal training of sign language teachers and of sign language interpreters
- INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT
- Swiss Federation of the Deaf (SGB-FSS)
- OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
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Swiss-German Sign Language
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Swiss-French Sign Language
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other sign languages
- LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS
"It is not unusual for a Swiss Deaf person to know more than one of the Swiss sign languages through personal contacts as well as national associations (such as the Swiss Deaf Sports Association), as well as one or more foreign sign languages (especially German, French, Italian and American sign languages)."
"There are currently more materials available for DSGS than for the other Swiss languages, although the newly nationalized Swiss Deaf Association is currently making plans for producing such products for LSF-SR and LIS-SI as well."
- PLACES
- Switzerland
- LOCATION DESCRIPTION
Swiss-Italian cantons