Overview
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Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

<40

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Recent Resources

No resources

Community Members

    No members

Revitalization Programs

No programs

Discussion Forum

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Language Information By Source

Inuit Sign Language
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Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

<40

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

Hearing signers

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

"Less than 40 deaf native signers." "The incidence of deafness among the Inuit in Nunavut is estimated to be 0.6%."

Year of info

2015

Location and Context

Countries

Canada

Coordinates

No data

Location description

Throughout different communities in Nunavut

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

Speakers’s attitudes

Neutral or positive

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Throughout different communities in Nunavut

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

English, American Sign Language, Manually Coded English, Inuktitut

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

>141

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

"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."

Year of info

2012

Location and Context

Countries

Canada

Coordinates

No data

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."

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

"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."

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

American Sign Language, Manually Coded English, Inuktitut

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

"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."

Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

50

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

Nunavut, Canada

Coordinates

62.8, -92.083; 64.32, -96.02; 69.53, -93.53

Location description

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

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

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

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Media Resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

Filter By

No programs

  1. Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled by research teams at University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute for Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) at Eastern Michigan University
    2012. "Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled By Research Teams At University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute For Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) At Eastern Michigan University."
  2. "Typological aspects of Inuit Sign Language (Canada)" HRELP Abstract
    Schuit, Joke. 2010. ""Typological Aspects of Inuit Sign Language (Canada)" HRELP Abstract." Online: http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=206.
    http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=206
  3. Signing in the Arctic: External Influences on Inuit Sign Language
    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.
  4. Signs of the Arctic: Typological aspects of Inuit Sign Language