El Salvador
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American Sign Language
[ase] Scattered, mostly in and around San Salvador. Users: Status: 6b* (Threatened). Alternate Names: ASL. Classification: Sign language, Deaf community sign language.
Arabic, North Levantine Spoken
[apc] Users: 1,300 in El Salvador (2021 Joshua Project), based on ethnicity. Status: Unestablished. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic.
Cacaopera
[ccr] Morazan department. Users: No known L1 speakers. Last fluent speakers survived into the early 20th century. Status: 10 (Extinct). Classification: Misumalpan, Sumu-Cacaopera-Matagalpa, Cacaopera-Matagalpa.
Chinese, Yue
[yue] Users: 1,500 in El Salvador (2021 Joshua Project), based on ethnicity. Status: Unestablished. Classification: Sino-Tibetan, Chinese.
Costa Rican Sign Language
[csr] Eastern region, particularly San Miguel (Ciupek-Reed 2012). Users: Status: 6b* (Threatened). Alternate Names: LESCO, Lengua de Señas Costaricenses. Classification: Sign language, Deaf community sign language.
English
[eng] Users: 9,400 in El Salvador (2021 Joshua Project), based on ethnicity. Status: 4 (Educational). Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English.
German, Standard
[deu] Users: 6,600 in El Salvador (2021 Joshua Project), based on ethnicity. Status: Unestablished. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, German, Middle German, East Middle German.
Nahuat
[ppl] Ahuachapan, Chalatenango, La Libertad, La Paz, San Salvador, Santa Ana, and Sonsonate departments. West, interior highlands. Users: 1,300, all users. L1 users: 500 (2015 J. Stuart), increasing. L2 users: 800 (2015 J. Stuart). Ethnic population: 11,100 (2005 census). Status: 8a (Moribund). Recognized language (1993, Law to protect the national patrimony, Decree 513). Alternate Names: Nawat, Nicarao, “Pipil” (pej.). Autonym: Nahuat. Classification: Uto-Aztecan, Southern Uto-Aztecan, Corachol-Aztecan, Core Nahua.
Salvadoran Sign Language
[esn] Scattered. Users: 26,000 (2020 H. Harm). Estimated 26,000, or approximately 0.4% of the overall population (2020 H. Harm). Other estimates: 50%–75% of the total deaf signers use LESSA (Ciupek-Reed 2012). Status: 4 (Educational). Recognized language (2005, Acuerdo Nº 16-0132, August 12, 2005; Ley General de Educación, Art. 15-A (as amended 2014)). Alternate Names: El Salvadoran Sign Language, LESA, LESSA, Lengua de señas salvadoreñas. Classification: Sign language, Deaf community sign language.
Spanish
[spa] Widespread. Users: 6,479,200 in El Salvador, all users. L1 users: 6,460,000 in El Salvador (2019). L2 users: 19,200 (Instituto Cervantes 2019). Status: 1 (National). Statutory national language (1983, Constitution, Article 62). Alternate Names: Castellano, Español. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Castilian.