Maritime Sign Language

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A language of Canada

ISO 639-3
nsr
Alternate Names
MSL, Nova Scotia Sign Language, Nova Scotian Sign Language, Old Signs
User Population

90 (Yoel 2009). One hundred users or less.

Location

Scattered in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

Language Status

8b (Nearly extinct).

Classification
Sign language, Deaf community sign language
Dialects

None known. Based primarily on British Sign Language [bfi], but over time with increasing borrowing from American Sign Language [ase] (Yoel 2009).

Language Use

Elderly only. Shifted to American Sign Language [ase]. Some also use English [eng].

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Maritime Sign Language
Other Comments

Developed due to immigration of deaf people from the United Kingdom and the eastern United States, starting in the 1700s. Deaf school established in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1856; prior to that, some deaf children attended schools in Scotland and England. Now mostly rural, with users isolated from each other; many former users have transitioned to using ASL [ase] (Yoel 2009).