Saudi Sign Language is the
deaf sign language of
Saudi Arabia. This sign language is different from the Unified Arabic Sign Language that is used by 18 Arab countries.[2] There are 100,000 deaf people in Saudi Arabia.[3]
Classification
Wittmann (1991)[4] posits that SSL is a language isolate (a 'prototype' sign language), though one developed through
stimulus diffusion from an existing sign language.
^Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 10:1.215–88.
[1]
Further reading
Meir, Irit &
Sandler, Wendy. (2007) A Language in Space: The Story of Israel Sign Language. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
^a Sign-language names reflect the region of origin. Natural sign languages are not related to the spoken language used in the same region. For example, French Sign Language originated in France, but is not related to French. Conversely,
ASL and
BSL both originated in English-speaking countries but are not related to each other; ASL however is related to
French Sign Language.
^b Denotes the number (if known) of languages within the family. No further information is given on these languages.