Sign Language: Caribbean

The Caribbean region is geographically, historically, and linguistically diverse. Here, it refers to the islands in and around the Caribbean Sea, from Cuba in the northwest, down to Trinidad and Tobago, just off the coast of Venezuela in the southeast, and including Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana on the south American mainland, as well as Belize on the Central American coast. The sign languages used in the Caribbean include several which have been imported from other countries, as well as indigenous languages which emerged in isolated areas or following the establishment of deaf schools. The futures of many of these languages are uncertain, but there has been a recognition by several Caribbean Deaf communities of the importance of their unique linguistic heritage and a renewed ...