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 interest in documentation and revitalization.

Over the course of the 20th century, at least four sign languages were brought to the Caribbean by missionaries and educators from outside. Three of these imported sign languages reflect colonial relationships, past or present, with European countries. French Sign Language (LSF) is used in Martinique, Guadaloupe, and French Guiana, which are all overseas regions of France. Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) is used in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, all part of the Netherlands, as well as in Suriname, which gained independence in 1975. British Sign Language (BSL) was used for a short time when a native signer, Reverend F. W. Gilby helped to establish the first deaf schools in Trinidad and Jamaica, both British colonies at the time. Although BSL is not widely used now, some older signers in both places still use language varieties which show traces of BSL influence.

The most widely used imported sign language of all is American Sign Language (ASL), brought to the region at various points over the course of the 20th century by missionaries and educators from the United States. Varieties of ASL are found in Cuba and Puerto Rico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as across most of the English-official Caribbean.

Among the sign languages which are indigenous to the Caribbean, some developed in relatively isolated communities in which there was a high incidence of hearing conditions among the population. On Providence Island (Colombia), genetically inherited deaf genes can be traced back to the 19th century, and a unique sign language, used by both hearing and deaf islanders has emerged. Another village sign language, known as Jamaican Country Sign or Konchri Sain (KS) is used in the St Elizabeth parish of Jamaica. Similar situations have been observed on Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands and in Kajana, a maroon village in the Surinamese amazon.

Elsewhere, new sign languages have emerged following the establishment of schools for Deaf children. In Trinidad and Tobago, the first residential Deaf school was founded in 1946. The school employed largely oralist teaching methods for almost three decades, during which time, a new sign language, now known as Trinidad and Tobago Sign Language (TTSL), was created by successive cohorts of pupils. Similar circumstances led to the emergence of Cuban Sign Language. In Puerto Rico, an indigenous sign language, PRSL, may have been in existence prior to the establishment of the first Deaf school, though after over a century of language contact, PRSL now seems to be quite close to ASL.

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