Maritime Sign Language

A language of Canada

ISO 639: nsr
Alternate Names: MSL, Nova Scotia Sign Language, Nova Scotian Sign Language, Old Signs
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].
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).

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