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Mexican Sign Language

A language of Mexico

ISO 639-3: mfs

Population	87,000 to 100,000 mainly monolingual users (1986 T. C. Smith-Stark), out of 1,300,000 deaf persons in Mexico (VanCleve 1986).
Region	Widespread, except in some American Indian areas (see Yucatec Mayan Sign Language [msd]): Mexico D.F. Guadalajara, Monterrey, Hermosillo, Morelia, Veracruz, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Puebla, Cuernavaca, Torreón, Saltillo, Toluca.
Alternate names	Lengua de Señas Mexicana, Lenguaje de Señas de México, Lenguaje de Señas Mexicano, Lenguaje de Signos Mexicano, Lenguaje Manual Mexicana, Lenguaje de las Manos, LSM
Dialects	Influence from French Sign Language [fsl]. Users of ASL [ase] have 14% intelligibility of LSM. Lexical similarity 85% to– 100% among regional dialects, nearly all above 90% (1989 A. Bickford).
Classification	Deaf sign language
Language use	Most deaf schools use oralist method, but some use signs. At least 3 deaf churches in Mexico City, 3 in Guadalajara. 19 schools for the deaf in Saltillo, Torreón, Guadalajara (3), Mexico City (6), Morelia, Cuernavaca, Monterrey, Ciudad Obregón, Hermosillo, Villahermosa, Matamoros, Veracruz; athletic clubs, craft schools, rehabilitation institutions.
Language development	Dictionary.
Writing system	Latin script.
Comments	Does not follow Spanish grammar. Deaf are called ‘sordos’, ‘sordomudos’, ‘los silentes’.

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

Bickford, J. Albert. 1989. "Lexical variation in Mexican sign language."

Bickford, J. Albert. 1991. "Lexical variation in Mexican sign language."

Faurot, Karla and others. 2000. "The identity of Mexican sign as a language = Lenguaje de signos mexicano: la identidad como lenguaje del sistema de signos mexicano."  

Parkhurst, Stephen J. 1993. "Smalley’s ‘maximums’ of orthography design and sign languages."

Parkhurst, Stephen J. and Dianne Parkhurst. 1995. "Language and the Deaf."

Plumlee, Marilyn. 1995. "Pronouns in Mexican Sign Language."