Sign Language Varieties in Lima, Peru

This article examines the diversity of sign language varieties used in Lima, Peru. The majority of the analysis is based on lexicostatistics, using data collected in 2014 to compare nine signers and to determine foreign influences. This technique is used to better understand the linguistic situation without the need for a large corpus of data. Two distinct sign languages are identified: Peruvian Sign Language among younger signers and a previously undocumented language that this article calls Inmaculada Sign Language among the oldest generation. A third variety, which acts as link between these two languages, exhibits some features of a creole. All three varieties are native in origin and show some influence from American Sign Language (ASL), with the most ASL influence in Peruvian Sign Language. The history of deaf education in Lima helps explain how the two languages developed, and individual variation is described as the product of social factors. The findings are in line with what has been found in other surveys of supposedly uniform national sign languages.