page_title: Inuit Sign Language
section_title: Varieties
hierarchical_section_title: Inuit Sign Language / Varieties
caption_attribution_description: English: Map showing the extinct and extant signed languages of the United States and Canada at their maximum attested historical ranges, purposefully excluding the dominating languages ASL and LSQ. Other potential languages such as Navajo Sign Language which may be dialects of Plains Sign Talk have been included under the PST umbrella. &#160;&#160; Plains Sign Talk &#160;&#160; Inuiuuk (ᐃᓄᐃᐆᒃ) &#160;&#160; Hawai'i Sign Language &#160;&#160; Maritime Sign Language Extinct Languages &#160;&#160; Plateau Sign Language &#160;&#160; Martha's Vineyard Sign Language &#160;&#160; Henniker Sign Language &#160;&#160; Sandy River Valley Sign Language
context_page_description: Inuit Sign Language is an Indigenous sign language isolate native to Inuit Nunangat across communities in the Canadian Arctic. It is currently only attested within certain communities in Nunavut, particularly around Baker Lake and Rankin Inlet. Although there is a possibility that it may be used in other places where Inuit people live in the Arctic, this has not been confirmed.
  Of the estimated 155 deaf residents of Nunavut in 2000, around 47 were thought to use IUR, while the rest use ASL due to schooling. It is unknown how many hearing people use the language nor how many people are monolingual. As it is a highly endangered and relatively hidden language, it has no protection under the federal or territorial governments of Canada. However, IUR exists alongside ASL interpretation within the Nunavut Legislative Assembly as of 2008. Recently, there has been increased interest in the documentation of the language which would be done through the Nunavut Council for People with Disabilities and the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation. As well, there is push to expand the interpretation/translation programme through Arctic College to include IUR.
context_section_description: As academic research into IUR is a new field, there is limited information related to its varieties. However, it is known that there is dialectal variation of the language across at least Nunavut, as to be expected from separated linguistic communities. It is reported that a sign language of Greenland is closely related to IUR with ASL and Danish Sign Language loans, but it is yet to be determined whether that is valid as Greenlandic Sign Language may be a variety or related to Danish Sign Language itself.
  Beyond dialectal variation, there is little known of the range of the language or whether not there are multiple languages that exist. It is said that Inuit have spoken IUR, or at least a variation therein, for generations across much of their territories, however no current research confirms those rumours. As such, IUR is unattested to the west of Nunavut.
caption:   Confirmed range of Inuit Sign Language in Nunavut among various sign languages of the US and Canada.
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