Rennellese Sign Language

Rennellese Sign Language is an extinct form of home sign documented from Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands in 1974.[1] It was developed about 1915 by a deaf person named Kagobai and used by his hearing family and friends, but apparently died with him; he was the only deaf person on the island, and there never was an established, self-replicating community of signers. Accordingly, in January 2017 its ISO 639-3 code [rsi] was retired.[2] Kuschel,[1] the only source of information about this communication system, cites no evidence to suggest that there was any contact with any sign language.

Rennellese Sign Language
Native toSolomon Islands
Extinctca. 2000
none (home sign)
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologrenn1236
ELPRennell Island Sign Language

References edit

  1. ^ a b Kuschel, Rolf (1974). A Lexicon of Signs from a Polynesian Outliner Island: A Description of 217 Signs as Developed and Used by Kagobai, the Only Deaf-Mute of Rennell Island (PDF). København: Københavns Universitet. pp. 187 pages. ISBN 9788750015062. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  2. ^ ISO 639-3 Registration Authority. "Change request documentation for: 2016-002". ISO 639-3. SIL International. Retrieved 1 February 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)