Finland-Swedish Sign Language

Finland-Swedish Sign Language
finlandssvenskt teckenspråk (Swedish)
suomenruotsalainen viittomakieli (Finnish)
Native to	Finland
Ethnicity	Finland-Swedes
Native speakers	150 deaf and 300 total (2014)[1] Same figure of 150 cited in 2001[2]
Language family	? British Sign Swedish Sign Finnish Sign Finland-Swedish Sign Language
Language codes
ISO 639-3	fss
Glottolog	finl1235[3]

Finland-Swedish Sign Language (FinSSL) is a moribund Deaf sign language in Finland. It is now used only in private settings by older adults who attended the only Swedish school for the deaf in Finland (in Porvoo/Borgå), which was established in the mid 19th century but closed in 1993. FinSSL is said to be a distinct language; however, "Finland-Swedish Deaf have few problems understanding Finnish signers".^[4] There had been, moreover, continuous input from Swedish Sign Language over its history.

References

1. Finland-Swedish Sign Language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Finland-Swedish Sign Language at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
3. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Finland-Swedish Sign Language". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
4. Londen, Monica (2004). Communicational and educational choices for minorities within minorities: The case of the Finland-Swedish deaf (PDF). Helsinki University Press. ISBN 952-10-0812-1. Retrieved 15 February 2015.