An indigenous sign language of the Hawaiian Islands — only recently documented and likely the last surviving member of its language family.
Where it’s spoken
Hawaiian Sign Language (HSL) developed independently of American Sign Language in deaf communities across the Hawaiian Islands. ASL was introduced to Hawaii’s deaf schools in the 1940s and rapidly displaced HSL as the default. By 2013 — when linguists at the University of Hawai’i confirmed HSL as a distinct, unrelated language — only about 40 elderly speakers remained.
What it looks like
HSL has its own grammar, vocabulary, and history of contact with non-signed Hawaiian, distinct from ASL in structure. Mutual intelligibility with ASL is low; HSL signers typically have to learn ASL as a second language.
How it’s written
Sign languages have no traditional writing system. Documentation relies on video archives and notation systems like SignWriting or HamNoSys. The University of Hawai’i runs an ongoing documentation project.
Find more languages by letter
Hawaiian Sign Language starts with H and ends with E. Browse other languages along the same letter.
Languages that contain a letter from "Hawaiian Sign Language":