Paraguayan Sign Language, or ''Lengua de señas paraguaya'' (LSPY), is the

deaf sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. It is not intelligible with neighboring languages, nor with

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

, but speakers report that it has historical connections with

Uruguayan Sign Language Uruguayan Sign Language, or ''Lengua de señas uruguaya'' (LSU), is the deaf sign language of Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares ...

. It developed outside the schools, and was only used in education "recently" (as of 2009). Paraguay is notably a bilingual country, where both

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

and Guarani are spoken. The Language Law No. 4251 provides for

fingerspelling Fingerspelling (or dactylology) is the representation of the letters of a writing system, and sometimes numeral systems, using only the hands. These manual alphabets (also known as finger alphabets or hand alphabets) have often been used in deaf ...

adequate to both languages.Ley de Lenguas Nº 4251

Bibliography

*Lichtenberger, Wilfried. 1990. ''Habla Conmigo: primer libro de aprendizaje de la lengua para escolares principiantes con difficultades en el lenguaje.'' Asunción: Centro Editorial Paraguayo S.R.L. *Lichtenberger, Wilfried. 1990. ''Guia linguistica y didactica del Habla Conmigo: primer libro de aprendizaje de la lengua para escolares principiantes con difficultades en el lenguaje para el Profesor especial. Asunción.

References

Sign language isolates Languages of Paraguay {{Paraguay-stub