{{Short description|Sign language of Providence Island}} {{Infobox language |name=Providence Island Sign Language |altname= Provisle |states=[[Colombia]] |region=[[San Andrés and Providencia|Providence Island]] |speakers=19 deaf |speakers2=Known by the majority of the 2,500–3,000 population |date=1986 |ref=e18 |familycolor=sign |fam1=[[village sign language|village sign]] |fam2=[[Providencia–Cayman Sign Language family|Providencia–Cayman Sign]]?<ref>{{cite web| editor-last1= Hammarström| editor-first1 = Harald| editor-last2 = Forke| editor-first2 = Robert| editor-last3 = Haspelmath| editor-first3 = Martin| editor-last4 = Bank| editor-first4 = Sebastian| year = 2020|title = Providencia Sign Language | work = [[Glottolog]] 4.3| url = https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/prov1243}}</ref> |iso3=prz |glotto=prov1243 |glottorefname=Providencia Sign Language |map = Sign Languages of Turtle Island.svg |mapcaption = Various sign languages of [[Turtle Island]] (North America), excluding [[Francosign languages]]. Provisle is labelled in pink. }}

'''Providence Island Sign Language''' ('''PISL'''; {{Langx|es|Lengua de señas de Providencia}}), also known as '''Provisle''', is a [[village sign language]] of the small island community of [[San Andrés and Providencia|Providence Island]] in the Western [[Caribbean]], off the coast of [[Nicaragua]] but belonging to [[Colombia]]. The island is about {{convert|15|sqmi|km2}} and the total population is about 5,000, of which an unusual proportion are deaf (5 in 1,000).<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Lattig MC, Gelvez N, Plaza SL, Tamayo G, Uribe JI, Salvatierra I, Bernal JE, Tamayo ML |title=Deafness on the island of Providencia - Colombia: different etiology, different genetic counseling.|journal=Genetic Counseling|volume= 19 |issue= 4 |pages= 403–12 |year= 2008 |pmid=19239084}}</ref>

It is believed that the sign language emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century. Brief sociological studies have suggested that deaf people on the island are regarded as inferior in mental ability; hearing people do not discuss complex ideas with them, and they hold a marginalized social position. Perhaps consequently, PISL is rather simplistic in comparison to other sign languages. Another possibility for the state of the language is that few deaf people communicate directly, meaning that almost all signing is mediated by the hearing population.<ref name="MSPA">{{cite book|last1= Meir |first1= Irit |last2= Sandler |first2= Wendy |last3= Padden |first3= Carol |author-link3= Carol Padden |last4= Aronoff |first4= Mark |author-link4= Mark Aronoff |year= 2010 |chapter= Chapter 18: Emerging sign languages |chapter-url= http://sandlersignlab.haifa.ac.il/html/html_eng/pdf/EMERGING_SIGN_LANGUAGES.pdf |editor1-last= Marschark |editor1-first= Marc |editor2-last= Spencer |editor2-first= Patricia Elizabeth |title= Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies, Language, and Education |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0mmJAgAAQBAJ |volume= 2 |location= New York |publisher= [[Oxford University Press]] |isbn= 978-0-19-539003-2 |oclc= 779907637 |access-date= 2016-11-05 |author-link=Irit Meir|author-link2=Wendy Sandler}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * Woodward, James. ''Attitudes toward deaf people on Providence Island'', Journal article in: Sign Language Studies 7:18 (1978), pp.&nbsp;49–68 * {{Cite Gallaudet Encyclopedia|title=Sign languages — Providence Island|last=Woodward|first=James|volume=3|pages=103–104}} * Washabaugh, William; Woodward, James; DeSantis, Susan (1978): "Providence Island Sign: A Context-Dependent Language". In: Anthropological Linguistics, vol. 20, 95–109.

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20051112022440/http://www.uwm.edu/~wash/prov.htm Providence Island Sign Language] by [[William Washabaugh]] (1991)

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[[Category:Sign languages of Colombia]] [[Category:Village sign languages]] [[Category:Language isolates of North America]]