Alternate Names: Chican Sign Language, Lengua de Señas Chicana, LSChicana, Nohya Sign Language
Dialects: Dialect variation outside of Chican has not been assessed. Distinct from Mexican Sign Language , used elsewhere in Mexico (1998 R. Johnson, Zeshan et al 2013).
Genealogy:
Demographics: 100% monolingual in deaf population. L2 users: 400 (1999 H. Smith). 17 deaf people out of a village of 720 (approximately 2.4%) in Chican, the primary location for which information is available. (Escobedo and Ernesto 2012, Zeshan et al 2013) Numbers elsewhere unknown.
Language Use: Widely used by hearing people as well as deaf. Hearing people speak Yucatec Maya Sign Language and Spanish [spa]. Reportedly well integrated into local society, so presumably used in all domains in which deaf people participate. All ages.
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 0%. Some Deaf children from Chican attend a nearby special education school, which makes little use of signs.
Writing System: Unwritten
Nation of Origin: Mexico
Other Comments: Hereditary deafness.