Rennellese Sign Language Explained

Rennellese Sign Language is an extinct form of home sign documented from Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands in 1974.^[3] It was developed about 1915 by a deaf person named Kagobai and used by his hearing family and friends, but apparently died with him; he was the only deaf person on the island, and there never was an established, self-replicating community of signers. Accordingly, in January 2017 its ISO 639-3 code [rsi] was retired.^[4] Kuschel, the only source of information about this communication system, cites no evidence to suggest that there was any contact with any sign language.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Extinct Languages: The Languages We Have Lost in the 21st Century. Atomic Scribe. 2024-10-05. 2022-01-31. Extinct: Around 2000.
2. Web site: Rennellese Sign Language. Ethnologue. 2024-10-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20080928072802/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=rsi. 2008-09-28. dead.
3. Book: Kuschel. Rolf. A Lexicon of Signs from a Polynesian Outliner Island: A Description of 217 Signs as Developed and Used by Kagobai, the Only Deaf-Mute of Rennell Island. 1974. Københavns Universitet. København. 9788750015062. 187 pages. 2016-01-22.
4. Web site: ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Change request documentation for: 2016-002. ISO 639. SIL International. 1 February 2017.