It is here proposed that a single 3-letter code, sgn, for Sign Languages be added to ISO 639-2, and that, as necessary, other codes be appended to that code to specify different Sign Languages. The extensions are not proposed for addition to ISO 639-2 itself, as there are no provisions in that standard for such extensions.
Most of the Sign Languages in the table below can be identified by the country in which they are used, by appending the 2-letter country code from ISO 3166-1. A number of them require additionally one of the regional extensions specified in ISO 3166-2; some extensions are language codes taken from the Bibliographical codes found in in ISO 639-2 where further precision is required, such as where more than one Sign Language occurs in a country.
By convention, the language code is written in small letters, and the country code and regional extension are written in capital letters.
In the table, the first column presents the name of the Sign Language and sometimes a link to an external source for it. The second column gives a conventional acronym reported as an alternate name by the DAC (the Deaf Action Committee for SignWriting) or by the SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics). The third column (SIL language codes) and fourth columns (SIL country entries) link to pages from the 13th edition of the SIL Ethnologue. In the fifth column is the proposed ISO 639-2 extended identifier. In the sixth column a note is added to explain an extension when it consists of more than just the country code.
A number of transcription systems exist to write Sign Languages. Among these are Stokoe, HamNoSys, Bergmann, SignFont, Newkirk, Eshkol-Wahmann, Liddell Movement-Hold, SignPS, Labanotation, Benesh Movement Notation, numerous glossing systems, life-like illustrations placed in special sequences, and SignWriting. The Deaf Action Committee for SignWriting can easily identify hundreds of documents written in SignWriting alone.
Note: The Registration Authority for ISO 639-2 has provisionally accepted to encode "sgn" for Sign Languages; the Joint Advisory Group will meet in 2000-02 to make the final decision.
| Name & link | Acronym | SIL code | SIL country page | 639-2 + ext. (proposed) | Comment |
| Adamorobe Sign Language | ADS | Ghana | sgn-GH-EP | Eastern region | |
| Algerian Sign Language | ASP | Algeria | sgn-DZ | ||
| American Sign Language | ASL | ASE | USA, Canada | sgn-US | |
| Argentine Sign Language | LSA | AED | Argentina | sgn-AR | |
| Armenian Sign Language | AEN | Armenia | sgn-AM | ||
| Australian Aboriginal Sign Language | ASW | Australia | sgn-AU-NT | Northern Territory | |
| Australian Sign Language | Auslan | ASF | Australia | sgn-AU | |
| Austrian Sign Language | ÖGS | ASQ | Austria | sgn-AT | |
| Bali Sign Language | BQF | Indonesia, Java & Bali | sgn-ID-BA | Bali | |
| Belgian-Flemish Sign Language | BVS | Belgium | sgn-BE-VLG | Vlaamse Gewest | |
| Belgian-French Sign Language | BVS | Belgium | sgn-BE-WAL | Région Wallonne | |
| Bolivian Sign Language | BVL | Bolivia | sgn-BO | ||
| Brazilian Sign Language | LIBRAS | BZS | Brazil | sgn-BR | |
| British Sign Language | BHO | United Kingdom | sgn-GB | ||
| Bulgarian Sign Language | BQN | Bulgaria | sgn-BG | ||
| Catalonian Sign Language | CSC | Spain | sgn-ES-CT | Cataluńa | |
| Chadian Sign Language | CDS | Chad | sgn-TD | ||
| Chilean Sign Language | CSG | Chile | sgn-CL | ||
| Chinese Sign Language | CSL | China | sgn-CN | ||
| Colombian Sign Language | CSN | Colombia | sgn-CO | ||
| Costa Rican Sign Language | CSR | Costa Rica | sgn-CR | ||
| Czech Sign Language | CSE | Czech Republic | sgn-CZ | ||
| Danish Sign Language | DTS | DSL | Denmark | sgn-DK | |
| Dutch Sign Language | NGT | DSE | Netherlands | sgn-NL | |
| Ecuadorian Sign Language | ECS | Ecuador | sgn-EC | ||
| El Salvadoran Sign Language | ESN | El Salvador | sgn-SV | ||
| Eskimo Sign Language | ESL | Canada | sgn-CA-NU | Nunavut | |
| Ethiopian Sign Language | ETH | Ethiopia | sgn-ET | ||
| Finnish Sign Language | FSE | Finland | sgn-FI | ||
| French Canadian Sign Language | LSQ | FCS | Canada | sgn-CA-QC | Québec |
| French Sign Language | LSF | FSL | France | sgn-FR | |
| German Sign Language | DGS | GSG | Germany | sgn-DE | |
| Ghanaian Sign Language | GSE | Ghana | sgn-GH | ||
| Greek Sign Language | GSS | Greece | sgn-GR | ||
| Guatemalan Sign Language | GSM | Guatemala | sgn-GT | ||
| Hawai'i Pidgin Sign Language | HPS | USA | sgn-US-HI | Hawai'i | |
| Hong Kong Sign Language | HKSL | Hong Kong | sgn-HK | not in SIL | |
| Icelandic Sign Language | ICL | Iceland | sgn-IS | ||
| Indonesian Sign Language | INL | Indonesia, Java & Bali | sgn-ID | ||
| Indopakistani Sign Language | IPSL | INS | India, Pakistan | sgn-IN | |
| Irish Sign Language | ISL | ISG | Ireland | sgn-IE | |
| Israeli Sign Language | ISL | Israel | sgn-IL | ||
| Italian Sign Language | LIS | ISE | Italy | sgn-IT | |
| Jamaican Country Sign Language | JCS | Jamaica | sgn-JM | ||
| Japanese Sign Language | JSL | Japan | sgn-JP | ||
| Jordanian Sign Language | LIU | JOS | Jordan | sgn-JO | |
| Kenyan Sign Language | XKI | Kenya | sgn-KE | ||
| Korean Sign Language | KVK | Korea, South | sgn-KR | ||
| Kuala Lumpur Sign Language | KGI | Malaysia, Peninsular | sgn-MY-B | Selangor | |
| Latvian Sign Language | LSL | Latvia | sgn-LV | ||
| Libyan Sign Language | LBS | Libya | sgn-LY | ||
| Lithuanian Sign Language | LLS | Lithuania | sgn-LT | ||
| Lyons Sign Language | LSG | France | sgn-FR-69 | Rhône | |
| Malaysian Sign Language | XML | Malaysia, Peninsular | sgn-MY | ||
| Maltese Sign Language | LSMA | MDL | Malta | sgn-MT | |
| Martha's Vineyard Sign Language | MRE | USA | sgn-US-MA | Massachussetts | |
| Mayan Sign Language | MSD | Mexico | sgn-MX-YUC | Yucatán | |
| Mexican Sign Language | LSM | MFS | Mexico | sgn-MX | |
| Monastic Sign Language | MZG | Holy See | sgn-VA | ||
| Mongolian Sign Language | QMM | Mongolia | sgn-MN | ||
| Moroccan Sign Language | XMS | Morocco | sgn-MA | ||
| Namibian Sign Language | NBS | Namibia | sgn-NA | ||
| Nepalese Sign Language | NSP | Nepal | sgn-NP | ||
| New Zealand Sign Language | NZS | New Zealand | sgn-NZ | ||
| Nicaraguan Sign Language | ISN | NCS | Nicaragua | sgn-NI | |
| Nigerian Sign Language | NSI | Nigeria | sgn-NG | ||
| Norwegian Sign Language | NTS | NSL | Norway | sgn-NO | |
| Nova Scotian Sign Language | NSR | Canada | sgn-CA-NS | Nova Scotia | |
| Old Kentish Sign Language | OKL | United Kingdom | sgn-GB-KEN | Kent | |
| Penang Sign Language | PSG | Malaysia, Peninsular | sgn-MY-P | Pulau Pinang | |
| Persian Sign Language | PSC | Iran | sgn-IR | ||
| Peruvian Sign Language | PRL | Peru | sgn-PE | ||
| Philippine Sign Language | PSP | Philippines | sgn-PH | ||
| Plains Sign Talk | PST | PSD | USA | sgn-US-SD | South Dakota |
| Polish Sign Language | PSO | Poland | sgn-PL | ||
| Portuguese Sign Language | PSR | Portugal | sgn-PT | ||
| Providencia Sign Language | PRO | Colombia | sgn-CO-SAP | Providencia Island | |
| Puerto Rican Sign Language | PRSL | PSL | Puerto Rico | sgn-PR | |
| Rennellese Sign Language | RSI | Solomon Islands | sgn-SB | ||
| Romanian Sign Language | RMS | Romania | sgn-RO | ||
| Russian Sign Language | RSL | Russia, Europe | sgn-RU | ||
| Saudi Arabian Sign Language | SDL | Saudi Arabia | sgn-SA | ||
| Scandinavian Pidgin Sign Language | SPF | Sweden | sgn-SE-crp | Sweden & Creole | |
| Singapore Sign Language | SLS | Singapore | sgn-SG | ||
| Slovakian Sign Language | SVK | Slovakia | sgn-SK | ||
| South African Sign Language | SFS | South Africa | sgn-ZA | ||
| Spanish Sign Language | LSE | SSP | Spain | sgn-ES | |
| Sri Lankan Sign Language | SQS | Sri Lanka | sgn-LK | ||
| Swedish Sign Language | STS | SWL | Sweden | sgn-SE | |
| Swiss-French Sign Language | SSR | Switzerland | sgn-CH-GE | Genčve | |
| Swiss-German Sign Language | SGG | Switzerland | sgn-CH-ZH | Zürich | |
| Swiss-Italian Sign Language | SLF | Switzerland | sgn-CH-TI | Ticino | |
| Taiwanese Sign Language | TSL | TSS | Taiwan | sgn-TW | |
| Tanzanian Sign Language | TZA | Tanzania | sgn-TZ | ||
| Thai Sign Language | TSQ | Thailand | sgn-TH | ||
| Tunisian Sign Language | TSE | Tunisia | sgn-TN | ||
| Turkish Sign Language | TSM | Turkey | sgn-TR | ||
| Ugandan Sign Language | UGN | Uganda | sgn-UG | ||
| Ukrainian Sign Language | UKL | Ukraine | sgn-UA | ||
| Urubú-Kaapor Sign Language | UKS | Brazil | sgn-BR-MA | Maranhão | |
| Uruguayan Sign Language | UGY | Uruguay | sgn-UY | ||
| Venezuelan Sign Language | VSL | Venezuela | sgn-VE | ||
| Yiddish Sign Language | YDS | Israel | sgn-IL-yid | Israel & Yiddish | |
| Yugoslavian Sign Language | YSL | Yugoslavia | sgn-YU | ||
| Zambian Sign Language | ZSL | Zambia | sgn-ZM | ||
| Zimbabwe Sign Language | ZIB | Zimbabwe | sgn-ZW |
| Name & Link | Acronym | SIL Code | SIL Country | 639-2 + ext. (proposed) | Comment |
| Signed Afrikaans | South Africa | sgn-afr-ZA | |||
| Signed Chinese | Taiwan | sgn-chi-TW | |||
| Signed Danish | Denmark | sgn-dan-DK | |||
| Signed Dutch | Belgium | sgn-dut-BE | |||
| Signed Dutch | Netherlands | sgn-dut-NL | |||
| Signed English | United Kingdom | sgn-eng-GB | |||
| Signed English | Ireland | sgn-eng-IE | |||
| Signed English | USA | sgn-eng-US | |||
| Signed Finnish | Finland | sgn-fin-FI | |||
| Signed French | Belgium | sgn-fre-BE | |||
| Signed French | Canada | sgn-fre-CA | |||
| Signed French | France | sgn-fre-FR | |||
| Signed Japanese | Japan | sgn-jpn-JP | |||
| Signed Norwegian | Norway | sgn-nor-NO | |||
| Signed Portuguese | Portugal | sgn-por-PT | |||
| Signed Swedish | Sweden | sgn-swe-SE |