Editing Endangered language (section)

===Endangered sign languages===
Almost all of the study of language endangerment has been with spoken languages. A UNESCO study of endangered languages does not mention sign languages.<ref>[http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/europe_index.html Endangered languages in Europe: indexes<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> However, some [[sign language]]s are also endangered, such as [[Alipur Sign Language|Alipur Village Sign Language]] (AVSL) of India,<ref>[http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/avsl-59168 ELAR – The Endangered Languages Archive<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Adamorobe Sign Language]] of Ghana, [[Ban Khor Sign Language]] of Thailand, and [[Plains Indian Sign Language]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://pislresearch.com/ |title=Hand Talk: American Indian Sign Language |access-date=2017-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024164112/http://pislresearch.com/ |archive-date=2014-10-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Hederpaly, Donna. ''[http://helenair.com/lifestyles/article_da41d7a8-a6a4-11df-9ff4-001cc4c03286.html Tribal "hand talk" considered an endangered language]'' Billings Gazette, August 13, 2010</ref> Many sign languages are used by small communities; small changes in their environment (such as contact with a larger sign language or dispersal of the deaf community) can lead to the endangerment and loss of their traditional sign language. Methods are being developed to assess the vitality of sign languages.<ref>Bickford, J. Albert, M. Paul Lewis, Gary F. Simons. 2014. Rating the vitality of sign languages. ''Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development'' 36(5):1-15.</ref>