Ban Khor Sign Language (BKSL) is a

village sign language A village sign language, or village sign, also known as a shared sign language, is a local indigenous sign language used by both deaf and hearing in an area with a high incidence of congenital deafness. Meir ''et al.'' define a village sign languag ...

used by at least 400 people of a rice-farming community in the village of

Ban Khor Ban, or BAN, may refer to: Law * Ban (law), a decree that prohibits something, sometimes a form of censorship, being denied from entering or using the place/item ** Imperial ban (''Reichsacht''), a form of outlawry in the medieval Holy Roman ...

in a remote area of Isan (northeastern Thailand). Known locally as ''pasa kidd'' ('language of the mute'), it developed in the 1930s due to a high number of deaf people. Estimated number of users in 2009 was 16 deaf and approximately 400 hearing out of 2741 villagers. It is a

language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...

, independent of the other sign languages of Thailand such as

Old Bangkok Sign Language Bangkok Sign Language (also known as Old or Original Bangkok Sign Language) is a deaf-community sign language of Thailand that arose among deaf people who migrated to Bangkok for work or family. The language is moribund, with all speakers born b ...

and the national Thai Sign Language. Thai Sign Language is increasingly exerting an influence on BKSL. Younger Deaf attend distant residential Deaf schools where they learn Thai Sign Language. Even middle-aged hearing people are using Thai SL vocabulary mixed with BKSL. Attitudes favoring Thai SL over BKSL are beginning to be expressed.

Other local sign languages

Other village sign languages have been reported from the Ban Khor area, in the villages of Plaa Pag, Huay Hai and

Na Sai Na Sai ( th, นาทราย, ) is a village and ''tambon'' (subdistrict) of Li District, in Lamphun Province, Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asi ...

. They have not been documented, so it is not known if they are dialects of BKSL or if they are distinct languages.

References

{{authority control Village sign languages Endangered sign language isolates Sign languages of Thailand