Taiwan Sign Language (TSL; ) is the

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign ...

most commonly used by the deaf and hard of hearing in Taiwan.

History

The beginnings of Taiwan Sign Language date from 1895.Fischer, Susan ''et al.'' (2010). "Variation in East Asian Sign Language Structures" in The origins of TSL developed from

Japanese Sign Language , also known by the acronym JSL, is the dominant sign language in Japan and is a complete natural language, distinct from but influenced by the spoken Japanese language. Population There are 304,000 Deaf and Hard of Hearing people who are above ...

during Japanese rule. TSL is considered part of the Japanese Sign Language family. TSL has some

mutual intelligibility In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as ...

with both Japanese Sign Language and Korean Sign Language; it has about a 60% lexical similarity with JSL. There are two main dialects of TSL centered on two of the three major sign language schools in Taiwan: one in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

, the other in

Tainan City Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of h ...

. There is a variant based in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of T ...

, but this sign language is essentially the same as the Tainan school. After the retrocession of Taiwan to the ROC, Taiwan absorbed an influx of

Chinese Sign Language Chinese Sign Language (abbreviated CSL or ZGS; ) is the official sign language of the People's Republic of China. It is unrelated to Taiwanese Sign Language and is known in the Republic of China as ''Wénfǎ Shǒuyǔ'' (). History The firs ...

users from

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

who influenced TSL through

teaching methods A teaching method comprises the principles and methods used by teachers to enable student learning. These strategies are determined partly on subject matter to be taught and partly by the nature of the learner. For a particular teaching method ...

and

loanwords A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...

. Serious linguistic research into TSL began in the 1970s and is continuing at present. The first International

Symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

on Taiwan Sign Language

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...

was held on March 1–2, 2003, at

National Chung Cheng University National Chung Cheng University (CCU; ) is a national university in Minxiong Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan. CCU is a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. History National Chung Cheng University was the first ...

Minxiong Minxiong Township () or Minsyong Township is a rural township in Chiayi County, Taiwan. Geography The population of Minxiong Township is 70,316 (as of May 2022). It is the most populous district of Chiayi County. Minxiong Township consists o ...

Chiayi Chiayi (, Taigi POJ: ''Ka-gī''; ), officially known as Chiayi City, is a city located in the plains of southwestern Taiwan. Formerly called ''Kagee'' during the late Qing dynasty and ''Kagi'' during the Japanese era (), its historical name ...

, Taiwan.

Functional markers

TSL, like other sign languages, incorporates

nonmanual marker A Nonmanual feature, also sometimes called nonmanual signal or sign language expression, are the features of signed languages that do not use the hands. Nonmanual features are gramaticised and a necessary component in many signs, in the same way t ...

s with lexical, syntactic, discourse, and affective functions. These include brow raising and furrowing, frowning, head shaking and nodding, and leaning and shifting the torso.

In popular culture

The 2020 psychological-thriller

The Silent Forest ''The Silent Forest'' () is a 2020 Taiwanese social psychological thriller drama film directed by Ko Chien-Nien. The film was inspired by a real-life sexual abuse scandal at National Tainan Special School, a Taiwanese school for the deaf. It ...

uses a large amount of the Taipei variant of TSL in the dialogue.

Notes

References

* Brentari, Diane. (2010). ''Sign Languages.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
OCLC 428024472
* *

External links

TSL Online Dictionary
(in English and Traditional Chinese)
Sign Language Dictionary from Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan)
in traditional Chinese) Japanese Sign Language family Languages of Taiwan Disability in Taiwan {{Taiwan-stub