Bhutanese Sign Language (BhSL; in
Dzongkha) is the indigenous sign language of
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
, used especially at the Wangsel Institute for the Deaf,
Paro, Bhutan.
Bhutan set up the program for the deaf in a hearing school in
Thimphu ca. 2000, and the first dedicated school, in
Paro, was approved in 2013. Part of government funding for deaf education includes developing Bhutanese Sign Language as the language of instruction. Development includes at least creating vocabulary for technical subjects, and deciding on which regional signs to use where they differ.
It is not clear if there are multiple sign languages in Bhutan, or merely local differences in vocabulary. It is unknown whether Bhutanese Sign Language is related to
Indian Sign Language or
Nepali Sign Language.
References
Relevant literature
*Hofer, Theresia (forthcoming) 'Signed Languages in the Greater Himalayas and Tibet' In: Hildebrandt, K.; Modi, Yankee; Peterson, David and Hi. Suzuki (Eds.) ''The Oxford Guide to Tibeto-Burman Languages.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Languages of Bhutan
Sign languages