Tibetan Sign Language

Deaf sign language of Tibet
Standard Tibetan Sign
Native toChina
RegionTibet, especially Lhasa
Native speakers
500 (2018)[1]
Language family
Deaf-community sign language
Language codes
ISO 639-3lsn
Glottologtibe1277

Tibetan Sign Language is the recently established deaf sign language of Tibet.

Tibetan Sign is the first recognized sign language for a minority in China. The Tibetan Sign Language Project, staffed by members of the local deaf club, was set up under the supervision of Handicap International in 2001 to create a standardized language, based primarily on the existing sign language of Lhasa, as a replacement for the regional sign languages of Tibet.[2][3] For example, the deaf of Nagqu have a well developed vocabulary for livestock, while those of Lhasa have more specialized vocabulary for urban life.[3] The standard was announced by the Chinese government in 2004.

Xinhua explained that Chinese Sign Language was not practical because deaf Tibetans do not know Chinese characters, and that club members will introduce the new standard throughout Tibet.[4] A Tibetan manual alphabet was created by club members from the Tibetan alphabet without exposure to foreign forms of fingerspelling.[3]

References

  1. ^ Standard Tibetan Sign at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Reynolds, Ian (10 Jul 2007). "Meeting Deaf Tibetans". Deaftravel.org. Archived from the original on Oct 6, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Suo, Qiong; Sun, Wenzhen (2008). "Sign Language Benefits Tibetan Deaf-mutes". China Human Rights. Archived from the original on Oct 6, 2013.
  4. ^ "Sign language developed for Tibetan deaf". Phayul.com. 21 May 2004. Archived from the original on Oct 12, 2013.
  • The Tibetan Sign Language Project of the Tibetan Deaf Association (archived 2009)
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^a Sign-language names reflect the region of origin. Natural sign languages are not related to the spoken language used in the same region. For example, French Sign Language originated in France, but is not related to French. Conversely, ASL and BSL both originated in English-speaking countries but are not related to each other; ASL however is related to French Sign Language.

^b Denotes the number (if known) of languages within the family. No further information is given on these languages.

^c Italics indicate extinct languages.