Burmese sign language
| Burmese Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Myanmar Sign Language | |
| Native to | Burma |
ASL?
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
There are three schools for the deaf in Burma, the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf in Yangon (est. 1904), the School for the Deaf, Mandalay (est. 1964), and the Immanuel School for the Deaf in Kalay (est. 2005). However, oral Burmese is the language of instruction, at least in Yangon, with sign used to support it. The sign language used in Yangon and Mandalay is different, but it's not clear if they are one language or two.[1] Influences on the language(s) include ASL in all schools, as well as Korean Sign Language, Australian Sign Language, Thai Sign Language, and possibly a local substratum. A government project was set up in 2010 to establish a national sign language with the aid of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf.[2]
Two manual alphabets are in use in Yangon: The American manual alphabet, which may or may not be well known, and a Burmese-based alphabet taught in the 1970s and 1980s.[3]
References
- ^ Nobutaka Kamei, 2004. "Sign language in Myanmar: On e language or two?" In Sign languages of Asia, vol. 5:10–19. Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies.
- ^ Soya Mori, 2010, "Pluralization: An Alternative to the Existing Hegemony in JSL"
- ^ Justin, Watkins (2010) "Sign language in Burma: two Burmese finger spelling systems used in Yangon." In Burma Studies Conference 2010: Burma in the Era of Globalization, 6–9 July 2010, Université de Provence, Marseille.
