Malaysian Sign Language

Malaysian Sign Language
Malaysian Sign Language
Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia, BIM
Native to	Malaysia
Native speakers	24,000
Language family	French Sign American Sign Malaysian Sign Language; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xml

Malaysian Sign Language (Malay: Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia, or BIM) is the language of deaf education of Malaysia. BIM has many dialects, differing from state to state.^[1]

Malaysian Sign Language was born when the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf was established in 1998 and use has expanded among deaf leaders and participants. It is based on American Sign Language (ASL), but the two are considered different languages. BIM in turn has been the basis for Indonesian Sign Language.

Kod Tangan Bahasa Malaysia or Manually Coded Malay (KTBM) was created by hearing educators and linguists in between 1980 and 1986 and remains the only sign language recognized by the Malaysian Ministry of Education.

Malaysian sign languages which predate BIM are Penang Sign (PSL) and Selangor Sign (Kuala Lumpur Sign, SSL or KLSL). Additionally, every parent of deaf children has own signs called home signs to make a gestural communication. The use of such home signs among peranakan or ethnic Chinese users of BIM may be behind controversy over the supposed influence of Chinese Sign Languages, which does not seem to be documented and may merely be based on ethnic stereotyping.

References

^ Penterjemahan dan Bahasa Isyarat By Hasuria Che Omar.

[1] Penterjemahan dan Bahasa Isyarat By Hasuria Che Omar.

[1]