Editing Taiwan Sign Language (section)

==History==
The beginnings of Taiwan Sign Language date from 1895.{{sfn|Fischer|Gong|2010|p=501}}

The origins of TSL developed from [[Japanese Sign Language]] during [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Japanese rule]]. TSL is considered part of the [[Japanese Sign Language family]].{{sfn|Fischer|Gong|2010|p=499}}

TSL has some [[Mutually intelligible languages|mutual intelligibility]] with both Japanese Sign Language and [[Korean Sign Language]]; it has about a 60% lexical similarity with JSL.{{sfn|Fischer|Gong|2010|p=501}}
 
There are two main dialects of TSL centered on two of the three major sign language schools in Taiwan: one in [[Taipei]], the other in [[Tainan City]]. There is a variant based in [[Taichung]], but this sign language is essentially the same as the Tainan school.

After [[Political status of Taiwan#Cession, Retrocession, Legal Status, and Self Determination of Taiwan|the ROC took over Taiwan]], Taiwan absorbed an influx of [[Chinese Sign Language]] users from [[China]] who influenced TSL through [[Deaf education|teaching methods]] and [[loanwords]].{{sfn|Fischer|Gong|2010|p=501}}

Serious linguistic research into TSL began in the 1970s and is continuing at present. The first International [[Symposium]] on Taiwan Sign Language [[Linguistics]] was held on March 1–2, 2003, at [[National Chung Cheng University]] in [[Minxiong]], [[Chiayi County|Chiayi]], Taiwan.