Editing Taiwan Sign Language

{{Short description|Sign language used in Taiwan}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Taiwan Sign Language
|nativename=Taiwan Ziran Shouyu
|states=[[Taiwan]]
|signers=20,000
|date=2004
|ref=e18
|familycolor=Sign
|fam1=[[Japanese Sign Language family|Japanese Sign]]
|iso3=tss
|glotto=taiw1241
|glottorefname=Taiwan Sign Language
}}

'''Taiwan Sign Language''' ('''TSL'''; {{zh|t=台灣手語|p=Táiwān Shǒuyǔ}}) is the [[sign language]] most commonly used by the deaf and [[hard of hearing]] in Taiwan.

==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.

== Functional markers ==
TSL, like other sign languages, incorporates [[nonmanual marker]]s with lexical, syntactic, discourse, and affective functions. These include brow raising and furrowing, frowning, head shaking and nodding, and leaning and shifting the torso.{{sfn|Fischer|Gong|2010|p=507}}

== In popular culture ==
The 2020 psychological-thriller [[The Silent Forest]] uses a large amount of the Taipei variant of TSL in the dialogue.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=October 30, 2020|title=Movie prompts ministry official to pledge initiative against sexual harassment|url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/10/30/2003746042|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=February 9, 2021|website=Taipei Times}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book
 |first1= Susan |last1= Fischer
 |first2= Qunhu |last2= Gong
 |year= 2010
 |chapter= Variation in East Asian sign language structures
 |title= Sign Languages
 |editor-first= Diane |editor-last= Brentari
 |publisher= Cambridge University Press
 |pages= 499–518
 |doi= 10.1017/CBO9780511712203.023
 |isbn= 978-0-521-88370-2
 |s2cid= 162770329
 |chapter-url= {{google books URL|xI0uqGyrsN8C|p=499}}
}}
*{{cite journal
 |last= Huteson |first= Greg
 |year= 2003
 |title= Report on Social, Educational, and Sociolinguistic Issues that Impact the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Population of Taiwan
 |journal= SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2003-020
 |publisher= SIL International
 |url= https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/9053
}}
*{{cite book
 |editor1= Shih Wen-han
 |editor2= Ting Li-fen
 |year= 1999
 |title= Shou Neng Sheng Ch'iao
 |volume= 1
 |edition= 13th
 |publisher= National Association of the Deaf in the Republic of China
 |location= Taipei
}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading ==
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book
 |last= Sasaki |first= Daisuke
 |year= 2007
 |chapter= Comparing the lexicons of Japanese Sign Language and Taiwan Sign Language: a preliminary study focusing on the difference in the handshape parameter
 |title= Sign Language in Contact: Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities
 |pages= 123–150
 |editor-first= David |editor-last= Quinto-Pozos
 |location= Washington, D.C.
 |publisher= Gallaudet University Press
 |isbn= 9781563683565
 |oclc= 154789790
 |doi= 10.2307/j.ctv2rr3fxz.8
 |jstor= j.ctv2rr3fxz.8
}}
* {{cite journal
 |last= Smith |first= Wayne H.
 |year= 2005
 |title= Taiwan Sign Language research: an historical overview
 |journal= Language and Linguistics
 |volume= 6 |issue= 2 |pages= 187–215
 |location= Taipei
 |s2cid= 190469121
 |url= https://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/item/en?act=journal&code=download&article_id=155
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103836/http://www.ling.sinica.edu.tw/files/publication/j2005_2_02_5817.pdf
 |archive-date= Mar 4, 2016
}}
* {{cite book
 |last= Moratto |first= Riccardo
 |year= 2020
 |title= Taiwan Sign Language Interpreting: Theoretical Aspects and Pragmatic Issues
 |location= New York
 |publisher= [[Peter Lang (publisher)|Peter Lang]]
 |doi= 10.3726/b17072
 |isbn= 9781433177439
 |url= {{google books URL|gSiKzQEACAAJ}}
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://twtsl.ccu.edu.tw/TSL/en.php TSL Online Dictionary] (in English and Traditional Chinese)
* [https://signlanguage.moe.edu.tw/ Sign Language Dictionary from Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan)](in traditional Chinese)

{{Languages of Taiwan}}
{{sign language navigation}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Japanese Sign Language family]]
[[Category:Languages of Taiwan|Sign Language]]
[[Category:Disability in Taiwan]]


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