Taiwan Sign Language
Taiwan Sign Language is the sign language most commonly used by the deaf and hard of hearing in Taiwan.
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.
History
The beginnings of Taiwan Sign Language date from 1895. TSL developed from Japanese Sign Language during Japanese rule. TSL is considered part of the Japanese Sign Language family. It is partly mutually intelligible with both Japanese Sign Language and Korean Sign Language; it has about a 60% lexical similarity with JSL.After the ROC took control over Taiwan, Taiwan absorbed an influx of Chinese Sign Language users from China who influenced TSL through teaching methods and loanwords.
Serious linguistic research into TSL began in the 1970s and continues. 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, Taiwan.