Chinese Sign Language

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A language of China

ISO 639-3
csl
Alternate Names
China Coast Pidgin, Zhongguo Shouyu
Population

Ethnic population: 20,040,000 deaf persons in China (2006 China Disabled Persons’ Federation).

Language Status

5 (Developing).

Classification
Deaf sign language
Dialects

Southern Chinese Sign Language (Shanghai Sign Language). Few signs of foreign origin. Negative clauses share similarity with British Sign Language.

Language Use

Classmates and factory coworkers are channels of dissemination. Now specialized deaf colleges use CSL. All domains. All ages.

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: 0%. In 2006, school age deaf children enrollment rate was approximately 82% (China Disabled Persons’ Federation). TV. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Chinese Sign Language
Other Comments

Developed late 1980s. There are also Chinese character signs. Others use home sign languages. Not influenced by American Sign Language [ase]. 550 schools for the deaf, 77 schools for the deaf and the blind. In addition to signs, Chinese Sign Language also uses an alphabetic spelling system (analogous to pinyin in Mandarin [cmn]) and can signify tones with facial gestures. Shanghai Sign Language is the prestige dialect.