There are one or two known sign languages in Myanmar. There are three schools for the deaf in the country: the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf in Yangon (est. 1904), the School for the Deaf, Mandalay (est. 1964), and the Immanuel School for the Deaf in Kalay (est. 2005). At least in Yangon, instruction in oral, in the Burmese language, with sign used to support it. The sign of Yangon and Mandalay is different, but it's not clear if they are one language or two.[2] Influences on the language(s) include ASL in all schools, as well as Korean Sign Language, Australian Sign Language, Thai Sign Language, and possibly a local substratum. A government project was set up in 2010 to establish a national sign language with the aid of the Japanese Federation of the Deaf.[3]
^Nobutaka Kamei, 2004. "Sign language in Myanmar: On e language or two?" In Sign languages of Asia,'' vol. 5:10–19. Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies.
^Mori, S. "Pluralization: An Alternative to the Existing Hegemony in JSL." Deaf around the World: The Impact of Language (2011): 333-38.
^Watkins, Justin (2010) "Sign language in Burma: two Burmese finger spelling systems used in Yangon." In Burma Studies Conference 2010: Burma in the Era of Globalization, 6–9 July 2010, Université de Provence, Marseille.
Relevant literature
Foote, Ellen. "Negotiating language in a deaf classroom in Myanmar: lessons for mother tongue education." Language, Culture and Curriculum 33, no. 4 (2020): 417-432.
Foote, Ellen. Sign Languages and Linguistic Citizenship: A Critical Ethnographic Study of the Yangon Deaf Community. Routledge, 2020.
^a Sign-language names reflect the region of origin. Natural sign languages are not related to the spoken language used in the same region. For example, French Sign Language originated in France, but is not related to French. Conversely, ASL and BSL both originated in English-speaking countries but are not related to each other; ASL however is related to French Sign Language.
^b Denotes the number (if known) of languages within the family. No further information is given on these languages.
