japanese sign language?

6 comments

1. There was/is one class at Gallaudet University.

2. Today I learned [there’s considerable regional difference in sign language](https://kotobaken.jp/qa/yokuaru/qa-43/). Sounds like a nightmare.

3. https://youtube.com/@kodachan_shuwa

4. There’s a manga called A sign of affection that features JSL throughout. It’s really good.

5. iirc there’s two major types of Japanese shuwa.

   I think one of them is more geared towards a 1:1 mapping with spoken Japanese and the other one kind of has its own grammar rules.

   This was explained to me by a deaf acquaintance from my college circle.

   日本手話 is the latter, and was created in the Meiji era by deaf people.

   日本語対応手話 is the former and was created in the 1960s to make Japanese easier to 1:1 interpret into shuwa.

   There was a tiny uproar in the Japanese deaf community surrounding a JDrama called silent where two born-deaf Japanese people were using 日本語対応手話 to each other.

   Kinda feels like most non-deaf enter via 日本語対応手話 and most born deaf kids learn both.

   Not too sure about that last part tho. Could have changed since my acquaintance graduated and might vary based on region.

6. I went down this rabbit hole before, because I was very curious how Asian languages work with sign language. It was quite interesting.