© 2023 The Taiwan Center for Sign Linguistics, National Chung Cheng University. All Rights Reserved.
Taiwan Sign Language (TSL) is the language used by the deaf community in Taiwan. The compilation of the TSL Online Dictionary has had both academic and pedagogical considerations. For teachers in deaf education or the general public, this dictionary is a tool for learning TSL. We also hope to provide a database for those who might be interested in doing research on the linguistic structure of TSL, especially its phonology (basic elements for forming lexical items), morphology, and semantics.
The compilation of the Taiwan Sign Language Online Dictionary was under the supervision of Prof. Jane Tsay and Prof. James H.-Y. Tai. The collection of data started in 2001 and have collected near 3000 lexical items based on Smith and Ting's pioneer work Shou Neng Sheng Qiao [Your hands can become a bridge], Shouyu Fanyiyuan Peixun Jiaocai [Materials for Training Sign Language Interpreters] published by Department of Labor, Taipei City Government, and the collection of our own field work for the reference grammar and other research projects of the TSL research group. The database will expand as our research on TSL continues.
The current 4th edition of the dictionary has over 3700 signs and 560 sentences. Each sign has been coded with two phonological features, handshape and location. These features can be used for linguistic analysis and also have been included as new search features.
Please read the User's Guide before you use the dictionary. Your comments and suggestions will be highly appreciated. Please contact the webmaster at lngsign@ccu.edu.tw。
To cite this website:
Tsay, Jane, James H.-Y. Tai, Shih-kai Liu and Yijun Chen. 2022. Taiwan Sign Language Online Dictionary. 4th Edition (English version). Chiayi: Taiwan Center for Sign Linguistics, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan.
http://twtsl.ccu.edu.tw/TSL/en.php
Grants from the National Science Council, Taiwan (NSC90-2411-H-194-025, NSC91-2411-H-194-002, NSC92-2411-H-194-001, NSC93-2411-H-194-001, NSC94-2411-H-194-016 (I), NSC95-2411-H-194-004(II), NSC96-2411-H-194-001(III), NSC98-2811-H-194-004, NSC101-2410-H-194-118, NSC102-2410-H-194-037-MY2)
Our long-term consultant and primary signer Yu-shan Ku and his wife Yue-xia Xiao.
Sign language researchers: Jean Ann, Chien-min Chao, Susan Fischer, Qun-hu Gong , Scott Liddell, Wayne Smith, and Gladys Tang.
Research assistants over the years, for video-taping, editing the video recordings, text descriptions, etc.: Shuping Gong, Hsin-Hsien Lee, Shiou-fen Su, Meylysa Tseng, Hui-juan Liu, Ya-Ching Tsou, Yan-An Lee, Pei-lan Wu, Yi-Hsien Lee, Yi-jun Chen, Ming-xiu Huang, Yi-ling Wu, Xin-hui Chen, Shi-kai Liu, Yu Hong, Chang-yu Wu, Xiu-qing Lin, Ya-jiun Tseng, Zhi-ren Zheng, Guan-nan Jiang, and Wan-yu Liu.
Programming: Chun I Chen of Department of Information Management, National Chung Cheng University.
Handshapes are categorized by the number of fingers. Some handshapes have two or three variants shown as small picture.
One Finger |
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Two Fingers |
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Three Fingers |
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Four Fingers |
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Five Fingers |
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The locations of most common used are as follows.
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Forehead | Temple | Eyes | Nose | Ears |
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Cheek | Mouth | Chin |
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Lower Face | In Front of Face | Head |
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Neck | Shoulders | Chest | Abdomen | Waist |
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Legs |
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In Front of Body | Back | Both Sides of Body |
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Lower Arm | Upper Arm | Arm | Elbow | Fingers |
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Palm | Blades of Hand | Back of Hand | Hand | Wrist |