The Relationship of Sign Language Varieties in India, Pakistan, & Nepal

Recent research has shown that sign language varieties in India and Pakistan are related. This paper examines the possible relationship of sign language varieties in India and Pakistan to those in Nepal by analyzing comparative lexical data from sign language varieties in the three countries. The paper uses a special vocabulary list for sign language research to compare for cognates across sign language varieties in Kathmandu, Karachi, Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, and Bangalore. Results of the comparisons as well as implications for future research are discussed.