Maldivian Sign Language (MvSL) is a

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

that was developed, largely spontaneously, by deaf children in a number of schools in

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

in the 2000. It is of particular interest to the linguists who study it because it offers a unique opportunity to study what they believe to be the birth of a new language. The dictionary contains signs for around 650 words supported with

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Dhivehi Dhivehi, also spelled Divehi, may refer to: *Dhivehi people, an ethnic group native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands. *Dhivehi language, an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Republic of Maldives ...

description explaining the hand-shape and the movement to be used while signing a particular word.

References

External links

President launches Maldivian Sign Language Dictionary, 28 October 2009
Sign language isolates Languages of the Maldives Sign languages {{Maldives-stub