Malayalam gets its own sign language alphabet

Uniform sign language characters was created by NISH using fingerspelling

Malayalam has finally got its own sign language alphabet. The National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) has come up with uniform sign language characters in the Malayalam alphabet using fingerspelling.

The lack of a sign language alphabet in Malayalam has been a challenge for teachers in schools for the hearing impaired. English and Hindi have their own sign language. At present, schools mostly rely on lip movement to get the message across. When words have to be written, these are written on students’ hands or traced in air. When tracing in air, confusions are common.