Nepali Fingerspelling System

Nirmal Kumar Devkota, who in 1988 created the Nepali fingerspelling system, holds a copy of a Nepali Sign Language dictionary alongside Daisy Cartwright, ’74 & G-’79, who is displaying the fingerspelling card.

 Devkota was also one of two deaf illustrators for the first Nepali Sign Language dictionary, which was a project supported by the U.S. Peace Corps. Cartwright, who is on campus researching deaf Peace Corps service for a book she is editing with Jean Bergey, was a Peace Corps worker with her husband, Alan Cartwright, ’75, in Nepal from 1987 to 1989 and secured money from the Peace Corps to help Devkota pay for printing costs for the fingerspelling cards, which were distributed to his fellow deaf Nepali.

 Devkota visited Gallaudet on July 25, where he met with Dr. Gaurav Mathur, assistant dean for curriculum, policy, and operations in the Graduate School and Professional Programs, about ways Gallaudet can assist in research on Nepali Sign Language.

Devkota's efforts in creating the Nepali fingerspelling system can be read in thearticle "Far from home, close to the heart," which appears in the Spring 2012 issue of Gallaudet Today magazine.