Sign Language

Sign language is a true language because the language system allows signers to comprehend and produce grammatical sentences in signs. The signs are the vocabulary and the system consists of syntax and semantics. Sign language communicates by signs what can be communicated in speech.

The Frenchman Charles Michel de L'Eppe created the world's first formal sign language in the sixteenth century. He also founded the first free public school for the deaf in 1755.

Contrary to common belief, there is no universal sign language. Many may be surprised to learn that American Sign Language and British Sign Language are not mutually intelligible. American Sign Language is actually closer to French Sign Language because it was derived from French Sign Language in the early nineteenth century.

The signs of sign language can be analyzed into three basic parts. They are hand configuration, place of articulation, and movement. We can analyze the shape that the hand forms, where the shape is formed and the manner in which the hand moves.

An infinite number of grammatical sentences can be produced in sign language. This is evidence that sign language is a true language. No universal sign languages has been created. The result is that there are approximately 300 sign languages in use today.