It actually originated from a mixture of French Sign Language and home signs of the 1st students of the 1st American School for the Deaf. What is American Sign Language?Īmerican Sign Language (ASL) is the Sign Language used in the US and parts of Canada.

In fact, many developed in even more isolated areas, due to the fact that there were, and are, less deaf people than there are hearing people. Doesn’t it just make sense that there would be just as many signed languages? After all, types of sign languages originated from different places just like spoken languages. Think of how many spoken languages and cultures there are in the world, there are deaf people all around the globe. There are so many types of sign language across the world! Just a few examples are British Sign Language–used in the UK–French Sign Language–from France and also used in parts of Canada–Indian Sign Language–signed in India. What does it mean that American Sign Language is not universal? Different types of sign language are developed in different regions around the globe, just like spoken languages. After all, American Sign language is its own language with its own grammar, idioms, and everything else needed to be a language completely separate from English. However, when you think about how many spoken languages there are across the globe, it makes sense that sign language would be the same. Many people are surprised or even shocked to learn that American Sign Language is not universal.

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