In addition to learning sign language, you might be curious to discover more about the history of sign language and how it evolved since its conception all over the world. This article will explore the origins of sign language, its status and representation in different cultures, as well as touching upon some prominent figures, responsible for its development and diffusion throughout our society.
Sign language evolved over time rather than being invented at a specific moment. Early forms of gestural communication can be traced back to ancient Greece in the 5th century BC. However, it was in the 17th century, particularly with Abbé de l'Épée’s founding of a school for the deaf in France in the 1760s, that modern sign languages began to take shape. This development continued throughout the 19th century as schools for the deaf were established globally.
When was sign language invented?
Sign language as we know it, didn’t have a specific "invention" date but evolved over centuries. Early forms of gestural communication date back to ancient Greece in the 5th century BC. However, significant milestones in its development include:
5th century BC
Early forms of gestural communication were used in ancient Greece, with philosophers like Plato mentioning deaf individuals using gestures to communicate.
16th century
The first formal education for the deaf began, with pioneers like Pedro Ponce de León, a Spanish monk, teaching deaf individuals to communicate using gestures.
17th century
The modern development of sign languages in Western societies began. Abbé de l'Épée, a French priest, is often credited with founding the first sign language school in Paris in 1760, where French Sign Language was developed.
19th century:
Sign languages spread globally as schools for the deaf were established, leading to the development of different regional sign languages, including American Sign Language (ASL) in the U.S.
There are two different points when historians can pinpoint the first origins of sign language. It could be 100,000 B.C or it could be the 10th Century, it all depends on what you believe the definition of what sign language to be.
Either we think of sign language as the use of hand signs to convey meaning and expression, or rather as a complete system that features grammar, comprehensive vocabulary, and an agreed set of rules.
The first definition implies that language includes and is not limited to gestures, the primary component of all sign languages. If we follow this logic, we can say that sign language is, by definition, as old as the concept of language itself. So long as we have structured communication, be it through signs, spoken words, or written words, we must have language. The beginning of language is not entirely agreed upon, but most sources give a date of at least 100,000 years ago, not long after the first homo sapiens (humans), relatively speaking. If we agree that sign language can be defined as primary communication through gestures, then sign language would also have been dated to at least 100,000 years ago.
If we use the second definition, that sign language must be a defined ‘system’, then we need to look back through history for the first evidence of a structured language. Unfortunately, since we had no cameras and writing was not a typical pastime for most citizens of ancient society, it is very hard to produce any firm evidence of a structured sign language, even if it potentially existed long before we have records of it. However, evidence suggests that the first structured sign language we have records of are the monastic sign languages.
These were not full languages you could use to have a conversation, but rather they were substitutes for communication during religious silence, which was commonplace in monasteries as part of their tradition of minimalism. An example of its use might be to indicate whether to sit, stand, or kneel during prayer. We can date these primordial sign languages back to the 10th century Europe, mainly but not exclusively in England and France. You might have seen these signs represented in modern films and other media where Christianity is the focus and thought nothing of it.
It is worth noting though that there is still historical items that suggest sign language may have been used prior to the 10th century, but simply without documentation. We can see this in various ways, such as the quote from Socrates in Plato’s work, which states:
If we hadn't a voice or a tongue, and wanted to express things to one another, wouldn't we try to make signs by moving our hands, head, and the rest of our body, just as dumb people do at present?
Socrates
The last line is the most important, suggesting that those incapable of vocalising at the time already had a system of gestures to communicate with others. It’s ambiguous as to whether he was merely proposing such a system or commenting on one which already existed, but regardless, this potentially dates sign language back as far as the 5th century BCE.
Who invented sign language
The next thing I’d like to explore is the identity of the pioneers of sign language. As we’ve established, the exact origin of sign language itself is hard to pin down, but as soon as we start talking about formally documented systems, we can begin to attribute them to individuals. Since there are so many sign languages, I’ll stick to the more well-known systems, i.e. the modern systems, using some prolific examples in Europe and America, from the 15th century to the present.
BSL:
Let’s start on familiar ground. The history of BSL is long and complicated, but its story starts in the 18th century. The flourishing of cities created a phenomenon in Britain, where more people sharing once low-density traits, such as deafness, were now much closer together. As a result, the problems they faced garnered more recognition, and in 1760, Thomas Braidwood opened Braidwood's Academy for the Deaf and Dumb, which is considered the first British educational institution that would have specialised in the teaching of sign language as a mode of communication. Braidwood was not only responsible for the creation of the facility, but also the language that it taught, which he would have called “The Combined System” at the time. With such beginnings, it’s hard to imagine that BSL would only become officially recognised as a minority language in 2003.
Thomas Braidwood was a pioneering Scottish educator best known for founding the first school for the deaf in Britain in the 18th century. Established in Edinburgh around 1760, the Braidwood Academy marked a significant step in the education of deaf children, as it combined traditional subjects with innovative teaching methods tailored to their needs. Braidwood used a mix of sign language, lip-reading, and articulation training, laying the groundwork for future approaches to deaf education. His work not only transformed the lives of his pupils but also influenced the development of deaf education across Europe and America.
ASL:
The American English sign system was developed not too long after its British counterpart, but under isolated circumstances. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet is credited with its development in 1817, with the aid of a French sign language instructor Laurent Clerc, whom he visited and worked with in its conception. His commitment was allegedly inspired by an altruistic project of helping his neighbour's deaf daughter to communicate, which then inspired his travels across the Atlantic. This origin story is also very insightful in answering the question of why American and British English sign language does not share a common root system.
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was a groundbreaking American educator who played a key role in advancing the education of deaf individuals in the United States. Inspired by his encounter with a young deaf girl named Alice Cogswell, Gallaudet travelled to Europe in the early 19th century to learn methods for teaching the deaf. He eventually studied at the Institut National de Jeunes Sourds de Paris and brought back techniques that combined French Sign Language with American adaptations. In 1817, he co-founded the first permanent school for the deaf in the U.S., the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. Gallaudet’s dedication laid the foundation for deaf education in America and helped establish American Sign Language as a key part of deaf culture.
FSL:
As we’ve just seen, American sign language shares a connection with French sign language. French sign language as it’s known today is the result of the labours of a priest named Charles Michel De L'Epee, who took it upon himself to translate the French alphabet into a system of symbols and gestures, along with introducing abstraction and conceptualisation, a defining feature that elevates a language above a simple code. Just like his aforementioned international peers, he founded his own school for the deaf in 1760, where he taught the language he invented, which formed the groundwork for the standardisation of sign language in France.
SLI:
We’ve seen how the deaf community was frequently the motivating factor for the creation of sign languages, however, that is not the case when it comes to certain sign languages, a great example being Plains Sign Talk, also known as SLI (Sign Language, Indian), used by native Americans. The origin of this sign language is slightly different to its extracontinental counterparts. Instead of being developed specifically to facilitate the communication challenge that naturally affects the deaf community, Native Americans faced instead the challenge of communication between the varying tribes in the historic region of which they were once the sole occupant.
Spanish explorers in the 16th century discovered this phenomenon, but the use of signing probably predates this by a long period, since it was already an established method of communication between the tribes which did not often share a common language. This example shows how sign language is diverse not just in its existence, but also in its origin. In the case of Europe and the ‘West’ we saw various individuals, often motivated by their personal experience, creating a system for the deaf community to share and use, whereas in America we see how human ingenuity solves communication problems in the same way.
Where Is Sign Language Used Today?
With an extensive history, like what we’ve discovered today, we might be curious to know what state sign language is in, in the modern day. Fortunately, the community of sign language users is larger than ever and continuing to gain traction, not just in the West, but all over the world. As a method of communication, sign language has had to overcome a lot. As with many marginal things, discrimination and prejudice are a lifelong adversary of sign language and the people who speak it, which is why it has taken until the late 20th/ early 21st century for it to become a recognised form of language in most countries.
As recently as the late 1800s, sign language was largely banned from being taught in many countries, due to a convention which declared that it was ultimately better for deaf people to learn oral speech, despite not being able to hear themselves. It has taken a long time for us to recover from this huge discriminatory oversight and even today there is still a noticeable stigma towards alternative means of communication. This highlights the importance of education and understanding. Sharing information on the cultural history of sign language through articles like this is just one of the many ways we can help catch up to where we should be in spite of the mistakes of the past.
So, what should we do?
If you want to help bring us closer to that ideal level of unity understanding, the best thing you can do is to engage with the sign language community; this can mean anything, from learning sign language, like ASL, BSL, SSE, (And that’s assuming you only speak English), to even just sharing the history of sign language with people you know, pictures of sign language, instructional videos… Everything we do to interact with the sign language community in a positive way will help normalise what should be normal already!
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