Birth of a new language
In the early 1980s deaf children in Nicaragua invented a new sign language
Witness History · BBC World Service
August 2, 202310m 3s
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Show Notes
In the early 1980s deaf children in Nicaragua invented a completely new sign language of their own.
It was a remarkable achievement, which allowed experts a unique insight into how human communication develops.
In 2020, Mike Lanchin spoke to an American linguist Judy Shepard-Kegl, who documented this process.
(Photo: Sign language class in Nicaragua. Credit: INTI OCON/AFP via Getty Images)