French Sign Language
French Sign Language (French: Langue des Signes Française, LSF) is a sign language for deaf people. It is used in France.[1] There are approximately 3,506,800 people living in France who are deaf.[2] LSF differs from American Sign Language (ASL) although there are many common signs.[3]
History
Sign languages have existed in many places in the past.[4] They came about naturally with deaf people and their relatives. But sign languages have existed among hearing peoples also. They were used by hunters to silently communicate around game animals. Native American peoples had a sign language that could be understood by Native Americans speaking as many as 40 different languages.[5] Christian monks used sign language while living under code of silence. Factory workers and others in extremely noisy places use sign languages.
Charles-Michel de l'Épée is considered the father of sign language. In 1771 he started the first free school for the deaf in Paris.[6] He took in deaf students from many different places. Some came from Martha's Vineyard in the United States. There was a good deal of hereditary deafness there and the residents adopted their own sign language.[7] Many came who used a local sign language. L'Épée combined all these into a standard sign language.[6] His sign language eventually developed into the French Sign Language and is widely used all over Europe.[6]
French Sign Language Media
Vintage illustration of the French fingerspelling
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References
- ↑ Ethnologue - LSF
- ↑ Deaf population on France
- ↑ "American Sign Language & French Sign Language". Gallaudet University. Archived from the original on 20 August 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
- ↑ Marc Marschark; Patricia Elizabeth Spencer, The Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies, Language, and Education, Volume 1 (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 331
- ↑ "Hand Talk, American Indian Sign Language". pisl project. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Who Invented Sign Language?". Start ASL. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
- ↑ Jamie Berke. "Deaf History - Martha's Vineyard". About.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
