Using hands to communicate has been around just as long as spoken language.
Hunters must have used sign language to communicate in order to not scare off the animals they were hunting. War parties must have used sign language for similar reasons. Also escaping prisoners or people not wanting to be heard for fear must have used sign language.
Deaf people use sign language.
People who need to communicate and they do not know each others language use sign langauge.
The French Deaf community used an Old French Sign Language in Paris. Abbe Charles Michel de l’Eppe was a French Catholic priest who added to this system by creating a series of hand signals to replace the sounds of the alphabet.
Thomas Braidwood in England taught his pupils using a unique two-handed method of sign language which turned into the British Sign Language used today in the United Kingdom.
William Stokoe announced that sign language was not a mimicry at all, but a unique language with its own syntax and grammar. Thus treating sign language as a fully formed language just like any spoken one.
American Sign Language has grown over the years and is an integral piece of educating deaf children.
Many sign languages exist around the world today.
Signing off!
LANGUAGE MADNESS 