Old French Sign Language
Encyclopedia
Old French Sign Language is a term that loosely describes the language of the deaf community in 18th century Paris
at the time of the establishment of the first deaf schools. The earliest records of the language are in the work of the Abbé de l'Épée, who stumbled across two sisters communicating in signs, and through them became aware of a signing community of 200 deaf Parisians.
Records of the language they used are scant — Épée saw their signing as beautiful but primitive, and rather than studying or recording it, he set about developing his own unique sign system ("langage de signes méthodiques") which borrowed signs from Old French Sign Language and combined them with an idiosyncratic morphemic
structure which he derived from the French language
. The term "Old French Sign Language" has occasionally been used to describe Épée's "systematised signs", and he has often been (erroneously) cited as the inventor of sign language.
Épée did however influence the language of the deaf community, and modern French Sign Language
can be said to have emerged in the schools that Épée established. As deaf schools inspired by Épée's model sprung up around the world, the language was to influence the development of many other sign languages, including American Sign Language
. From the dictionaries of "systematised signs" that the Abbé de l'Épée and his successor Abbé Roche-Ambroise Sicard
published, we can see that many of the signs described have direct descendants in sign languages today.
A contemporary of the Abbe de l'Épée who was himself deaf, Pierre Desloges
, did partially describe Old French Sign Language, in what was possibly the first book ever to be published by a deaf person (1779). We know that the language did make use of the possibilities of a spatial grammar. One of the grammatical features noted by Desloges was the use of directional verbs, such as the verb TO WANT.
From the few descriptions that exist, modern linguists are unable to build up a complete picture of Old French Sign Language, but ongoing research continues to uncover more pieces of the puzzle. It is not known how the language was acquired, or how long the language had been developing before Épée established his school. However, evidence suggests that whenever a large enough population of deaf people exists, a sign language will spontaneously arise (see Nicaraguan Sign Language
). As Paris had been the largest city in Europe for hundreds of years until the 17th century (and with 565,000 inhabitants in 1750), French Sign Language
is a good candidate for one of the oldest sign languages in Europe.
Old French Sign Language is not related to Old French
, which was spoken from roughly AD
1000 to 1300.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the time of the establishment of the first deaf schools. The earliest records of the language are in the work of the Abbé de l'Épée, who stumbled across two sisters communicating in signs, and through them became aware of a signing community of 200 deaf Parisians.
Records of the language they used are scant — Épée saw their signing as beautiful but primitive, and rather than studying or recording it, he set about developing his own unique sign system ("langage de signes méthodiques") which borrowed signs from Old French Sign Language and combined them with an idiosyncratic morphemic
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
structure which he derived from the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. The term "Old French Sign Language" has occasionally been used to describe Épée's "systematised signs", and he has often been (erroneously) cited as the inventor of sign language.
Épée did however influence the language of the deaf community, and modern French Sign Language
French Sign Language
French Sign Language is the sign language of the deaf in the nation of France. According to Ethnologue, it has 50,000 to 100,000 native signers....
can be said to have emerged in the schools that Épée established. As deaf schools inspired by Épée's model sprung up around the world, the language was to influence the development of many other sign languages, including American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
. From the dictionaries of "systematised signs" that the Abbé de l'Épée and his successor Abbé Roche-Ambroise Sicard
Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard
Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard was a French abbé and instructor of the deaf.Born at Le Fousseret, Haute-Garonne, and educated as a priest, Sicard was made principal of a school for the deaf at Bordeaux in 1786, and in 1789, on the death of the Abbé de l'Épée, succeeded him at Paris...
published, we can see that many of the signs described have direct descendants in sign languages today.
A contemporary of the Abbe de l'Épée who was himself deaf, Pierre Desloges
Pierre Desloges
Born in 1747 in the Touraine region of France, Pierre Desloges moved to Paris as a young man, where he became a bookbinder and upholsterer. He was deafened at age seven from smallpox, but did not learn to sign until he was twenty-seven, when he was taught by a deaf Italian.In 1779, he wrote what...
, did partially describe Old French Sign Language, in what was possibly the first book ever to be published by a deaf person (1779). We know that the language did make use of the possibilities of a spatial grammar. One of the grammatical features noted by Desloges was the use of directional verbs, such as the verb TO WANT.
From the few descriptions that exist, modern linguists are unable to build up a complete picture of Old French Sign Language, but ongoing research continues to uncover more pieces of the puzzle. It is not known how the language was acquired, or how long the language had been developing before Épée established his school. However, evidence suggests that whenever a large enough population of deaf people exists, a sign language will spontaneously arise (see Nicaraguan Sign Language
Nicaraguan Sign Language
Nicaraguan Sign Language is a signed language spontaneously developed by deaf children in a number of schools in western Nicaragua in the 1970s and 1980s...
). As Paris had been the largest city in Europe for hundreds of years until the 17th century (and with 565,000 inhabitants in 1750), French Sign Language
French Sign Language
French Sign Language is the sign language of the deaf in the nation of France. According to Ethnologue, it has 50,000 to 100,000 native signers....
is a good candidate for one of the oldest sign languages in Europe.
Old French Sign Language is not related to Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
, which was spoken from roughly AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
1000 to 1300.