Martha's Vineyard Sign Language

[NelsonMinar]

There's been a lot written about MVSL. Oliver Sacks' book "Seeing Voices" is a good introduction, it has a chapter or maybe a whole section about it.

[bcooney_info]

i thought this seemed familiar! read OS's book in university many years ago. i might have to go back and read it again

[vunderba]

When I lived in Russia, a friend of mine spoke Russian sign language and I asked how they managed to communicate in the cold winter months outdoors. They told me using a lot of facial expressions, body language, and that you can sign a surprising amount even wearing gloves.

Mittens apparently are the equivalent of gagging somebody though.

[throw0101a]

A list of the ones that are being used in different regions/countries:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sign_languages

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sign_languages_by_numb...

Also, for the very young:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_sign_language

Wonder if it'd be easier to create a 'universal' sign language than a universal spoken one (e.g., Esperanto, or an old lingua franca like Latin).

[MrDrone]

It’s been tried. There’s International Sign Language (ISL) and it’s about as successful as Esperanto. I’ve mostly heard it’s used a little at large Deaf meet ups and conferences.

American Sign Language (ASL) is often the second sign language non-Americans learn as it has a some international presence.

But ultimately sign language users are no more likely to decide on and widely adopt a universal language than spoken language users.

[egberts1]

This is a prime example of isolationism's contribution toward structured communication needed to function adequately in an agrarian society.