When did American Sign Language develop?
American Sign Language
ASL emerged as a language in the American School for the Deaf (ASD), founded in 1817.[7]:7 This school brought together Old French Sign Language, various village sign languages, and home sign systems; ASL was created in this situation of language contact.[8]:11[nb 1] ASL was influenced by its forerunners but distinct from all of them.[7]:7
Sign language
A village sign language is a local indigenous language that typically arises over several generations in a relatively insular community with a high incidence of deafness, and is used both by the deaf and by a significant portion of the hearing community, who have deaf family and friends. The most famous of these is probably the extinct Martha's Vineyard Sign Language of the US, but there are also numerous village languages scattered throughout Africa, Asia, and America.