Language · 2

Although the United States and Britain both speak English as their main language, American Sign Language historically developed largely from the sign language of which other country?

Answer

France

In the early 19th century, French deaf educator Laurent Clerc brought French Sign Language to the U.S., where it blended with existing local sign systems to form ASL, leaving it largely unrelated to British Sign Language.

💡 Did you know?

American Sign Language and British Sign Language are mutually unintelligible—more different than spoken English and German—despite both countries speaking English.

Other options people guess

  • Britain
  • Germany
  • Ireland

Topics

  • sign-language
  • asl
  • linguistics
  • history

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