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Witness History: Witnessing the birth of a new language

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Witnessing the birth of a new language

05/02/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Witnessing the birth of a new language

In the 1980s deaf children in Nicaragua invented a completely new sign language

How linguists were given the unique opportunity to study the emergence of a new sign language among deaf children in Nicaragua in the 1980s.

In the early 1980s deaf children in Nicaragua invented a completely new sign language of their own. It was a remarkable achievement, which allowed experts a unique insight into how human communication develops. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to American linguist Judy Shepard-Kegl, who documented this process and says "our belief is that you are born with a language-ready brain". 

(Photo credit should read INTI OCON/AFP via Getty Images)

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