by Mike Sabine
Linguists have compared observing Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL) to an astronomer being able to watch the big bang. It is generally acknowledged as the only time a grammatically complete language arose spontaneously in modern human history.
The system developed in the early 1980’s in Managua among students in a new school for the deaf who had had no exposure to sign language and thus no way of communicating with one another. They came from around Nicaragua with no exposure to other deaf people, each bringing with them a set of “home signs” they used to communicate with hearing people. Teachers tried futilely to teach the children Spanish and lip reading. Meanwhile, on their own, the students began to communicate among themselves.
