Witness History - Witnessing the birth of a new language

Witnessing the birth of a new language

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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)

Published on Wednesday, 5th February 2020.

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