American Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL, also Amslan obs., Ameslan obs.) is the dominant sign language in the United States, English-speaking Canada and parts of Mexico. It is also used in the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Chad, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Mauritania, Kenya, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe. As with other sign languages, its grammar and syntax are distinct from the spoken language(s) in its area of influence. There has been no reliable survey of the number of people who use ASL as their primary language; estimates range from 200,000 to 2 million http://library.gallaudet.edu/dr/faq-asl-rank.html.

Primates and ASL

ASL has allegedly been taught to both species of chimpanzee, the bonobo and common chimpanzee, as well as gorillas. Several of the animals have been said to have mastered more than one hundred signs, though not all agree with the ability of the primates to sign. For example, when the Washoe research team asked the handlers of the chimp to write signs down whenever they witnessed them being produced by Washoe, the hearing people on the team turned in long lists of signs while the only deaf native speaker of ASL on the team turned in blank lists. She explained that what she saw were not signs at all, but simply gestures. Further fomenting the controversy, the researchers in the studies of Koko and Washoe refused to share their raw data with the scientific community. The theory that non-human primates have learned ASL, or that they are even capable of learning ASL or any other natural language, is not currently accepted by linguists. Despite this, however, research on the ability of some primates to learn symbol systems continues and receives occasional publicity in the media.

Related Topics:
Chimpanzee - Bonobo - Common chimpanzee - Gorilla - Primate - Washoe - Native speaker - Koko - Scientific community

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