Slashdot Mirror


Deaf Children Invent Language

gmuslera writes "According to this story, Nicaraguan deaf kids, without knowing any existing sign language, invented their own language on their own, and it keeps evolving. Is this going in the same way as Varley's The Persistence of Vision?"

2 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. Why weren't the children taught sign language? by Matthew+Neill+Sharp · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I mean, it's all well and good that they developed their own language. But what if they didn't? Seems a bit of a risk to deprive these children of learning an existing sign language just for the sake of an experiment. What next? Are they going to lock some normal Nicaraguan children up and see if they come up with a new spoken language?

  2. Re:Yawn... by artson · · Score: 0, Redundant

    One time I wish I had mod points. Very informative comment and thanks for the pointer to Steven Pinkers.

    Slashdot - three intelligent and germane comments out of 15. Signal-to-noise ration 1/5.

    --
    In times of trouble, the smell of frying onions usually gives confidence and comfort.