Talk:Old Kent Sign Language

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There is absolutely no evidence that this sign language ever existed. It is mere speculation based on some discussion in a book by Nora Groce on Martha's Vineyard Sign Language. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.82.61.13 (talk • contribs)

Could you elaborate? i guess you are talking about this book about Martha's Vineyard Sign Language:

• Groce, Nora Ellen (1985). Everyone here spoke sign language: Hereditary deafness on Martha's Vineyard. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674270401.

I haven't read it but I believe that the author suggests that a sign language was brought to New England from Kent by a group of related families with a high degree of hereditary deafness, whose descendents developed Martha's Vineyard Sign Language. OKSL has also been identified by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (see the Ethnologue entry), and listed in Gallaudet University's sign languages page.

However, I did find this quote: "There has been the suggestion that the sign language [that emerged on Martha's Vineyard] would have been some form of “Old Kentish Sign Language”. This needs to be treated with caution because no deaf people were part of the original migration from Kent, and nothing is known about any specific variety of signing used in Kent." (From Multilingualism: The global approach to sign languages, by Bencie Woll, Rachel Sutton-Spence and Frances Elton, in "The Sociolinguistics of Sign Languages", Edited by Ceil Lucas, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521791375).

What do you suggest is changed on this article, if anything? ntennis 04:02, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

I've now added the quote from Woll et al. ntennis 05:05, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for adding this. I realise that the term 'Old Kent/Kentish Sign Language' has appeared in Ethnologue and elsewhere but there actually is no evidence to my knowledge that it ever existed. As you said, you've not read Groce (1985) yourself. In fact, I think this is widely the case amongst those who believe that such a sign language actually existed. If you look closely at the original suggestion she made, you will see that it is mere speculation. Adam Schembri, UCL.

Thanks for the information! Please edit the article if you think it is incorrect. I will also try to have a look for the book and check the other sources. ntennis 01:31, 16 August 2006 (UTC)