The LSF family descends fromOld French Sign Language (VLSF), which developed among the deaf community in Paris. The earliest mention of Old French Sign Language is by the abbéCharles-Michel de l'Épée in the late 18th century, but it could have existed for centuries prior. Several European sign languages, such asRussian Sign Language, derive from it, as doesAmerican Sign Language, established when French educatorLaurent Clerc taught his language at theAmerican School for the Deaf. Others, such asSpanish Sign Language, are thought to be related to French Sign Language even if they are not directly descended from it.
Anderson (1979)[1] postulated the following classification of LSF and its relatives, with derivation from Medieval monks' sign systems, though some lineages are apparently traced by their manual alphabets and thus irrelevant for actual classification:
Map of languages in the French Sign Language family, in Europe and the Maghreb
Henri Wittmann (1991)[2][3] has been influential in scholarly attempts at constructing the French Sign Language family tree. He listed most of the following suspected members of the family, with date of establishment or earliest attestation. Subsequent scholarly research has confirmed most of his conclusions, but rejected others and expanded the family tree with new branches, while removing others.
^Lloyd Anderson & David Peterson, 1979,A comparison of some American, British, Australian, and Swedish signs: evidence on historical changes in signs and some family relationships of sign languages
^Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 10:1.215–88.[1]
^SIL reports that it is mutually intelligible withSwedish Sign Language, which Wittmann assigns to theBANZSL family and other authors suspect is an independent family.
^McCaskill, Carolyn, Ceil Lucas, Robert Bayley, and Joseph Hill. 2011. The Hidden Treasure of Black ASL: Its History and Structure. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.ISBN978-1-56368-489-0.
^a Sign-language names reflect the region of origin. Natural sign languages are not related to the spoken language used in the same region. For example, French Sign Language originated in France, but is not related to French. Conversely,ASL andBSL both originated in English-speaking countries but are not related to each other; ASL however is related toFrench Sign Language.
^b Denotes the number (if known) of languages within the family. No further information is given on these languages.
