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| Old Kentish Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| OKSL | |
| Native to | formerly theUnited Kingdom |
| Region | Kent,England |
| Extinct | 17th century? |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | okl |
okl.html | |
| Glottolog | oldk1238 |
Old Kentish Sign Language (OKSL, also Old Kent Sign Language) was avillage sign language of 17th-centuryKent in theUnited Kingdom, that has been incorporated along with othervillage sign languages intoBritish Sign Language.
According to Peter Webster Jackson (2001), OKSL may have been the language used by a deaf boy described by 17th century British writerSamuel Pepys in his Diaries.[1][page needed] Pepys was dining with his friendSir George Downing on 9 November 1666, when the deaf servant had a conversation in sign language with his master, which included news of theGreat Fire of London. Downing had been to school nearMaidstone in Kent, where he lived in a community wherecongenital deafness was widespread. This population supported a sign language which was known by many hearing people as well asdeaf.[2][page needed]
As settlers of theMartha's Vineyard communities ofTisbury andChilmark in Massachusetts migrated from theKentish Weald,Nora Groce (1985) speculates that OKSL may be the origin ofMartha's Vineyard Sign Language, which is, in turn, one of the precursors ofAmerican Sign Language (ASL).[3][page needed] Others have cautioned against uncritical reception of this claim, "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."[4]
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