Abstract
This chapter analyzes the recent emergence of two new sign languages: Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL) and Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL). Researchers use the study of different “cohorts” (NSL) or generations (ABSL) of signers to gather insights into processes of language change. Understanding the tradeoff between innate capabilities and social influences in the emergence of NSL and ABSL will ground an understanding of how these modern social influences may differ from those available to early humans at the dawn of language. Analyzing the mechanisms that supported the rapid emergence of these new sign languages can expand our understanding of how protolanguages became languages on a far longer time scale.
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