Insights into the history of sign language

A study of sign language in Europe has found that Spanish sign language is possibly the oldest in existence.

A map of sign language lineages in Europe (image Justin Power)

Not only that, researchers say their findings support the belief that sign languages evolve just like spoken languages.

Despite dealing with fundamentally different data, the analogies between the evolution of sign languages and biological evolution are striking, especially when we look at the gain and loss of lineage-specific traits.

Read more from ZME Science here.