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Related Experiment Videos

Children creating language: how Nicaraguan sign language acquired a spatial grammar.

A Senghas1, M Coppola

  • 1Department of Psychology, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, NY 10027-6598, USA. annie@alum.mit.edu

Psychological Science
|July 31, 2001
PubMed
Summary
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Young deaf children in Nicaragua spontaneously created a new sign language, demonstrating innate language-creation abilities. This emergent language systematized over time, primarily driven by children under 10.

Area of Science:

  • Linguistics
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Language acquisition is thought to involve both innate abilities and environmental input.
  • In environments with limited linguistic exposure, innate language capacities become more apparent.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate language production in deaf Nicaraguans lacking exposure to a developed language.
  • To examine the emergence and systematization of a new sign language created by this group.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of early linguistic structures, specifically spatial modulations, in Nicaraguan Sign Language.
  • Comparison of linguistic changes across sequential cohorts of learners over two decades.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • A new sign language emerged and grammaticalized within two decades.
  • Systematic grammatical changes originated from children aged 10 and younger.

    • Conclusions:

    • Young children possess the capacity to create language, not just learn it.
    • The study provides evidence for innate linguistic capacities driving language creation in impoverished environments.