The discovery that deaf students in Nicaragua have developed a new sign language generated a great deal of interest after it was published in Science. According to CBC News (17 September), “Students attending the country's first school for the deaf in Managua weren't taught sign language, but they invented their own way to communicate, giving scientists insight into how we learn language.”

The study was led by Ann Senghas of Columbia University, New York, USA. The opportunity to study the evolution of a new language over a relatively short timescale has allowed the researchers to investigate how much of our linguistic ability is innate.

The researchers found that older users of the new language used a relatively simple form, without formal grammar — whereas younger students used discrete words to form sentences in a way that resembled other languages. “Their first pantomine-like gestures evolved into a grammar of increasing complexity as new children learned the signs and elaborated. Now it has a formal name: Nicaraguan Sign Language, and is so distinct that it would not be understood by American and British signers.” (Daily Telegraph, UK, 17 September).

Psychologist Steven Pinker, speaking to BBC News Online, was impressed. “I think this research has made some of the most interesting discoveries in language acquisition in decades. It shows that children have sophisticated mechanisms of language analysis which give language many of its distinctive qualities.”