African sign languages are not American product: Indigenous African Deaf People and indigenous African Sign Languages

Abstract

As an African sign linguist, I have been bombarded with comments such as, "Oh if you research on sign languages in Ghana, then you must know ASL"; "I guess all Deaf people in Africa know ASL because of Andrew Forster" etc.These comments come from people who genuinely have not taken time to study the dynamics of African sign languages.I must comment that American Sign Language (ASL) has strongly influenced sign languages on the African continent and most urban sign languages used in Africa (with connections to ASL) are believed to be mutually intelligible (of some sort) to ASL.In other words, there are lexical and grammatical similarities in some of these urban sign languages (which I term foreignbased African sign languages).This paper is intended to highlight the indigenous African Deaf people and their sign languages.The scramble for Africa which took place between 1881 and 1914 led to the partition of Africa into different geographical zones headed by the European colonial powers.As part of the package of foreign rule, most African nations came under European authorities and the transmission of languages and cultures were imminent in this colonial era.However, many indigenous languages of African survived colonial rule because they became the channel of communication between the colonial lords and the indigenous African people.It is worth to mention that some African languages had their grammars developed during these times by foreigners.However, not much information is documented on the state of indigenous African sign languages and Deaf people of indigenous communities in Africa.From all indications, the Europeans did not show much interest in Deaf education or sign languages in Africa during the colonial era.On the other hand, one man's journey to the continent of Africa has changed Academia

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