Sophie Wellington discusses how BSL has influenced other signed languages.
Sign languages are completely independent of spoken ones, but there are connections between sign languages that show they have influenced each other at some point in time. BSL, one of the oldest known sign languages, has the closest relationship with Auslan and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). Together, they are known as the BANZSL group.
Emigration from the UK to Australia and New Zealand peaked in the nineteenth century, and so a small number of d/Deaf people fluent in BSL settled in these countries. These people soon became aware of the lack of education for d/Deaf individuals and the overall poor quality of life this community had. As a result, the first two Deaf schools opened in Australia in 1860 were founded by British immigrants. So, it is easy to see how BSL heavily influenced the Auslan Sign Language. However, Deaf schools in New Zealand taught using oralist methods - lip-reading and speech development were focused on, and pupils were forbidden from using sign language. These methods prevailed until the 20th century, so NZSL was influenced by BSL to a lesser extent than Auslan. A small number of d/Deaf people emigrated to the UK or Australia because of this, so NZSL would have had close contact with BSL in that regard. Inevitably, pupils began using sign language in private between themselves. It is unclear how influenced this community were by BSL, but to the present day there are linguistic similarities. Some signs in the BANZSL group are identical to each other, and there is evidence that Auslan and NZSL adopted signs using the two-handed alphabet of BSL.
There are also, understandably, variations of ASL, Irish Sign Language, and South African Sign Language that seem to have been influenced by BSL. Outside of English-speaking countries, there is very little evidence that national signed languages ever came into contact with BSL. Although Maltese Sign Language and Indo-Pakistani Sign Language do have a few identical signs to BANZSL which can be traced to the influence of the British Empire, d/Deaf children in countries like India and Pakistan rarely received an education, or were forced to attend hearing schools. Therefore, it was unlikely that BSL would hugely be taken up into their local sign languages.
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