The author discusses the difference between the use of a sign language (which has its own lexico-semantic, syntactic, and expressive rules) and the use of signs as codes representing English in various ways; he urges use of sign language to provide early natural language experience for deaf children. (Author/LS)

Linguistics retains from its antecedents, philology and the study of sacred writings, some of their apologetic and theological bias. Thus it has not been able to face squarely the question how linguistic function may have evolved from animal communication. Chimpanzees' use of signs from American Sign Language forces re-examination of language…