What is French Sign Language?
[[File:Pictograms-nps-accessibility-sign language interpretation-2.svg|thumb|right|150px]] '''French Sign Language''' ({{lang-fr|Langue des Signes Française}}, '''LSF''') is a [[sign language]] for deaf people. It is used in [[France]].<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/language/fsl Ethnologue - LSF]</ref> There are approximately 3,506,800 people living in France who are [[deaf]].<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/country/FR Deaf population on France]</ref> LSF differs from [[American Sign Language]] (ASL) although there are many common signs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallaudet.edu/dpn-home/sign-language.html |title=American Sign Language & French Sign Language |publisher=Gallaudet University |access-date=23 August 2015 |archive-date=20 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820011007/http://www.gallaudet.edu/dpn-home/sign-language.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> == History == Sign languages have existed in many places in the past.<ref name=Marschark331>Marc Marschark; Patricia Elizabeth Spencer, ''The Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies, Language, and Education'', Volume 1 (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), p. 331</ref> They came about naturally with deaf people and their relatives. But sign languages have existed among hearing peoples also. They were used by [[hunter]]s to silently [[Communication|communicate]] around game animals. [[Native American]] peoples had a sign language that could be understood by Native Americans speaking as many as 40 different languages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pislresearch.com/|title=Hand Talk, American Indian Sign Language|publisher=pisl project|access-date=23 August 2015|archive-date=24 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024164112/http://pislresearch.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Christian]] [[monk]]s used sign language while living under code of silence. [[Factory]] workers and others in extremely [[Noise|noisy]] places use sign languages. [[Charles-Michel de l'Épée]] is considered the father of sign language. In 1771 h