Using Signing exclusively?

[Amuere]

I was thinking today, while studying sign languages. Would it be possible for a culture to some how never develop, or perhaps even lose spoken language and exclusively use sign language? I know it'd be highly improbable, but could it happen?

[blank stare II]

Some cultures view speech volume differently than others. I read in national geographic about a culture whose members do not speak loudly very much because they view it as rude. If someone was about to get hit by a bus, of course they'd yell to warn the person, but under normal circumstances they wouldn't call for you across the room; they'd make their way over to you so they could use an inside voice. I also seem to remember Zompist talking about a culture whose members speak less as they get older. It was just part of their culture.
That being said, I think that once a species attains speech(only humans so far, at least on Earth), it's pretty hard to go back. There are too many advantages(e.g. the bus example above) in spoken speech to let it go.
I could see a hunter-gatherer people using only sign language in the bush; you don't want to scare off prey by vocalizing.
In the old movie Clan of the Cave Bear, about early humans, they seemed to use mostly sign language, supplemented by (minimal) speech. I think this was to imply that speaking was a newish thing among the cave men. I'm sure no linguists were involved in the making of the movie so I wouldn't trust it to be accurate about early-human linguistics. But I've sometimes wondered which came first: signing, or speech? Or if they developed simultaneously, as in the movie.

[Astraios]

In the old movie Clan of the Cave Bear, about early humans, they seemed to use mostly sign language, supplemented by (minimal) speech. I think this was to imply that speaking was a newish thing among the cave men. I'm sure no linguists were involved in the making of the movie so I wouldn't trust it to be accurate about early-human linguistics. But I've sometimes wondered which came first: signing, or speech? Or if they developed simultaneously, as in the movie.

Wrong. The Clan (who are Neanderthals) use mostly sign language, because their throats and what not aren't developed enough to make very many speech sounds. The Others (who are us) use speech. (Whether it's scientifically accurate is debatable, though.)

[Skomakar'n]

In the old movie Clan of the Cave Bear, about early humans, they seemed to use mostly sign language, supplemented by (minimal) speech. I think this was to imply that speaking was a newish thing among the cave men. I'm sure no linguists were involved in the making of the movie so I wouldn't trust it to be accurate about early-human linguistics. But I've sometimes wondered which came first: signing, or speech? Or if they developed simultaneously, as in the movie.

Wrong. The Clan (who are Neanderthals) use mostly sign language, because their throats and what not aren't developed enough to make very many speech sounds. The Others (who are us) use speech. (Whether it's scientifically accurate is debatable, though.)

You made me interested, and this movie is on Voddler (which is actually really good these days), so I'm going to rent it some time!

[Astraios]

You made me interested, and this movie is on Voddler (which is actually really good these days), so I'm going to rent it some time!

Yay! But the books are (probably, I haven't seen the film) better.

[blank stare II]

I had planned on walking to the library tomorrow to find a new book to start. The Malazan thread almost had me convinced to start that series, but come to think of it I might go for clan of the cave bear.

[Salmoneus]

What 'Malazan thread'?

[blank stare II]

My bad, "A Song of Ice and Fire" is what that post should have read.

[cromulant]

I was thinking today, while studying sign languages. Would it be possible for a culture to some how never develop, or perhaps even lose spoken language and exclusively use sign language? I know it'd be highly improbable, but could it happen?

No.

[jal]

I was thinking today, while studying sign languages. Would it be possible for a culture to some how never develop, or perhaps even lose spoken language and exclusively use sign language? I know it'd be highly improbable, but could it happen?

Sure. Inheritable, genetically dominant hearing loss, and some genetic drift.

On occasion, where the prevalence of deaf people is high enough, a deaf sign language has been taken up by an entire local community. Famous examples of this include Martha's Vineyard Sign Language in the USA, Kata Kolok in a village in Bali, Adamorobe Sign Language in Ghana and Yucatec Maya sign language in Mexico. In such communities deaf people are not socially disadvantaged.

JAL