Albanian Sign Language (AlbSL, Albanian: Gjuha e Shenjave Shqipe) is one of the deaf sign languages of Europe.
During the communist era, deaf people did not associate with each other on a regular basis.
Their communication was primarily with hearing people, and so was strongly influenced by Albanian, with extensive use of fingerspelling and initialized signs, along with some gestures borrowed from hearing people.
After the collapse of communism, deaf people began to congregate and a fully-fledged sign language developed.
The language continues to change rapidly, with innovations tending to radiate from the capital, Tirana, to rural areas.