Old French Sign Language (French: Vieille langue des signes française, often abbreviated as VLSF) was the language of the deaf community in 18th-century Paris at the time of the establishment of the first deaf schools.
[citation needed] The earliest records of the language are in the work of the Abbé de l'Épée, who stumbled across two sisters communicating in signs and, through them, became aware of a signing community of 200 deaf Parisians.
Pierre Desloges, who was deaf himself and a contemporary of the Abbe de l'Épée, partially described Old French Sign Language in what was possibly the first book ever to be published by a deaf person (1779).
From the few descriptions that exist, modern linguists are unable to build up a complete picture of Old French Sign Language, but ongoing research continues to uncover more pieces of the puzzle.
However, evidence suggests that whenever a large enough population of deaf people exists, a sign language will spontaneously arise (cf.