Martha's Vineyard Sign Language

In the late 19th century, the mixed marriages between deaf and hearing spouses comprised 65% of all deaf marriages on the island, as compared to the rate of 20% deaf-hearing marriage in the mainland.

The sign language used by Vineyarders is called Martha's Vineyard Sign Language, MVSL, and it is different from American Sign Language, ASL.

However, the geographical, time, and population proximities state that MVSL and ASL are impossible to develop in complete isolation from each other.

MVSL was commonly used by hearing residents as well as deaf ones until the middle of the 20th century.