Footer 1

Nav Bar

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Member-exclusive 

You've run out of free articles. Read unlimited, ad-free stories (including this one) by becoming a Member. 

Join to continue reading

BACK TO SCHOOL SALE
Save 25% on a year of Nautilus— for everyone who never stopped learning.&nbsp;&nbsp; Our lowest price of the season.

Unlock this story + our newsletter, for FREE! Already a newsletter subscriber? Just click the "Log in" link above. 

Register to continue reading.

Nautilus

Julie Sedivy has taught linguistics and psychology at Brown University and the University of Calgary. She is the author of Language in Mind: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics and most recently, Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love.

Julie Sedivy

Communication

The Unusual Language That Linguists Thought Couldn’t Exist

al-sayyid bedouin sign language