Isle Sign Language

Isle Sign Language (ISL), like its spoken variant Bes, is a hybrid language that developed via a blend of Bamansano Sign Language and Ivun Sign Language. The most common speakers are native Astris community from the Bes Island Chain and the commmunity Haven, though learners exist worldwide due to the Bes Islands' domination of the seas and, thus, global trade.

Distinguishing Features

The most visible differences between Isle Sign Language and its ancestral languages, besides the altered grammar and signs, is that basic Bes signs use much broader and expressive gestures than either. Larger basic signs solved the need for people to communicate from a distance, such as between ships or between land and sea, as well as in loud environments, such as a raging storm aboard a ship or while singing together during harvest.
The assumption that all Isle Sign Language gestures are so large often trips up new learners upon meeting native signers. The majority of the signs needed for more complex conversations, usually face-to-face, are naturally more nuanced than those signed at a large distance.
Especially proficient ISL users can convey a lot of information between one another with very subtle motions and expressions. Many learners and even native, though hearing and/or speaking, users erroneously refer to this more subtle form of ISL as a form of gestural cursive. Most full-time ISL users simply call it an integral part of their native language and are rather offended by the understandable, though ignorant, assumption.

Writing System

Users of ISL use the written form of spoken Bes rather than a written form that transcribes ISL directly. That being said, you can often spot an ISL user by their use of grammar, because they typically omit verbal conjugations and conjunctions if they're writing casually.