It looks similar to American sign language.  But, according to University of Hawaii researchers, this is completely different.

"We have identified a previously undocumented indigenous language of Hawaii," said UH researcher Barbara Earth.

It's called Hawaii Sign Language.

Linguists say the deaf in Hawaii started the language as far back as the 1820s.  UH researchers interviewed 19 people on four different islands to learn more about HSL, as it's called for short.

In a demonstration, a woman on the left is signing American Sign Language and the woman on the right is signing Hawaii Sign Language.

As they translate different words, you can see the nuances.

"More and more signs have original Hawaii signs so the vocabulary is the biggest difference," said UH Adjunct Professor of Linguistics James Woodward.  "Grammatically, it doesn't look anything like Hawaiian.  Hawaiian is verb-subject-object.  This language is subject-object-verb.

Linda Lambrecht is deaf.  She is one of only 100 people in the world who knows HSL.

Lambrecht learned the language as a baby from her brothers who are also deaf.  In fact, she is the inspiration and reason UH conducted the study.

"Over the years, it has been a concern as speakers of the language have passed away.  My very close friends -- I have talked to them repeatedly," said Lambrecht.  "So I was very determined and worked hard to do what I could and I am seeing the fruit of my work today so I am very happy."