All languages change over time. It is impossible for a living language to stay the same as time passes because as people change, so the language changes. External changes are far more major and arise because of outside influences of people or society. For example the language users might borrow new signs from other languages because of language contact, or may need to make new signs because of new inventions or new concepts.
At a very basic level, a language may change because the speakers have not had enough contact with adult speakers of their language. This last point can lead to huge changes in all languages, whether spoken or signed.
Changes in a language may be at a phonological, lexical or syntactic level, but most of the information that we have about BSL concerns changes in sign vocabulary over time.
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