Sign language

A sign language (also 'signed language') is a language which uses manual communication instead of sound to convey meaning - simultaneously combining handshapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's thoughts. Sign languages develop in deaf communities, which can include interpreters and friends and families of deaf people as well as people who are deaf or hearing-impaired themselves.

Related Topics:
Language - Manual communication - Sound - Deaf communities - Deaf - Hearing-impaired

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When people using different signed languages meet communication is significantly easier than when people of different spoken languages meet. Sign Language in this respect gives access to an international deaf community.

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However, contrary to popular belief, sign language is not universal. Wherever communities of deaf people exist, sign languages develop, but as with spoken languages, these vary from region to region. They are not based on the spoken language in the country of origin; in fact their complex spatial grammars are markedly different. However, various signed "modes" of spoken languages have been developed, such as Signed English and Walpiri Sign Language. Hundreds of sign languages are in use around the world and are at the core of local Deaf cultures.

Related Topics:
Signed English - Walpiri Sign Language - Deaf culture

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