the.com/sign language
proof your hands can shout, whisper, and crack jokes without making a single sound
means A full natural language that uses hand shapes, gestures, facial expressions, and body movement instead of sound, used especially by and among Deaf communities.
from A plain English compound: 'sign,' meaning a gesture or mark that stands for something, from Latin 'signum' (a mark, token, signal), joined to 'language.' While people have always gestured, the term names something far richer — organized systems like American Sign Language and British Sign Language, each with its own grammar and history, that emerged within Deaf communities and the schools founded for them. The notion that these are simply pantomime or one universal code is a common misconception: they are distinct, fully formed languages that happen to be spoken with the hands and face rather than the voice.
- not universal
- Over 300 distinct sign languages exist worldwide
- own grammar
- ASL grammar differs entirely from spoken English
- facial role
- Eyebrows and mouth carry grammatical meaning, not just emotion
- name signs
- Each person earns a unique personal sign
- gorilla fluent
- Koko the gorilla learned over 1,000 signs
american sign language — primary signed language of deaf communities in the us and canada, with 250,000-500,000 native users
british sign language — official sign language of the uk, used by approximately 125,000 deaf people
french sign language — influenced asl development in 1814, used by deaf communities in france with approximately 100,000 users