Sign language cheat sheet

Many languages

Sign languages are distinct natural languages. There is no single universal sign language, and national spoken-language borders do not define them neatly.

ASL and BSL are different languages.

Sign parameters

Handshape, location, movement, orientation and non-manual features contribute to sign formation.

A change in one parameter can change a sign’s meaning.

Space and grammar

Signing space can establish referents and express grammatical relationships. Facial and body movements can have grammatical roles.

Track an established referent rather than interpreting each movement in isolation.

Fingerspelling

Fingerspelling represents written letters using a manual alphabet. It is one resource within a sign language, rather than the whole language.

Manual alphabets vary between sign languages.

Non-manual grammar

Facial expression, head position and body movement can carry grammatical information in a signed language. Their function depends on the particular language and construction.

A question may combine manual signs with a language-specific non-manual pattern.

Establishing referents

Signers can establish people or objects in signing space and refer back to them. Spatial reference is grammatical, rather than simply pointing at a real object in the room.

Keep the established referent consistent when describing who did what to whom.

Depicting constructions

Some constructions represent location, movement or visual properties through conventional handshapes and spatial patterns. They must be learned within a particular signed language.

An improvised gesture is not automatically a grammatical sign or depicting construction.

Regional languages and varieties

Auslan, Japanese Sign Language, American Sign Language and British Sign Language are distinct languages. Shared spoken-language surroundings do not make them interchangeable.

An English-speaking visitor still needs the local signed language, rather than assuming ASL works in Britain.

Worked example: evaluating a resource

Before learning a signed example, identify its language, community, visible manual form and non-manual features. A still image or an English word label can omit information essential to the sign.

Use a reliable language-specific video resource, with the signer’s hands, face and relevant body movement visible.

Common mistake: gloss equals translation

An uppercase English gloss is a notation convention for a sign, not proof that the signed sentence follows English grammar or has the same word boundaries.

Distinguish a signed language from a system that adds signs to spoken-language word order.

Check your understanding

Are ASL and BSL interchangeable because both are used in English-speaking countries?

No. They are distinct signed languages with different histories, vocabularies and grammatical systems.

Curriculum connections

Sources