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Sign language

Sign language is usually used to refer to the natural languages used by the
deaf, and those who wish to communicate easily with them.

Sign language can also be used in other contexts, where normal speech cannot
be used. American Indians were known to use a signed pidgin to facilitate
communication among tribes who used different spoken languages, and people
in situations where silence is desirable (such as military operations) or
where speech is impossible (for example when scuba diving) often employ some
form of sign to communicate.

The Natural Sign Languages

A sign language is one that uses combinations of handshapes, movements of
the hands, arms and/or body, and facial expressions to convey information,
instead of using sounds. A common misconception about signed languages is
that they are not real languages. Professional linguists have studied many
sign languages and found them to have every linguistic component required to
be classed as a true language. Sign languages are not simple pantomime, and
they are not a visual rendition of a simplified version of any spoken
language. They have rich, complex grammars and, like every other language
used by people, they can be used to discuss any topic, from the simple and
concrete to the lofty and abstract. They are the linguistic equal to
Chinese, English, French, or any other natural language.

Another misconception commonly held is that sign languages are dependent in
some way on spoken languages, e.g. they are merely the spelling out of the
words of a spoken language using gestural symbols. Although fingerspelling
is used in sign languages, mostly for proper names, it is merely one tool
among many. To say that sign language is not a true language because it uses
fingerspelling for some things is akin to saying that English is not a true
language because it contains onomatopoeic words. On the whole, sign
languages are independent of spoken languages and they follow their own
developmental paths. For example, British Sign Language and American Sign
Language are different and mutually unintelligible, even though the hearing
people of British and America share the same spoken language. In addition,
countries which have a single spoken language used throughout may have two
or more signed languages being used within. Conversely, an area that
contains more than one native spoken language might use the same signed
language, such as the case in Canada, the United States, and Mexico; all
three use American Sign Language while there are native speakers of English,
French and Spanish within their borders.

Further proof of the separation of sign languages from spoken ones is the
fact that sign languages exploit the unique features of the visual medium.
Spoken language is aural and therefore linear, as only one sound can be made
or received at a time whereas sign language is visual, hence, a whole scene
can be taken in at once. Therefore, information can be loaded into many
'channels' and expressed simultaneously. As an illustration, one could sign
a sentence in American Sign Language that most literally translated would
mean, "I drove here" but, by taking advantage of the visual mode of
communication, information about the subject, object, verb and countless
ancillary and descriptive details can be packed in by altering the movement,
location, speed of execution, and handshapes used in the signs and
classifiers of the sentence. All this is in addition to the grammatical,
contextual and substantive information that is carried on the facial
expressions incorporated, thus producing what could be honestly and
accurately translated as: "As I drove here, the ride was pleasant at first,
but soon, it became treacherous, for the road up the mountain was
inordinately steep and circuitous with many holes and so I am mightily
relieved to have finally made it."

One other way sign language differs from spoken is its ability to be
written. It would be a mistake however, to assume that Sign Languages are
the only languages that have no written version. Sign languages are not
often written; most deaf people who use sign language read and write the
spoken language of their country. However, there have been attempts at
developing systems for recording sign language. Most of these have been
academic attempts at transcription, which often suffer from being unable to
capture all the physical features (especially the non-manual and positional
ones) used by sign language. As a result they have not been used outside
research. The only sign language writing system which has been actually used
by deaf people to write, is Sign Writing, which rather than being developed
by a linguist was devised by a dancer.

In principle, one could state that each spoken language has a sign language
counterpart inasmuch as each linguistic population will contain Deaf members
who will generate a sign language. Variations within a 'national' Sign
Language can usually be correlated to the geographic location of
(residential) schools for the Deaf.

Sign languages in use around the world today include:

   * American Sign Language (ASL)
   * Auslan, used in Australia
   * British Sign Language (BSL)
   * Dutch Sign Language (NGT)
   * French Sign Language (LSF)
   * German Sign Language "Deutsche GebŠrdensprache" (DGS)
   * German-Swiss Sign Language "Deutschschweizer GebŠrdensprache" (DSGS)
   * Irish Sign Language (ISL)
   * Nicaraguan Sign Language (LSN)
   * Taiwanese Sign Language (TSL)

Sign languages for specific purposes:

   * Baby Sign - for children in the USA
   * Gestuno - constructed language
   * Makaton - for children and adults with learning disabilities in Britain

There are also a large number of less formally organised but still widely
understood gesticulations and mimes. These range from expressing universal
needs such as pointing to the mouth or rubbing the stomach to indicate a
desire for food, to more insulting gestures such as the one-finger salute.
It should be noted that not only do these not form a coherent language but
their meaning may vary from culture to culture.

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