sign language
noun1
Any of several natural languages, typically used by the deaf, in which words consist of hand shapes, motions, positions, and facial expressions.
- It is safe to say that the academic world is now convinced that sign languages are real languages in every sense of the term.2000, Wendy Sandler, Diane Lillo-Martin, edited by Mark Aronoff and Janie Rees-Miller, The Handbook of Linguistics:
2
The sign language (sense 1) that is used locally or that is mistakenly believed to be the only one.
- I'm taking night classes to learn sign language.
3
Sign languages (sense 1) considered collectively.
- There are some unique properties found in sign language compared to spoken language.
4
Communication through gestures as a substitute for language, for example, between monks under a vow of silence or during trade amongst different linguistic groups.
- Even Maxwell the trader, who has been most among them, is compelled to resort to the curious sign language common to most of the prairie tribes.1847, Francis Parkman, The Oregon Trail:
- Derived terms
70 terms
Adamorobe Sign Language, Afghan Sign Language, Algerian Sign Language, Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language, American Sign Language, ASL, Argentine Sign Language, Armenian Sign Language, Australian Sign Language, Auslan, Bolivian Sign Language, Brazilian Sign Language, LIBRAS, British Sign Language, BSL, Catalan Sign Language, Chilean Sign Language, Chinese Sign Language, CSL, Colombian Sign Language, Cuban Sign Language, Danish Sign Language, Dutch Sign Language, Ecuadorian Sign Language, Estonian Sign Language, Finnish Sign Language, Flemish Sign Language, French Sign Language, German Sign Language, DGS, Gorilla Sign Language, GSL, Greek Sign Language, Guatemalan Sign Language, Hausa Sign Language, Hawaii Pidgin Sign Language, Honduras Sign Language, Hong Kong Sign Language, HKSL, Icelandic Sign Language, International Sign, IS, Israeli Sign Language, Japanese Sign Language, Jhankot Sign Language, Kenyan Sign Language, Korean Sign Language, Malaysian Sign Language, Maritime Sign Language, MSL, Martha's Vineyard Sign Language, Mexican Sign Language, monastic sign language, Nicaraguan Sign Language, NSL, North Korean Sign Language, Norwegian Sign Language, Palestinian Sign Language, Quebec Sign Language, Romanian Sign Language, Russian Sign Language, Slovenian Sign Language, South African Sign Language, Spanish Sign Language, Swedish Sign Language, SSL, Swiss-German Sign Language, tactile sign language, village sign language, Yucatec Maya Sign Language- Related terms
- sign, chirologist