2006 International Week of the Deaf

It’s International Week of the Deaf (National Association of the Deaf).

Just a few quick facts to be aware of:

1. There are many unrelated sign languages of the deaf in the world. American Sign Language is not related to British Sign Language or to spoken English (except for lots of borrowing of English terms as English did from Latin, Greek, and French).
2. Individual signs are not simple gestures; they have parts (handshape, location, movement, orientation) just as words do (location, stopping/continuing, voicing).
3. Sign language sentences have grammar, but it’s a grammar suited for visual perception with, for example, the simultaneous use of hand movements and facial grammar markers (yes-no question, conditional clause, negative, etc.) and the relocation of the signs in space to show subject or object.

More information about American Sign Language (ASL)

Online ASL video dictionary

I also have some American Sign Language and Nicaraguan Sign Language information in my post Inuit Sign Language gathering.