"Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words."
A list of basic signs and phrases commonly used in daily communication.
Introduction to Sign Language: An overview of sign language, its history, and its importance in communication.
Manual Alphabet: An introduction to the manual alphabet, which is a set of hand gestures used to spell words, names, and other signs in sign language.
Numbers and Counting: An introduction to counting numbers in sign language, as well as representing mathematical symbols and calculations.
Basic Phrases: A collection of commonly used phrases in sign language, such as greetings, goodbyes, and expressions of gratitude.
Colors: An introduction to the signs for different colors and common objects associated with those colors.
Family Members: Vocabulary and phrases for referring to family members in sign language.
Emotions and Feelings: Signs for expressing emotions and feelings, including happy, sad, angry, and afraid.
Animals: Signs for common animals, including pets, farm animals, and wild animals.
Food and Drink: Vocabulary for different types of food and drink, as well as common restaurant vocabulary.
Clothing: Signs for different types of clothing, including shirts, pants, shoes, and accessories.
Homes and Buildings: Vocabulary and phrases for different rooms in the home, as well as common types of buildings.
Weather: Signs for different types of weather conditions and clothing commonly associated with those conditions.
Time and Dates: Signs for telling time, as well as the months of the year and days of the week.
Directions and Locations: Vocabulary for giving and receiving directions, as well as the signs for different locations and landmarks.
Health and Body: Signs for different parts of the body, as well as vocabulary related to health and wellness.
Jobs and Professions: Vocabulary for different jobs and professions, as well as related signs and phrases.
Transportation: Signs for different modes of transportation, including cars, buses, trains, and planes.
Leisure Activities: Vocabulary for different leisure activities and hobbies, including sports and musical instruments.
Holidays and Celebrations: Signs for different holidays and celebrations, including Christmas, Hanukkah, and birthdays.
Education: Vocabulary related to education, including schools, classes, and subjects.
Alphabet signs: Signs that correspond to the letters of the alphabet.
Number signs: Signs for numbers.
Color signs: Signs for colors.
Emotion signs: Signs related to emotions.
Animal signs: Signs related to different animals.
Food signs: Signs related to different foods.
Clothing signs: Signs related to different types of clothing.
Family signs: Signs related to different family members.
Place signs: Signs related to different places.
Transportation signs: Signs related to different modes of transportation.
"Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers."
"Sign languages are full-fledged natural languages with their own grammar and lexicon."
"Sign languages are not universal and are usually not mutually intelligible, although there are also similarities among different sign languages."
"Linguists consider both spoken and signed communication to be types of natural language."
"Both emerged through an abstract, protracted aging process and evolved over time without meticulous planning."
"This is supported by the fact that there is substantial overlap between the neural substrates of sign and spoken language processing."
"Sign language should not be confused with body language, a type of nonverbal communication."
"Wherever communities of deaf people exist, sign languages have developed as useful means of communication and form the core of local Deaf cultures."
"Although signing is used primarily by the deaf and hard of hearing, it is also used by hearing individuals, such as those unable to physically speak, those who have trouble with oral language due to a disability or condition, and those with deaf family members including children of deaf adults."
"The number of sign languages worldwide is not precisely known."
"The 2021 edition of Ethnologue lists 150 sign languages."
"The SIGN-HUB Atlas of Sign Language Structures lists over 200."
"Notes that there are more which have not been documented or discovered yet."
"As of 2021, Indo Sign Language is the most used sign language in the world."
"Ethnologue ranks it as the 151st most 'spoken' language in the world."
"Some sign languages have obtained some form of legal recognition."
"Linguists distinguish natural sign languages from other systems that are precursors to them or obtained from them."
"Constructed manual codes for spoken languages, home sign, 'baby sign', and signs learned by non-human primates."
"Sign languages have developed as useful means of communication."