What is sign language?
Quick Answer
Sign language is a complete natural language that uses hand shapes, movements, facial expressions and body posture instead of sound.
The Full Story
Sign languages have their own grammar and vocabulary and are not simply gestures or signed versions of spoken languages. There are around 300 different sign languages in use worldwide, according to the World Federation of the Deaf. American Sign Language and British Sign Language are unrelated and mutually unintelligible, even though both countries speak English. ASL is actually more closely related to French Sign Language, because a French teacher, Laurent Clerc, helped found the first American school for the deaf in 1817. Facial expressions carry grammar in sign languages, marking things like questions and negation.
Key Facts
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"Why sign language isn't universal"