Lesson 1 - Introduction

There is no such thing as a universal sign language, rather there are many different sign languages, each with their own dialects. Countries generally have their own sign language. There are, however, some similarities between a number of sign languages as a result of colonial history, people migrating from one country to another, as well as setting up schools for the deaf with the assistance of another country. Australian Sign Language and New Zealand Sign Language, for example, share similarities with British Sign Language as a result of being part of the Commonwealth. Nicaragua received help from America in setting up their first school for the deaf, and as a result, Nicaraguan Sign Language has been influenced by American Sign Langauge.

There are approximately 137 different sign languages, however, this number is an estimate rather than an actual figure. There has been little over 40 years of research into sign language, and as a result, numerous sign languages are not yet fully documented, and some still remain unknown to the world at large. Therefore, it is possible that as many as three or four times this amount exist.

Perhaps one of the most common misconceptions about sign languages is that it is not an actual language. This might stem from the idea that most languages that we have been exposed to have both a spoken and a written form, whereas sign language has neither. Sign languages exhibit almost all of the features that spoken languages have, such as developing naturally rather than artificially, as well as being a rule-governed communication system.

The primary difference between spoken languages and sign languages is that spoken languages make use of the vocal-auditory channel, whereas sign languages make use of the corporal-visual channel. The vocal-auditory channel comprises of the vocal tract, which includes the various speech organs such as the mouth and larynx and is responsible for producing sound. The other component of this particular channel is the sense of hearing, which is needed in order to perceive these sounds. The corporal-visual channel, on the other hand, involves the body and the hands to create meaning as well as sight to perceive these meanings. The corporal-visual channel is also sometimes called the manual-visual channel or the gestural-visual channel.

Eye contact, facial expressions and body language play an important role in communication. For example, signing something with one particular facial expression can mean something different when using a different facial expression. This is usually a reflection of the signer's attitude towards the point he or she is trying to get across.

It is important to note that deafness exists on a continuum. People are not necessarily either completely deaf or completely hearing, rather there are varying degrees of hearing loss in between. My own hearing loss, is severe, so I am completely Deaf, however, that is not always the case. In addition, there is a difference between being Deaf and being deaf. A Deaf person belongs to a distinct cultural group, with their own set of beliefs and behavior. A person who is deaf, on the other hand, has a medical condition in which they cannot hear well. One can be deaf without necessarily being Deaf.

Fingerspelling is used to represent the letters or characters used in a writing system, and is helpful when spelling out your name for example. It is seen as an artificial sign language system as it was introduced by educators into that particular sign language, rather than developing naturally. The origins of fingerspelling can be traced back to monks who had taken a vow of silence and instead used manual communication. Each sign language generally has its own alphabet associated with it, however there are sometimes overlaps. The alphabet can either be one-handed, which means that just one hand is involved in the signing, or two-handed. South African Sign Language and American Sign Language are both one-handed, while British Sign Language is two-handed. Chinese Sign Language, for example, makes use of character signs as well as a signed alphabet for pinyin.

Not all of the signs in sign language are iconic. Iconicity refers to a form of a word conveying the meaning of a word. For example, one could say that onomatopoeia is iconic, as theses words convey the meaning of what they refer to. Much like spoken language, sign language also makes use of arbitrary signs. Signs can therefore be transparent, opaque or translucent. Transparent signs are iconic and the meaning associated with the sign can easily be guessed, such as BABY. Opaque signs on the other hand are arbitrary and their related meaning cannot be guessed. An example of this is the sign for COUNTY. Translucent can be seen as being a bit of both. At first, the sign may appear arbitrary, but once you know its meaning, it actually makes sense. ARGUE, for example, is a translucent sign.

Lastly, you might have noticed that the words relating to the signs have been capitalized. This is because these words are glosses. Gloss is a term relating to writing a language using another language. This isn't necessarily translating, but rather it is transcribing. Sign languages don't have their own writing system, so English words (or the words of any other language for that matter) can be used to represent the signs. Signs are typically represented with capital letters, such as HOUSE or CAT. With regards to fingerspelling, one would still use capital letters but each letter would be separated by dashes, such as H-A-R-R-Y. It would be more accurate, though, to write the signs using small capital letters, such as CAT. Sign language doesn't have a number of the features that appear in English, such as past-tense markers and prepositions, so these are not included when glossing. The grammar of sign language also differs from English and spoken language to some extent, and the glosses also indicate this. So for example, "what is your name?" would be NAME YOU WHAT. In this case, each of these words or glosses represent the three signs that you would use when signing this particular phrase.