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A sign language (also signed language) is a language which uses manual communication instead of sound to convey meaning - simultaneously combining handshapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to express fluidly a speaker's thoughts. Sign languages commonly develop in deaf communities, which can include interpreters and friends and families of deaf people as well as people who are deaf or hard of hearing themselves.
When people using different signed languages meet, communication is significantly easier than when people of different spoken languages meet. Sign language, in this respect, gives access to an international deaf community.
However, contrary to popular belief, sign language is not universal. Wherever communities of deaf people exist, sign languages develop, but as with spoken languages, these vary from region to region. They are not based on the spoken language in the country of origin; in fact their complex spatial grammars are markedly different. However, various signed "modes" of spoken languages have been developed, such as Signed English and Warlpiri Sign Language. Hundreds of sign languages are in use around the world and are at the core of local Deaf cultures. Some sign languages have obtained some form of legal recognition, while others have no status at all.
More on [ Sign language ]
ASL Browser - An online American Sign Language (ASL) browser where one can look up videos of thousands of ASL signs and learn interesting things about them. From Michigan State University. Uses Quicktime.
Meta Description: [ Welcome to the online version of the Personal Communicator. This is an online version of an American Sign Language Dictionary, which allows user to see what particular signs look. ]
ASL Dictionary - List of signs organized alphabetically and by corresponding lesson. From the Lifeprint Institute.
Meta Description: [ American Sign Language (ASL) Dictionary and Lessons, American Sign Language: Free Resources. ASL dictionary and lessons. Information on Deaf culture, history, grammar, and terminology. Certified instructor, Bill Vicars. ]
ASL Dictionary by Subject - 200 signs in 13 categories: adjectives, expressions, basic communication, colors, family and home, food and drink, miscellaneous, places, school, sports, time, verbs, weather. Black and white photo stills, line drawings, and text explanations. From SIGNHear Communication Center.
Meta Description: [ SIGNhear Communication Center - the best place on the Internet to learn American Sign Language (ASL) ]
German Sign Language Dictionary on Psychological Terms - Uses QuickTime and digitized video.
Latviesu Zimju Valodas Vardnica - Latvian Sign Language Dictionary
Sign Language Dictionaries Online - Reviews of several sites which feature American Sign Language dictionaries. From about.com. Links.
Meta Description: [ Sign language dictionaries are available online. ]
SignBank - Sign language databases in Sutton signwriting.
Meta Description: [ SignWriting: Read, write, type all Sign Languages of the Deaf. Free lessons online teach symbols for handshapes, movements and facial expressions. Download SignWriter shareware, Sutton fonts, sign dictionaries, literature. ]
The Nonverbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs and Body Language Cues - Developed from the research of anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, linguists, psychiatrists, psychologists, semioticians and others who have studied human communication from a scientific point of view.
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