sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

s, movement, or sig, refers to the distinctive hand actions that form words. In

William Stokoe William C. Stokoe Jr. ( ; July 21, 1919 – April 4, 2000) was an American linguist and a long-time professor at Gallaudet University. His research on American Sign Language (ASL) revolutionized the understanding of ASL in the United States and s ...

's terminology, it is the , an abbreviation of ''signation''. Movement is one of five components of a sign—with

handshape In sign languages, handshape, or dez, refers to the distinctive configurations that the hands take as they are used to form words. In Stokoe terminology it is known as the , an abbreviation of ''designator''. Handshape is one of five components ...

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orientation Orientation may refer to: Positioning in physical space * Map orientation, the relationship between directions on a map and compass directions * Orientation (housing), the position of a building with respect to the sun, a concept in building de ...

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location In geography, location or place are used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ...

(), and nonmanual features. Different sign languages use different types of movement. Some treatments distinguish ''movement'' and ''hold''—signs, or parts of signs, that involve motion vs. those that hold the hands still.

Movements in American Sign Language

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

uses about twenty movements. These include lateral motion in the various directions, twisting the wrist (supinating or pronating the hand), flexing the wrist, opening or closing the hand from or into various

s, circling, wriggling the fingers, approaching a location, touching, crossing, or stroking it, and linking, separating, or interchanging the hands. These may be repeated and made large or small and with varying degrees of speed, abruptness, and intensity.Stokoe, Casterline, & Croneberg, 1965. ''A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles'', Gallaudet

References

Sign language {{sign-lang-stub