Syntactic NMS

Non-manual signs that define sentence types and grammatical structure in sign languages. In ASL, syntactic NMS include raised eyebrows for Yes/No questions, furrowed brows and forward head tilt for WH-questions, head shake for negation, and specific facial configurations for conditionals and topics. These grammatical markers operate over phrases or entire sentences, not just individual signs, and are essential for conveying the intended meaning — the same manual signs with different syntactic NMS can produce a question, statement, or command.