Glossary

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Native Signer(also: Native Sign Language User, L1 Signer)

A person who acquired a sign language as their first language (L1) during the critical period of language development, typically before age 5. Native signers usually learned sign language from deaf parents or through early immersion in deaf education environments. In…

Non-Manual Features(also: NMF, Non-Manual Markers, Non-Manual Signals)

The facial expressions, mouth movements, eye gaze, head tilts, and body postures that convey grammatical and semantic information in sign languages, functioning alongside manual hand signs. Non-manual features can indicate questions (raised eyebrows), negation (head shake),…

Non-Manual Markers(also: NMMs, Non-Manual Signals, Facial Grammar)

Grammatical elements in sign languages conveyed through facial expressions, head movements, eye gaze, and body posture rather than hand movements. In American Sign Language, non-manual markers are essential for conveying grammatical information such as questions (raised eyebrows…

Non-Manual Markers(also: Non-Manual Signals, NMMs, Facial Grammar)

Facial expressions, head movements, eye gaze, mouth movements, and body postures that convey grammatical information in sign languages. Unlike facial expressions in spoken languages which primarily convey emotion, non-manual markers in sign languages serve linguistic functions:…

Non-Manual Sign(also: NMS, Non-Manual Marker, Non-Manual Signal)

Facial expressions, head movements, eye gaze, mouth movements, and body posture that serve essential grammatical and linguistic functions in sign languages. In ASL, NMS perform lexical functions (distinguishing between signs like CLEAN and VERY CLEAN), morphological functions…

Non-Manual Signal(also: NMS, Non-Manual Marker, NMM)

A linguistic component of sign languages that is expressed through parts of the body other than the hands, including facial expressions, eyebrow movement, head tilts, shoulder shifts, mouth movements, and eye gaze direction. Non-manual signals serve critical grammatical…

Non-Manual Signals(also: Non-Manual Markers, NMS, NMM)

Linguistic information conveyed through parts of the body other than the hands in sign languages, including facial expressions, mouth movements, eye gaze, head tilts, head shakes, and body shifts. In American Sign Language and other sign languages, non-manual signals serve…

Non-manual markers(also: NMM, Non-manual signals, Facial grammar)

Linguistic features in sign languages that are conveyed through facial expressions, head tilts, eye gaze direction, mouth movements, and body posture rather than through hand signs. Non-manual markers serve grammatical functions in ASL and other sign languages — including…

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