Glossary

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ASL(also: American Sign Language)

Abbreviation for American Sign Language, the primary sign language used by Deaf communities in the United States and much of Canada. ASL is a complete, natural language with its own grammar, vocabulary, and specialized registers (including STEM vocabulary), and is linguistically…

ASL Dictionary(also: Sign Language Dictionary, ASL Lexicon)

A reference resource for looking up American Sign Language signs and their meanings. Unlike dictionaries for written languages, ASL dictionaries face unique challenges because signs cannot be typed as search queries. Traditional ASL dictionaries organize signs alphabetically by…

ASL Gloss(also: Sign Language Gloss, Glossing)

A written notation system used to transcribe sign language by representing each sign with an English word written in capital letters. ASL gloss is used primarily for linguistic research, teaching, and documentation purposes rather than as a standard writing system for everyday…

ASL Grammar(also: American Sign Language Grammar)

The linguistic rules governing the structure and use of American Sign Language, which differs fundamentally from English grammar. ASL has its own syntax, morphology, and phonology, with word order, spatial grammar, and non-manual markers playing central roles. NMS serve as…

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

Facial expressions, head movements, and body postures that serve grammatical and semantic functions in American Sign Language and other sign languages, distinct from emotional facial expressions. Common ASL linguistic markers include MM (meaning effortlessly or regularly,…

American Sign Language(also: ASL, Ameslan)

A complete, natural language that uses hand movements, facial expressions, and body posture to convey meaning, serving as the primary language of many Deaf people in the United States and parts of Canada. ASL has its own grammar and syntax distinct from English and is not a…

Auslan(also: Australian Sign Language)

Australian Sign Language, the sign language of the Australian Deaf community. Auslan is a natural language with its own grammar and lexicon, unrelated to English and distinct from American Sign Language (ASL); it is historically related to British Sign Language and New Zealand…

Automatic Sign Language Processing(also: ASLP, Sign Language Processing)

An umbrella term encompassing three major areas of technology for sign language: automatic sign language generation (ASLG, creating sign language output from text or speech), automatic sign language recognition (ASLR, interpreting sign language input), and automatic sign…

Back-Translation(also: Reverse Translation)

A quality assurance method used in survey and instrument translation where a translated version is independently translated back into the original language by a different translator. The back-translated text is then compared with the original to identify meaning losses or…

Bangla Sign Language(also: BdSL, Bangladeshi Sign Language)

The sign language used by the d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing community in Bangladesh. BdSL has distinct grammatical structures, vocabulary, and regional variation that differ from American Sign Language (ASL) and from the sign languages used in neighbouring countries. As a…

Black ASL(also: Black American Sign Language, BASL)

A distinct dialect of American Sign Language that developed within the Black Deaf community, shaped by the history of racial segregation in Deaf education in the United States. Black ASL has its own lexical, phonological, and syntactic features that distinguish it from other ASL…

British Sign Language(also: BSL)

The primary sign language used by deaf communities in the United Kingdom, recognized as an official language under the British Sign Language Act 2022. BSL is distinct from American Sign Language (ASL) and other sign languages, with its own grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. A key…

Certified Deaf Interpreter(also: CDI)

A Deaf or Hard-of-hearing individual who has obtained professional certification from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) to provide interpreting, translation, and transliteration services. CDIs work in tandem with hearing interpreters or independently, bringing…

Chinese Natural Sign Language(also: CNSL)

Chinese Natural Sign Language (CNSL) is the language used by roughly twenty million Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people in China. Unlike Chinese Sign Language (CSL) — an artificial, school-and-broadcast system that follows spoken Mandarin word order — CNSL has its own spatial-visual…

Chinese Sign Language(also: CSL, Zhongguo Shouyu)

Chinese Sign Language (CSL) is the primary sign language used by the deaf community in mainland China. Like all sign languages, CSL has its own grammar, syntax, and vocabulary that are distinct from spoken and written Mandarin Chinese. CSL is used by an estimated 20 million deaf…

Chroma Key(also: Green Screen, Blue Screen, Chroma Keying)

A video-post-production technique in which a solid, uniformly coloured background (often green or blue) is replaced with another image, video, or transparency using colour-matching software. In accessibility work, chroma key is most often encountered in the production of…

Citation Form(also: Dictionary Form, Isolated Form)

The standard, isolated way a sign is produced when demonstrated independently, as typically shown in sign language dictionaries. In natural continuous signing, signs often appear differently from their citation form due to coarticulation, speed, regional variation, and…

Classifier(also: Classifier Predicate, Depicting Sign)

A type of sign language construction in which handshapes represent categories of objects or entities and are combined with movement and location to convey spatial information about position, movement, shape, or size. Classifiers are a core grammatical feature of sign languages…

Classifier Predicates(also: CL Predicates, Classifiers)

A type of sign language construction in which signers use their hands to represent the location, movement, size, shape, and spatial relationships of objects and people. Classifier predicates are among the most frequent and complex spatial phenomena in American Sign Language,…

Coarticulation

A linguistic phenomenon in sign language where the production of one sign influences the physical form of adjacent signs in continuous signing. For example, the ending hand position or handshape of one sign may affect the starting position or handshape of the next sign.…

Compound Sign(also: Compound Word)

A sign formed by combining two or more existing signs into a single, unified sign with its own distinct meaning. In American Sign Language and other sign languages, compound signs undergo phonological changes where the component signs may be shortened, blended, or modified when…

Continuous Sign Language(also: Connected Sign Language, Continuous Signing)

Sign language produced in natural, flowing sentences and discourse, as opposed to isolated individual signs. Continuous sign language includes phenomena like co-articulation (where one sign influences the formation of the next), epenthesis (insertion of transitional movements…

Continuous Sign Language Recognition(also: CSLR)

A computer vision task that involves recognizing sign language from continuous, naturally produced signing — as opposed to isolated sign recognition, which identifies individual signs in segmented clips. Continuous sign language recognition deals with the complexities of natural…

CyberGlove(also: CyberGlove II)

A wearable motion-capture device in the form of a lightweight, elastic glove instrumented with bend sensors that measure the angles of finger joints during hand movement. CyberGloves are widely used in sign language research, virtual reality, and rehabilitation to record…

Cypriot Sign Language(also: CSL)

The sign language used by the Deaf community in Cyprus, distinct from other sign languages such as American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), or Greek Sign Language. Like all natural sign languages, Cypriot Sign Language has its own grammar, vocabulary, and…

Depth Camera(also: Depth Sensor, RGB-D Camera, 3D Camera)

A depth camera is a device that captures both standard visual imagery and per-pixel distance information, producing a 3D representation of the scene. Technologies include structured light (projecting patterns and measuring distortion), time-of-flight (measuring how long light…

Differential Signing Rate(also: Dynamic Signing Speed, Signing Rate Variation)

The degree to which the speed of individual signs varies throughout a sign language passage, reflecting natural speed-ups and slow-downs driven by linguistic context. In human signing, certain words may be performed more quickly (such as repeated words) while others are slowed…

Endangered Sign Language(also: Minority Sign Language, Under-Documented Sign Language)

A sign language at risk of falling out of use, typically because the Deaf community that uses it is small, geographically isolated, or under pressure to adopt a dominant sign language. Most of the world's estimated 300+ sign languages are poorly documented, with African sign…

Eye-Gaze in Sign Language(also: Eye Gaze, Gaze Direction)

The use of eye direction and movement as a grammatical and communicative feature in sign languages. In American Sign Language and other sign languages, eye-gaze serves multiple linguistic functions including indicating the location of referents in signing space, marking…

Facial Expression

The use of facial muscles to convey emotions, reactions, or linguistic meaning. In sign languages such as ASL, facial expressions serve a grammatical function far beyond conveying emotion — they mark questions (raised eyebrows for yes/no questions, furrowed brows for…

Facial Expression Recognition(also: FER, Facial Action Recognition)

Computer vision technology that detects and classifies facial expressions from images or video. In sign language contexts, facial expression recognition is essential for capturing non-manual signs — the facial movements that carry grammatical meaning in ASL, such as raised…

Facial Expressions in Sign Language(also: Non-Manual Markers, Non-Manual Signals, NMMs)

Meaningful facial movements and configurations that serve grammatical, lexical, and affective functions in sign languages. In American Sign Language, facial expressions are not merely emotional indicators but carry essential linguistic information including marking questions…

Fingerspelling(also: Manual alphabet, Dactylology)

A method of spelling out words letter by letter using hand shapes, used within sign languages to represent proper nouns, technical terms, or words that lack a dedicated sign. Each letter of the written alphabet corresponds to a specific hand configuration. Fingerspelling poses…

Fingerspelling(also: Manual Alphabet, Dactylology)

A method of spelling out words letter-by-letter using hand positions that represent each letter of the alphabet. In American Sign Language, fingerspelling uses a one-handed manual alphabet and is primarily used for proper names, technical terms, and words that do not have…

Frame Rate(also: Frames Per Second, FPS, Frame Frequency)

Frame rate is the number of still images (frames) displayed or captured per second in a video stream, usually measured in frames per second (fps). Common values include 24 fps (cinema), 30 fps (US broadcast), and 60 fps (high-motion content); video calling and streaming systems…

French Sign Language(also: LSF, Langue des Signes Française)

French Sign Language (Langue des Signes Française, or LSF) is the primary sign language used by the Deaf community in France. Legally recognized by the French Handicap Law of 2005 as having educational, pedagogical, and cultural legitimacy, LSF is a complete natural language…

Group Narrative(also: Collaborative Storytelling, Co-Signing Performance)

A collaborative storytelling activity deeply rooted in Deaf culture and communities where two or more signers jointly perform a story using sign language, often with exaggerated and creative expression. In a typical group narrative, one person stands in front handling non-manual…

HamNoSys(also: Hamburg Notation System)

A phonetic transcription system designed to represent the form of signs in any sign language. Developed at the University of Hamburg, HamNoSys captures detailed information about hand movements, handshapes, and body positioning using a standardised set of symbols. It is one of…

Handshape(also: Hand Configuration, Handform)

One of the five fundamental parameters of sign language phonology, referring to the specific configuration or shape of the hand(s) when producing a sign. Handshapes are a primary way signs are distinguished from one another and are commonly used as an organizational principle in…

Hong Kong Sign Language(also: HKSL)

Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) is the primary sign language used by the deaf and hard of hearing community in Hong Kong. It has its own distinct grammar and linguistic rules that differ significantly from spoken Chinese, Cantonese, and other sign languages such as American Sign…

Hybrid Search(also: Hybrid sign-language search)

A sign-language dictionary search pattern that combines search-by-video (a user performs the sign into a camera for sign recognition to match) with search-by-feature (manual filtering of the candidate list by linguistic properties such as handshape and location). Introduced as a…

Inflecting Verb(also: Spatial Verb, Agreement Verb, Directional Verb)

A category of sign language verbs that change their movement path, direction, or orientation based on the spatial locations associated with their subject and object. In American Sign Language, verbs like GIVE, ASK, and TELL move from the location representing the subject toward…

Irish Sign Language(also: ISL, Teanga Chomharthaíochta na hÉireann)

The indigenous sign language of the Deaf community in Ireland, distinct from both English and Irish (Gaelic) spoken languages and from British Sign Language (BSL). Like all sign languages, ISL uses manual features (hand shapes, movements, and positions) and non-manual features…

Isolated Sign Recognition(also: ISR, ISLR)

A computer vision and machine learning task focused on identifying individual signs from video recordings where each video contains a single sign production, as opposed to continuous sign language recognition which processes connected signing in sentences or conversation.…

Japanese Sign Language(also: JSL, Nihon Shuwa)

The primary sign language used by the Deaf community in Japan. Japanese Sign Language (JSL) is a distinct natural language with its own grammar, vocabulary, and syntax that differs significantly from spoken Japanese. JSL uses spatial relationships rather than particles to…

Kenyan Sign Language(also: KSL)

The primary sign language used by the deaf community in Kenya, recognized as a national language in Kenya's 2010 Constitution. KSL has its own grammar, syntax, and vocabulary distinct from spoken Kiswahili and English. In accessibility contexts, KSL is significant because many…

Key Word Signing(also: KWS, Keyword Signing, Signs Supporting English)

An augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) method that uses manual signs from a national sign language alongside spoken words to support communication. Unlike native sign language, KWS users sign only the key content words while speaking complete sentences, making it…

Key-Frame Animation(also: Keyframe Animation, Keyframing)

Key-frame animation is a technique in computer graphics where an animator defines specific poses or states (key frames) at particular points in time, and the computer automatically generates the intermediate frames (interpolation) to create smooth motion between them. In…

Korean Sign Language(also: KSL, Suhwa)

The primary sign language of the Deaf community in South Korea, with its own grammar, vocabulary, and regional variation, and legally recognized as an official language of Korea under the Korean Sign Language Act of 2016. KSL is historically related to Japanese Sign Language due…

Landmark Extraction(also: Keypoint Detection, Skeletal Tracking)

A computer vision technique that identifies and tracks specific anatomical points (landmarks or keypoints) on the human body, hands, and face from images or video. In sign language technology, landmark extraction is a critical preprocessing step that converts raw video into…