Abstract
Sign systems and sign languages are introduced through distinctions among American Sign Language, manual English systems, fingerspelling, simultaneous communication, Total Communication, Pidgin Sign English, international sign, and Cued Speech. The article clarifies terminology related to deafness, hearing impairment, and manual communication, while addressing common misconceptions that sign language is universal, nonverbal, or merely gestural. It traces the development of home signs, childrenese, school signs, and regional signing patterns, and explains that American Sign Language is an independent language with its own grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and capacity for abstraction. The article also describes efforts to represent English manually through systems such as Signing Exact English, Seeing Essential English, and Linguistics of Visual English, noting tensions between these systems and the Deaf community’s use of ASL. The piece provides an overview of visual-manual communication methods used by and with deaf and hearing-impaired people.
Recommended Citation
Garretson, Carol J.
(1984)
"Sign Systems in Communication,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 50, Article 20.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol50/iss1/20
