Gestures
Gesture is a typical component of spoken languages. It is used as an alternative or replacement for speech. Sign languages resemble oral languages in every way other than their modality. As with oral languages, sign languages are acquired spontaneously and have highly intricate, rule-governed grammar and phonology.
Sign languages include those of Trappist monks, who have a rule of silence, and Plains Indians, where speakers of mutually unintelligible languages communicated freely. Australian aborigines and people of Sudan and the Sahara also have a complete sign language. Many languages have conventionalized body gestures elaborated to accompany or supplement speech, e.g., the Neapolitan gesture language.
The three classes of features that make up individual signs are
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hand configuration
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movement
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position to the body
Sign language is not just for the deaf. Communities of people such as Australian Aborigines and Plains Indians have richly developed languages, based on hand and body gestures. Famous examples are
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Martha's Vineyard Sign Language in the USA,
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Kata Kolok in a village in Bali,
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Adamorobe Sign Language in Ghana and
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Yucatec Maya sign language in Mexico.
In such communities deaf people are not socially disadvantaged.
Hand gestures
Hand gestures, i.e., gestures performed by one or two hands, is the most numerous category of gestures due to the ability of the human hand to acquire a huge number of clearly discernible configurations, the fact of importance for the sign languages.
Body gestures
This is moving the body in a certain way when orally communicating.
On occasion, where the prevalence of deaf people is high enough, a deaf sign language has been taken up by an entire local community.
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