Publisher's Synopsis
Sign Language (SL) serves as a communication medium among the deaf and hard of hearing society. Sign language habitually contributes considerable resemblances to their relevant spoken words but sign language has its own structure and grammar and it varies according to the fluency of signing. Sign language should not be considered as body language just because it is another way of non-linguistic communication because general linguistics considers both signed and spoken language as different types of natural language. Sign language communication involves in visual conveying of meaning instead of spoken words. This communication involves the simultaneous combination of both manual and non-manual means of expressions. The manual parameters include hand shape, hand position, hand orientation, hand trajectories and arms movements while the non-manual parameters include facial expressions, head and body postures, mouth and gaze directions. All these expressions together convey the intended meaning and information of the signer's in terms of visual projection for the deaf and hard of hearing people.
