Noun
sign language (countable and uncountable, plural sign languages)
- (countable) One of several natural languages, typically used by the deaf, in which words consist of hand shapes, motions, positions, and facial expressions.
2000, Wendy Sandler, Diane Lillo-Martin, edited by Mark Aronoff and Janie Rees-Miller, The Handbook of Linguistics:It is safe to say that the academic world is now convinced that sign languages are real languages in every sense of the term.
- (uncountable) The sign language (sense 1) that is used locally or that is mistakenly believed to be the only one.
I'm taking night classes to learn sign language.
- (uncountable) Sign languages (sense 1) considered collectively.
There are some unique properties found in sign language compared to spoken language.
- (countable or uncountable) Communication through gestures as a substitute for language, for example, between monks under a vow of silence or during trade amongst different linguistic groups.
1847, Francis Parkman, The Oregon Trail:Even Maxwell the trader, who has been most among them, is compelled to resort to the curious sign language common to most of the prairie tribes.
Translations
sign language
- Adamorobe Sign Language: please add this translation if you can
- Afghan Sign Language: please add this translation if you can
- Afrikaans: gebaretaal
- Algerian Sign Language: please add this translation if you can
- American Sign Language: please add this translation if you can
- Arabic: لُغَة إِشَارَة f (luḡa(t) ʔišāra)
- Armenian: նշանաբանը (nšanabanə)
- Azerbaijani: işarə dili
- Bavarian: Gebeadnsproch f, Gebeadnsproche f
- Bengali: প্রতীকী ভাষা (protiki bhaśa)
- Bikol Central: palba (bcl)
- Brazilian Sign Language: please add this translation if you can
- Burmese: please add this translation if you can
- Catalan: llengua de signes (ca) f
- Catalan Sign Language: please add this translation if you can
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 手語／手语 (zh) (shǒuyǔ)
- Corsican: lingua di i cenni f
- Czech: znakový jazyk m
- Danish: tegnsprog (da) n
- Dutch: gebarentaal (nl)
- Esperanto: gestolingvo
- Estonian: viipekeel (et)
- Faroese: teknmál n
- Finnish: viittomakieli (fi)
- French: langue des signes (fr) f, langage des signes m
- Galician: lingua de signos f
- Georgian: ჟესტების ენა (žesṭebis ena), ნიშნების ენა (nišnebis ena)
- German: Gebärdensprache (de) f, Zeichensprache (de) f
- Greek: νοηματική γλώσσα (el) f (noïmatikí glóssa)
- Greenlandic: ussersuutit
- Honduras Sign Language: please add this translation if you can
- Hungarian: jelnyelv (hu)
- Icelandic: (sign language) táknmál (is) n, (finger language) fingramál n
- Indonesian: bahasa isyarat (id)
- Inuktitut: ᐆᒃᑐᐊᕋᐅᓯᕋᖅ (ooktoaraosiraq)
- Inupiatun: urraaraq
- Inuvialuktun: ujjiqsuuraq / tikuraq
- Irish: teanga chomharthaíochta f
- Italian: lingua dei segni f
- Japanese Sign Language: please add this translation if you can
- Japanese: 手話 (ja) (しゅわ, shuwa)
- Kalaallisut: ussersuutit
- Kazakh: ым тілі (ym tılı)
- Korean: 수화(手話) (ko) (suhwa), 수어(手語) (sueo)
- Lakota: wíyutȟapi
- Latin: lingua gesticulatoria f, lingua signorum f
- Lule Sami: siejvvemgiella
- Luxembourgish: Gebäerdesprooch f, Zeechesprooch f
- Malay: bahasa isyarat (ms)
- Maori: reo rotarota
- Navajo: naashchid
- Northern Sami: giehtagiella
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: tegnspråk n
- Nynorsk: teiknspråk n
- Occitan: lenga dels signes f, lenga de signes f
- Polish: język migowy (pl) m
- Portuguese: linguagem de sinais f (Brazil), língua gestual f (Portugal), linguagem gestual f (Portugal)
- Romanian Sign Language: please add this translation if you can
- Russian: язы́к же́стов m (jazýk žéstov), же́стовый язы́к (ru) m (žéstovyj jazýk)
- Sardinian: limba de sos sinnos f
- Scots: sign leid
- Sicilian: lingua dî signa f
- Spanish: lengua de signos f, lengua de señas f, idioma de signos m, idioma de señas m
- Swahili: lugha ya ishara
- Swedish: teckenspråk (sv) n
- Tajik: забони ишоратӣ (zabon-i išorati)
- Thai: ภาษามือ (th) (paa-sǎa-mʉʉ)
- Tibetan: བརྡ་སྐད (brda skad)
- Turkish: işaret dili (tr)
- Ukrainian: жестова мова f (žestova mova)
- Uzbek: ishora tili
- Vietnamese: ngôn ngữ ký hiệu (vi), thủ ngữ, ngôn ngữ dấu hiệu
- Welsh: iaith arwyddion f
- West Frisian: gebeartetaal
- Yiddish: שטומ־לשון (shtum-loshn)
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