What is the definition of American Sign Language?

Answer 1

Sign language is a language that not only is capable of expressing abstract ideas, but it is a language that utilizes space and movement to convey meaning. Using space and movement includes using expressional hand gestures and their placements that are correlative to the body, along with non-manual markers (NMM). NMM consists of facial expressions, head movements, mouth morphemes, movements of the body, and shoulder raises. The authors of Linguistics of American Sign Language (2011), say that American Sign Language is a natural language used by members of the North American Deaf community. It is a language that has developed naturally over time among a community of users.

According to multiple sources, roughly 2 million people use sign language.

Here is a quote from Perspectives in Education and Deafness: "There are more than 500,000 words in the English language, but a person who masters only 250 words will recognize more than two-thirds of all words shown in television captions—provided the 250 words are those that are most frequently used. Equally dramatic, a beginning reader could be taught just 10 words—the, you, to, a, I, and, of, in, it, that—and then recognize more than one out of every five words. Mastery of the top 79 words means being able to read half of all words captioned." (Source: Perspectives in Education and Deafness, Volume 16, Number 1, September/October 1997)

Answer 2

American Sign Language (ASL) is a distinct visual language. A persons hand shape, placement, hand movement, as well as facial expressions and body movements, all play important parts in conveying information and meaning. ASL is NOT a visual form of English, nor is it a universal language. It is the primary sign language used by Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals in the U.S. and Canada.