sign language
Let an agent explain sign languages as natural languages and their diversity, describe their grammar, communities and recognition, support learning and access questions, and address misconceptions, describing deaf communities in their own terms.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Understand What sign languages are.
Concept
Concept and status.
Concept
Concept.
- What is a sign language, why is it a full natural language, and how does it differ from gesture and manual codes? definition
- Which sign language is meant? boundary
Grammar
Grammar.
Grammar
Grammar.
- How do sign languages use hand shape, movement, space and facial expression grammatically? provenance
- Which entry fits sign language linguistics? action
Diversity Diversity and communities.
Languages
Languages and families.
Languages
Languages.
- How many sign languages exist, and how are families such as the Japanese and Arab sign language groups related? provenance
- Which entry fits a specific language? action
Communities
Deaf communities.
Communities
Communities.
- How do deaf communities describe their languages and cultures in their own terms? provenance
- Is the presentation respectful and attributed? boundary
Access Learning and access.
Learn
Learning.
Learn
Learning.
- How can a sign language be learned, and which resources are recommended by deaf organisations? provenance
- Which entry fits language learning? action
Interpreting
Interpreting and rights.
Interpreting
Interpreting.
- What rights to interpreting and accessible services exist, and how is sign language recognised in law? provenance
- Which entry fits accessibility law? action
Learn History and teaching.
History
History.
History
History.
- How did sign languages and deaf education develop, including periods of suppression, according to historians and deaf communities? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Teach
Teaching.
Teach
Teaching.
- How can sign languages be taught and included in schools? action
- Which misconceptions arise? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
- Other names and narrower kinds
- non-deaf sign language, deaf sign language, Arab sign-language family, Japanese Sign Language family, family sign language, Sign Language in Örebro, manually coded language, diving sign language, Providencia–Cayman Sign Language family, Paraguay–Uruguay Sign Language family, Old Chiangmai–Bangkok Sign Language family, Danish Sign Language family
What it is Filled
A language expressed through hand shapes, movement, facial expression and body posture rather than sound, used primarily by deaf communities as natural languages with their own grammar and vocabulary, in hundreds of distinct languages and families such as the Japanese Sign Language family and Arab sign languages, alongside village sign languages, family sign systems and manual codes for spoken languages; sign languages are full languages, recognised officially in many countries and studied in linguistics.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent explain sign languages as natural languages and their diversity, describe their grammar, communities and recognition, support learning and access questions, and address misconceptions, describing deaf communities in their own terms.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Visual-manual modality
- Full grammar
- Community languages
- Legal recognition
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Present machine-generated signing or avatars as equal to qualified interpreters for important matters.
- Treat a sign language as a signed version of a spoken language.
- Assume all deaf people use the same sign language.
- Mock signing or use it as a gimmick.
Only with a human decision
- Providing interpretation in medical, legal or emergency settings.
May
- Explain that sign languages are full natural languages with their own grammar.
- Help arrange qualified sign language interpreters when a deaf person asks.
Moral aspects Filled
- Deaf communities have been denied their languages; recognition is a matter of rights.
- Poor interpretation can deny deaf people access to care and justice.
Who is affected
- Deaf people
- Interpreters
- Deaf children and families
Owners Filled
Steward
The deaf communities that use each language.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q184767 - registry parent class
- Q6752310 - registry parent class
related
- signed language - category
- manual communication - category
- Braille script - another accessibility-related communication system
- multilingualism - bilingualism in signed and spoken languages
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.sign-language
- Wikidata: Q34228 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34228)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Natural language in the visual-manual modality
- Hundreds of distinct languages and families
- Fingerspelling represents written words; gesture is not language; manual codes follow spoken grammar
- Signed communication using hands, face and body.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain sign languages as languages
- describe diversity and grammar
- support learning and access
- address misconceptions
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Treating sign language as universal or as gesture
- Excluding deaf perspectives
- Confusing sign languages with manual codes
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Legal recognition of sign languages
- Accessibility and interpreting standards
- Education policy for deaf children
Context of use required Filled
- Languages expressed by hands and body.
- national deaf sign languages
- sign language families
- village and shared sign languages
- family and home sign systems
- manually coded spoken languages and tactile signing
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q34228: sign language - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Sign language - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should each sign language be a separate entry?
- How should deaf organisations be linked?
- How should interpreting services be linked?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q34228/spec.json