Republic of the Philippines

TAGUIG CITY UNIVERSITY

Gen. Santos Avenue Central Bicutan, Taguig City

College of Education
A written report prepared by: Angelita G. Rabot

The Phonetics of Signed Languages

 Sign language - a system of hand movements used for communication especially by people who
are deaf and mute.

3 major feature of ASL

1. The configuration of hand (handshape).
2. The movement of the hand and arms toward or away from the body.
3. The location of the hands in signing space.
The ASL sign meaning “arm” is a flat hand, moving to touch the upper arm.
It has three features:
 Flat hand
 Motion upward
 Upper arm
ASL has over 30 handshapes. But not all signed languages share the same handshapes, just as not all
spoken languages share the same places of articulation. For example, the T shapes of ASL does not occur
at the European sign languages. Similarly, Chinese Sign Language has a handshape formed with an open
hand with all fingers extended except the ring finger. ASL does not have this handshape.
Movement can be either straight or arc line. Signs can also be uni-directional or bidectional.
The location of signs defined relative to the body or face and by whether the sign involes vertical
movement, horizontal movement, or movement to or away from the body.
There are two-handed and one-handed signs.One-handed sign are formed with the speaker’s dominant
hand, whether left or right