Sign Language Phonology

The study of the smallest meaningful units that make up signs in signed languages, analogous to phonemes in spoken languages. In American Sign Language, signs are composed of phonological parameters including handshape, movement, location (place of articulation), and non-manual markers such as facial expressions. These parameters can be further decomposed into features like finger flexion, spread, selected fingers, thumb position, and wrist twist. Understanding sign language phonology is important for sign language recognition technology, as models that incorporate phonological features perform more accurately than those that treat signs as holistic gestures, and for linguistics research into how signs are learned, produced, and perceived.