Glossary

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Perceptual Span(also: Reading Span, Visual Span)

The area of text around a fixation point from which useful information can be extracted during reading. Research using eye-tracking has shown that skilled deaf readers have a larger perceptual span than hearing readers — up to 18 letter spaces compared to 14 for hearing readers…

Phonology(also: Sign Language Phonology)

The study of the smallest meaningful units that make up language and the rules governing their combination. In sign languages, phonology describes the building blocks of signs: handshape, location on the body, movement, palm orientation, and non-manual signals. William Stokes…

Pidgin Signed English(also: PSE, Contact Signing, Sign Supported English)

A hybrid communication system that combines elements of American Sign Language (ASL) and English. In PSE, signers use ASL signs for the main content words of an English sentence, following English word order, but generally do not include extra signs for English word endings or…

Post-lingual Deafness(also: Post-linguistic Deafness, Acquired Deafness, Late-Onset Deafness)

Deafness that occurs after a person has acquired spoken language, meaning they have existing literacy in written and spoken language. Post-lingual deaf users can typically read and write fluently, making text-based accessibility features like captions and transcripts highly…

Postlingual Deafness(also: Postlingually Deaf, Acquired Hearing Loss)

Hearing loss that occurs after a person has acquired spoken language, typically after about age three to five. Postlingually deaf people usually retain spoken-language fluency, literacy, and memory of sound, which affects their rehabilitation trajectory and their experience of…

Pre-lingual Deafness(also: Pre-linguistic Deafness, Congenital Deafness)

Deafness that occurs before a person acquires spoken language, either present from birth or developing in early childhood. People with pre-lingual deafness typically use sign language as their primary means of communication and may have limited literacy in written/spoken…

Prelingual Deafness(also: Prelingually Deaf, Congenital Deafness)

Deafness present at birth or acquired before a child has developed spoken language, typically before around age three. Prelingually deaf individuals commonly learn a signed language as a first language and may have different literacy trajectories in the surrounding…

Privacy-Enhancing Data Filters(also: Privacy Filters, Data Obfuscation Filters)

Visual or data modifications applied to training datasets that obscure the identity of contributors while preserving the information needed for machine learning tasks. In the context of sign language video, these filters may include face blurring, cel shading, avatar…

Prosodic Breaks(also: Prosodic Pauses, Prosodic Boundaries)

Pauses or breaks in the flow of communication that convey grammatical, syntactic, or emphatic meaning. In sign language, prosodic breaks occur between signs and serve functions similar to intonation and pausing in spoken language — marking sentence boundaries, separating clauses…

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