Glossary

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Scat Singing(also: Scatting, Vocal scat)

A jazz-rooted vocal technique in which a singer improvises melodic and rhythmic lines using nonsense syllables (such as 'doo', 'bop', 'ba', 'da', 'shoo') rather than words. Scat lets the voice function as an instrument, carrying melody, articulation, phrasing, and vocal timbre…

Shared Visual Attention(also: Collective Visual Attention, Visual Joint Attention)

A core feature of Deaf-centred interaction in which all participants coordinate their gaze, body orientation, and signing space so everyone can see the current signer, referenced content, and each other. Shared visual attention is foundational to Deaf pedagogy and DeafSpace…

Sign Duration(also: Sign Speed, Signing Speed)

The average time spent performing individual signs during sign language production, typically measured in seconds. Sign duration is a key parameter in sign language animation that affects both understandability and user satisfaction. Research has shown that DHH users of ASL…

Sign Language Classifier(also: Classifier Sign, Depicting Sign, Classifier Predicate)

A type of sign in sign languages that is not part of a fixed vocabulary but is created dynamically during discourse to represent a class of objects sharing a common shape, size, or physical characteristic. Classifiers function as "super-pronouns" — they replace and describe…

Sign Language Corpus(also: ASL Corpus, Signed Language Corpus)

A structured collection of recorded signed-language performances — typically video, and increasingly motion-capture data — annotated by expert signers with time-stamped linguistic information such as individual signs, non-manual markers, eye gaze, grammatical boundaries, and…

Sign Language Generation(also: Sign Language Synthesis, Signing Generation)

The automatic production of sign language content, typically through computer-generated animations of signing avatars or video synthesis. Sign language generation systems convert text or symbolic representations of signs into visual output, often using motion-capture data,…

Sign Language Interpretation(also: Sign Language Interpreting, SLI)

The process of conveying spoken or written language into a sign language (or vice versa) by a trained interpreter, enabling communication access for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals. In digital media and immersive environments, sign language interpretation is typically…

Sign Language Machine Translation(also: English-to-ASL Translation, Sign Language MT, Text-to-Sign Translation)

The automatic translation of written or spoken text into a signed language (or vice versa) using computational methods, typically producing output as an animated signing avatar or, less commonly, as recorded video clips. Because signed languages such as American Sign Language…

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…

Sign Language Processing(also: SLP, Sign Language Technology)

A field of artificial intelligence and computer science focused on developing computational systems that can understand, generate, and translate sign languages. Sign language processing encompasses sign language recognition (detecting and interpreting signs from video input),…

Sign Language Recognition(also: SLR, Automatic Sign Recognition)

A computer vision and machine learning task focused on automatically detecting and classifying signs from video input. Sign language recognition ranges from isolated sign recognition (identifying individual signs) to continuous sign recognition (interpreting sequences of signs…

Sign Language Synthesis(also: Sign Language Generation, Sign Language Avatar, Signing Avatar)

Sign language synthesis is the automated generation of sign language output, typically through 3D animated avatars or computer graphics, from text or other input. The technology involves translating written or spoken language into the grammar, vocabulary, and spatial expressions…

Sign Language Translation(also: SLT, Sign-to-Text Translation, Sign-to-Speech Translation)

The task of converting between a sign language and a spoken or written language, in either direction. Sign-to-spoken/written translation (e.g., ASL to English) involves recognizing signs from video and producing equivalent text or speech. Spoken/written-to-sign translation…

Sign Language Video(also: Sign Language Interpretation Video)

Pre-recorded or live video content presenting information in sign language, used to augment or replace written text for deaf and hard of hearing users. In reading support contexts, sign language videos have been explored as visual augmentations to text, providing sign…

Sign Language Writing System(also: Sign Language Script, Sign Language Notation, Sign Language Character System)

A system of symbols or characters designed to represent sign language in written form. Unlike spoken languages, which have well-established writing systems, sign languages generally lack a standard written form — meaning the approximately 70 million people worldwide who use sign…

Sign Writing(also: SignWriting, Sutton SignWriting)

A graphical notation system for writing sign languages, developed by Valerie Sutton in 1974. Sign Writing uses visual symbols to represent hand shapes, movements, facial expressions, and body positions used in signing, enabling sign languages to be written and read in a visual…

Signed English(also: SE, Manually Coded English)

Signed English (SE) is an artificial sign system that represents English words and grammar using manual signs, following English word order and syntax rather than the grammar of a natural sign language. Unlike natural sign languages such as British Sign Language (BSL) or…

Signing Avatar(also: Sign Language Avatar, Virtual Signer)

A computer-generated animated character that produces sign language output, translating text or spoken content into visual sign language for deaf and hard of hearing users. Signing avatars are used in applications such as public digital terminals, websites, and educational…

Signing Gesture Markup Language(also: SiGML)

Signing Gesture Markup Language (SiGML) is an XML-compliant notation for representing sign language gestures, developed as part of the ViSiCAST project at the University of East Anglia. SiGML is designed to bridge the gap between linguistic descriptions of signs and the…

Songwriting(also: Therapeutic Songwriting)

A therapeutic intervention in which a client, often collaborating with a therapist, composes original lyrics and musical elements as a way to explore emotions, reframe experiences, and build a sense of authorship over their own narrative. In music psychotherapy, songwriting is…

Sound Recognition(also: Sound Classification, Audio Event Detection, Environmental Sound Recognition)

Technology that automatically identifies and classifies sounds in a user's environment, typically using machine learning models trained on audio datasets. In accessibility contexts, sound recognition systems help deaf and hard of hearing people become aware of environmental…

Sound Visualization(also: Audio Visualization, Sound-to-Visual Mapping)

The practice of representing audio information through visual means, enabling Deaf or Hard-of-hearing individuals to perceive sound-based information that would otherwise be inaccessible. Sound visualization goes beyond simple captioning to convey characteristics like loudness…

South African Sign Language(also: SASL)

The primary sign language used by the Deaf community in South Africa, recognized as one of the country's official languages under the Constitution. SASL has its own grammar, syntax, and vocabulary distinct from spoken South African languages. Like all sign languages, SASL is a…

Spatial Reference (ASL)(also: Spatial Reference Point, Locus, ASL Spatial Reference)

In American Sign Language and other signed languages, the use of points in the signing space in front of the signer as invisible placeholders for entities under discussion — people, objects, or concepts. A signer may point to, sign near, or direct eye gaze toward a particular…

Stenotype(also: Stenography, Shorthand Typing, Machine Shorthand)

A specialised text-entry method that uses a keyboard with fewer keys than a standard QWERTY layout, where multiple keys are pressed simultaneously (chording) to represent phonetic sounds, syllables, or entire words. Stenotype enables trained operators to achieve speeds of…

Subtitles(also: Captions, Closed Captions, CC)

Text displayed on screen that represents the spoken dialogue and other relevant audio information in video content. Subtitles (called captions in North America) are essential for deaf and hard of hearing viewers but are also widely used by hearing audiences in noisy…

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