Glossary

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MPEG-4 Facial Action Parameter(also: MPEG-4 FAP, FAP, Facial Action Parameter)

A standard for 3D face animation defined in ISO/IEC 14496-2 (MPEG-4), which parameterises a face through 68 feature points whose displacements (scaled relative to the character's own facial proportions) encode any facial expression. MPEG-4 FAP is proportion-invariant, so the…

Makaton

A language programme that uses a combination of speech, signs (borrowed from British Sign Language), and graphic symbols to support communication for people who have difficulty with spoken language. Unlike BSL, which is a complete natural language with its own grammar, Makaton…

Manual Sign(also: MS, Hand Sign)

The hand shapes, movements, and locations that form the primary visible component of sign language vocabulary. Manual signs are what most hearing people think of as "sign language," but they represent only one channel of a multi-channel visual communication system. In ASL,…

Manual Signs(also: Hand Signs)

The hand-based components of sign language communication, consisting of four parameters: hand shape (configuration of fingers), location (where the sign is made relative to the body), movement (how the hands move through space), and palm orientation. Manual signs form the core…

Milan Congress(also: Milan Congress of 1880, Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf)

The Milan Congress was an international conference on the education of Deaf children held in Milan in 1880, where hearing educators voted to ban sign language from Deaf schools and impose oralism, the exclusive use of speech and lip-reading, as the standard pedagogy. The…

Morphological NMS(also: Morphological Non-Manual Sign)

Non-manual signs that modify or add grammatical meaning to manual signs, functioning similarly to morphemes in spoken languages. In ASL, morphological NMS convey information about degree, intensity, size, and manner. For example, facial expressions and body posture can show…

Multichannel Signal(also: Multi-Channel Signal, Parallel Signal Channels)

A communication signal that conveys information simultaneously through multiple independent or semi-independent channels. In the context of sign languages, a multichannel signal includes the concurrent streams produced by a signer: manual signs (dominant and non-dominant hand…

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