Sign Language – 5 Parameters• Sign Language has an internal structure. They can be broken down into smaller parts. These parts

are called the PARAMETERS of a sign. These form the basic parts of the sign.

• Handshape: Each language has its own set of handshapes, some are shared by the different Sign Languages.

• Location: Location is the place of articulation. The marker indicates the space in which the sign takes place.

• Palm Orientation: The direction in which the palm of the hand is facing.

• Movement: Most signs imply a movement between two places of articulation. Sometimes the sign contains an additional internal movement of the fingers or wrists which are considered secondary.

• Non-manual features: Sign Language conveys prosody through facial expression and the upper-body posture. Head position, eyebrows, eye gaze, blinks and mouth positions all convey important linguistic information in Sign Language.

• The first three parameters are always in all signs. Movement and Non-manual features are optional. If the parameters in a sign are not correct, the sign is not correct.