What’s on the Sign Languages poster
A definition and 6 facts worth remembering.
Natural languages using the visual-manual modality, with their own phonology, morphology, syntax and regional variation — acquired by children on the same timetable as spoken languages.
- There is no universal sign language; there are hundreds.
- BSL and ASL are unrelated and mutually unintelligible.
- ASL is historically related to French Sign Language, not English.
- Signs have internal structure: handshape, location, movement, orientation.
- Grammar uses space, facial expression and timing.
- Deaf children acquire sign on the same developmental schedule as hearing children acq…
- Sign languages — 300+
- Universal one — none
- ASL related to — French SL
- Facial expression is grammar in sign languages, not emotion — it marks questions and…
Signed English is not a language: it is English encoded manually. ASL and BSL are languages in their own right.
Questions about the Sign Languages poster
- What’s on the Sign Languages poster?
- A definition and 6 facts worth remembering. Natural languages using the visual-manual modality, with their own phonology, morphology, syntax and regional variation — acquired by children on the same timetable as spoken languages. There is no universal sign language; there are hundreds.; BSL and ASL are unrelated and mutually unintelligible.; ASL is historically related to French Sign Language, not English.; Signs have internal structure: handshape, location, movement, orientation.; Grammar uses space, facial expression and timing.; Deaf children acquire sign on the same developmental schedule as hearing children acq…; Sign languages — 300+; Universal one — none; ASL related to — French SL; Facial expression is grammar in sign languages, not emotion — it marks questions and…. Signed English is not a language: it is English encoded manually. ASL and BSL are languages in their own right.
- Who is the Sign Languages poster for?
- Sign Languages belongs to the Languages section rather than to a school year, because languages is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning how languages work can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Sign Languages poster?
- They are not gestures, not universal, and not signed versions of spoken languages. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Sign Languages belongs on the wall where that languages work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Sign Languages?
- Bilingualism, Grammatical Case and Code-Switching sit alongside Sign Languages in the Languages section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.BilingualismGrammatical CaseCode-Switching
- Is the Sign Languages poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Sign Languages downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Languages section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Sign Languages poster print at?
- Sign Languages is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Sign Languages loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Sign Languages on the same wall.
Browse every Languages poster, or start from the full catalogue.