SV: Re: Wordless language (WAS: NonVerbal Conlang?)

Howdy!

> Yes, of course - I had forgotten about sign
> languages. Sorry.
> AFAIK most (all?) are natlangs
They most certainly are.

> > Do Sign Languages constist of phones?
> > Are Sign Languages natlangs?
>
> They won't consist of phones - but signs languages
> are not things I'm
> familiar with. I do not know how they are analyzed.
When discussing sign languages, the terms "phone" and
"phoneme" are used, although they - of course - don't
refer to anything sound-related, but rather to
different ways to align ones fingers, to move ones
hands and to place one hands in space.

On the topic of sign languages: For a non-technical
description of sign language in general and its
history in particular, I can strongly recommend the
book "Seeing Voices" by Oliver Sacks.

/Kalle B