How large is the vocabulary of ASL?

I remember reading or hearing about a study that estimated the ASL lexicon to be about 6000 signs or something of that order. This study has been used to insinuate that ASL is inferior to English due to its supposedly limited vocabulary base. read more

In ASL, there is only one main sign for “large”: BIG. However, we can modify this sign through facial expressions, certain mouth morphemes, and changes in the size of the sign to express the same range in variation of size suggested by the English words. read more

American Sign Language (ASL) is a complete, complex language that employs signs made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body. read more

User Comments. NOTE: Comments are attached to the specific sign variation for a word. Please add the comment to the specific variation that the comment applies to. read more