Expressivity in Sign Languages

Abstract Sign languages frequently convey speaker (where ’speaker’ = utterer) attitude by facial and body expression, which may lead a casual observer to think that expressives in sign languages are less structured linguistically than in spoken languages. Using examples from three sign languages—American, Brazilian (Libras), and British—this chapter demonstrates that expressives in these sign languages, whether manually or non-manually produced, share similar grammatical characteristics and similar discourse roles with those in spoken languages, as evidenced in interjections (back-channel responses, polite interjections and expressives, and blurts), slurs, and aesthetic expressions designed to increase the emotional impact of the statement. Some expressives show influence of language contact from their surrounding spoken languages, but underpinning them all is the influence of the embodied, iconic nature of sign languages.