home sign

plural home signs · alternative homesign

1. uncountableThe gestural communication system, less than a complete sign language, developed by a deaf child who lacks input from a language model in the family.

   Synonyms: kitchen sign

2. countableA particular sign in such a system.

   LeZotte also gives readers a sense of M.V.S.L. (Martha's Vineyard Sign Language), used by the islanders through the mid-1900s but never fully documented, by combining "home signs" she used as a child with variations of American Sign Language.

   2020 April 27, Meg Medina, “A Deaf Girl Finds Her Voice on Martha's Vineyard in the 19th Century”, in The New York Times Book Review, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2022