An interactive ASL database
Four researchers have worked with a team of deaf scientists and software engineers to create the ASL-LEX database.
The free and searchable database has information on nearly 3,000 signs and is a visualization of the ASL lexicon. This helps users examine how signs are organized in the human mind. How does this work? The researchers write:
For example, if you looked up “tease” in the database, you would learn that this sign is used quite frequently in ASL. A person trying to sign “tease” might think of it more quickly than a rare sign like “linguistics.” ASL-LEX also shows that “tease” is visually similar to – and, in a visual way, rhymes with – other signs, like “ruin.” These related signs might also come to mind while a person thinks of “tease.” Researchers believe this process of calling up similar words or signs helps people speak or sign faster.