Language can be perceived as a piece of paper. On one side, there is the “thought”, and the “sound” on the other. These two are inseparable, and it is impossible to cut one side of the paper without cutting the other as well. This applies to language too. It is not possible to separate the thought from the sound. But what about when there is no sound? How does thought develop? These two questions encourage the linguists to study deafness, language, and cognition. Today, years of research proves that the sign languages answer the definition of “language”.

Despite the common belief, the sign languages was not derived from the spoken languages. In fact, they are as complex and rich and they contain both concrete and abstract concepts. Again, contrary to popular belief, there is more than one sign language, and knowing one does not mean knowing them all.

This book aims at contributing to the existing literature of linguistics and our knowledge of Turkish sign language. The first part of Talking with Hands documents the history of the Turkish sign language, questions its social and political position, and discusses the concept of deafness. The second part of the book focuses on the grammatical approaches towards the Turkish sign language, and the third part covers the practices regarding the Turkish sign language.