In
sign languages,
movement, or
sig, refers to the distinctive hand actions that form words. In
William Stokoe's terminology, it is the , an abbreviation of
signation. Movement is one of five components of a sign—with
handshape ,
orientation ,
location , and facial-body
expression. Different sign languages use different types of movement. Some treatments distinguish
movement and
hold—signs, or parts of signs, that involve motion vs. those that hold the hands still.