Home signs are invented signs that are combined with some standard ASL or SE signs, pantomime, and natural gestures. Home signs are invented primarily out of necessity. This type of signing occurs when sign language or a specific sign for a word is not known. This inventive approach to language is a normal progression. It often occurs with young children and in situational groups.

During the course of your life, perhaps without realizing it, you create special words for family, workplaces, and things. These affectionate names are then only recognized within your close circles of friends, coworkers, and family members. Home signs function in much the same way. It would not be unusual to see a young Deaf child, not knowing the proper signs for nouns, signing “brown balls” to represent a cocoa-flavored cereal or “purple drink” for grape juice. So as you become more aware of the different types of sign language, be on the lookout for home signs that use descriptive adjectives rather than properly signed names and nouns.