American Sign Language

". . .Some people have described ASL and other sign languages as "gestural" languages. This is not absolutely correct because hand gestures are only one component of ASL. Facial features such as eyebrow motion and lip-mouth movements as well as other factors such as body orientation are also significant in ASL as they form a crucial part of the grammatical system. In addition, ASL makes use of the space surrounding the signer to describe places and persons that are not present.

"Sign languages develop specific to their communities and is not universal. For example, ASL is totally different from British Sign Language even though both countries speak English. Many people consider it a shame that there isn't a universal sign language; however, it's also a shame that there isn't a universal spoken language. . ."

Nakamura, Karen. Deaf Resource Library http://www.deaflibrary.org/asl.html