sign for 'mother' looks like ͜ 5x The ' ͜ ' indicates that it is signed at the chin, the '5' that it uses a spread hand (the '5' of ASL), and the 'x' that the thumb touches the chin. Stokoe coined the terms tab, dez, and sig, meaning sign location, handshape and motion, to indicate different categories of phonemes in ASL. The Stokoe notation system has been used for other sign languages, but is mostly restricted to linguists and academics (as yet, no notation system for a sign language has gained significant use). Legacy Through the publication of his work, he was instrumental in changing the perception of ASL from that of a broken or simplified version of English to that of a complex and thriving natural language in its own right with an independent syntax and grammar as functional and powerful as any found in the oral languages of the world. Gil Eastman, a Deaf actor and playwright, recommended that Stokoe be called the "Father of Sign Language linguistics." Notes References An interview with William C. Stokoe. Gallaudet Research Institute Newsletter, Fall 1984, pp. 3, 5. Gerhold, Sara C. 2000. William C. Stokoe and the Study of Signed Languages Conference. Research at Gallaudet – A publication of the Gallaudet Research Institute at Gallaudet University (Winter 2000), p. 7. (Full issue) Stokoe gives keynote address at linguistics conference. Research at Gallaudet (Fall 1988), pp. 4–6. Pearson, Richard. 2000. Linguist William C. Stokoe Jr. Dies at 80. Washington Post (April 8, 2000), p. B6. Nagourney, Eric. 2000. William Stokoe Jr., Sign Language Advocate, Dies at 80. New York Times (April 11, 2000), p. B10. Neisser, Arden. 1984. Listening to the Deaf. Cornell Alumni News (July 1984), pp. 14–18. External links Gupress.gallaudet.edu Gupress.gallaudet.edu Gupress.gallaudet.edu 1919 births 2000 deaths Linguists from the United States Literary critics of English Deaf culture in the United States People involved with sign language Linguists of sign languages Writers from New Hampshire Wells College people Gallaudet University faculty 20th-century linguists