1. A system that encodes signs in a given sign language that uses at least a first hand, said system comprising: means for defining a handshape of said first hand; means for defining a palm orientation of said first hand; means for defining a location of said first hand; means for defining a movement of said first hand; coding means, coupled to each of said means for defining, for assigning each handshape, palm orientation, location, and movement a corresponding code value; combining means, coupled to said coding means, for combining said code values of said handshape, palm orientation, location, and movement; and selecting means, coupled to said combining means, for selecting one or more corresponding signs using said combined code values, said selecting means operating to match said combined code value against a database of code values and to return from said database of code values a quantity of combined code values of one or more signs falling within a given range of code values.