Sign language linguists show here that all questions relevant to the linguistic investigation of spoken languages can be asked about sign languages Conversely questions that sign language linguists consider even if spoken language researchers have not asked them yet should also be asked of spoken languages The HSK handbook Sign Language aims to provide a concise and comprehensive overview of the state of the art in sign language linguistics It includes 44 chapters written by leading researchers in the field that address issues in language typology sign language grammar psycholinguistics neurolinguistics sociolinguistics and language documentation and transcription Crucially all topics are presented in a way that makes them accessible to linguists who are not familiar with sign language linguistics the first encyclopaedic reference book in the field of sign language research over 40 chapters covering all aspects of the linguistic study of sign languages extensively illustrated with examples from over 30 sign languages