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The twelve researchers/research teams contributing to this volume involve studies of eight European sign languages and one non-European sign language:

British Sign Language (BSL):                            Rachel Sutton-Spence & Linda Day

                                                                        Bencie Woll

Finnish Sign Language (FinSL):                         Päivi Rainò

German Sign Language (DGS):                         Horst Ebbinghaus & Jens Hessmann

                                                                        Daniela Happ & Annette Hohenberger

                                                                        Jörg Keller

Indo-Pakistani Sign Language (IPSL):               Ulrike Zeshan

Italian Sign Language (LIS):                              Roberto Ajello, Laura Mazzoni, Florida Nicolai

Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN):          Trude Schermer

Norwegian Sign Language (NSL):                     Marit Vogt-Svendsen

Swedish Sign Language (SSL):                          Brita Bergman & Lars Wallin

Swiss German Sign Language (DSGS):              Penny Boyes Braem

One of the primary aims of the workshop was to standardise the terms used when sign linguists describe and discuss mouth configurations and movements. This is reflected in the content of many of the contributions here. In particular, the participants wished to reach a consensus on what to call different types of mouth patterns. In the workshop presentations, a wide range of terms was used. Some had been used in the past and others are currently in use. There was a broad agreement that there are at least two (and probably more) clearly identifiable types of mouth patterns. Those mouth patterns derived from the spoken language have been termed spoken components, word pictures, and mouthings. The mouth patterns not derived from spoken languages have been termed mouth gestures, oral adverbials, mouth arrangements, and oral components. (Jane Coerts reminded us at the workshop that mouth patterns linked to emotion should be regarded as a separate group.)

Lengthy discussion at the workshop failed to produce a consensus for a single terminology. Some of the proposed terms were already being used outside of the field of sign language research; some did not translate well in different languages; some were felt to be too widely encompassing and some were misleading. It was further argued that predetermined labels tend to predispose what is looked for, and ultimately what is seen in data. In a true spirit of European compromise, the members of the workshop agreed to continue working without a consensus. For ease of reading in this collection, however, we have chosen to use the terms mouthings and mouth gestures except where the author has explicitly chosen another term.