We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of COST (European Cooperation in Science and
Technology) funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union. Current
grammatical knowledge about particular sign languages is fragmentary and of varying reliability
and it appears scattered in scientific publications where the description is often intertwined
with the analysis. In general comprehensive grammars are a rarity. The SignGram Blueprint is
an innovative tool for the grammar writer: a full-fledged guide to describing all components of
the grammars of sign languages in a thorough and systematic way and with the highest
scientific standards. The work builds on the existing knowledge in Descriptive Linguistics but
also on the insights from Theoretical Linguistics. It consists of two main parts running in
parallel: the Checklist with all the grammatical features and phenomena the grammar writer can
address and the accompanying Manual with the relevant background information (definitions
methodological caveats representative examples tests pointers to elicitation materials and
bibliographical references). The areas covered are Phonology Morphology Lexicon Syntax and
Meaning. The Manual is endowed with hyperlinks that connect information across the work and
with a pop-up glossary. The SignGram Blueprint will be a landmark for the description of sign
language grammars in terms of quality and quantity.
