Viewpoint in British Sign Language

How signers position themselves inside meaning

Once reference is established, British Sign Language does something distinctive. Instead of describing events from a fixed distance, signers choose a viewpoint. They decide where they are standing in relation to what is happening — and that decision shapes the grammar that follows.Viewpoint is not an extra layer added for drama or storytelling. It is part of how BSL structures meaning in everyday use.

What “viewpoint” means

Viewpoint is about perspective, not opinion. A signer may present an event: as an outside observer, from the position of one participant and/or from inside the action itself.

Each choice changes how space, movement, eye gaze, and body orientation are used. The event may be the same, but the grammar is not. This is why two phrases of signing can describe the same situation and still be structurally different.

This is not performance. It is grammar.

Observer viewpoint

In observer viewpoint, the signer stays outside the event. They describe what happens to people or objects that exist in the signing space. Reference points remain stable, and actions are shown as occurring between them. This viewpoint is common when: setting out facts, explaining sequences and/or describing actions at a distance.

Here, the signer manages meaning by moving through space rather than becoming the actor.

Participant viewpoint

In participant viewpoint, the signer steps inside the event. The body, face, and gaze now represent a character’s position. Actions are shown as they are experienced rather than observed. This is where role shift appears — not as performance, but as grammar. The signer is no longer pointing at a person in space; they are temporarily inhabiting that reference.

The reference work has already been done. Viewpoint builds on it.

Why this is grammatical, not theatrical

Learners are sometimes taught to think of role shift as “acting” or “storytelling technique”. This misses the point. Viewpoint choices affect: how actions are shaped, what can be omitted, how reference is maintained and how relationships between participants are shown.

A signer cannot freely mix viewpoints without confusing meaning. The language enforces coherence.

Viewpoint and English tense

English learners often expect grammar to signal when something happened. BSL is more concerned with where the signer is positioned in relation to the event. A signer can talk about the past, the future, or a hypothetical situation using the same viewpoint choices. Time may be set once, then left implicit. What matters is how the signer aligns themselves with what is being described.

This is why English tense labels do not map neatly onto BSL structure.

A common misunderstanding

Viewpoint shifts are sometimes described as “switching subjects” or “changing perspective mid-sentence”. In reality, they are usually carefully prepared. The signer: establishes reference, signals the viewpoint shift, maintains that viewpoint consistently and then returns to an observer position if needed.

What looks sudden is often grammatically planned.

Why this matters

Viewpoint explains: role shift, constructed action, body partitioning and why English glosses flatten meaning. Without viewpoint, BSL can look like a sequence of gestures. With it, the language reveals its internal logic.

Reference tells us who and what. Viewpoint tells us from where. Together, they form the backbone of BSL structure.