Different levels of use

Makaton symbols and signs can be used at three different levels.

Functional use

The most basic level is where one symbol or sign represents a whole sentence or message. For example, the symbol or sign for eat could be used to represent the whole sentence the man is eating an orange.

     
symbol for eat
    
the
man
is
eating
an
orange

     
sign for eat
    
the
man
is
eating
an
orange

Keyword use

The next level is to use key symbols and/ or signs to convey all the meaning, but not the grammatical items. So the symbols or signs for man, eat and orange would be used to represent the whole sentence.

 
symbol for man
  
symbol for eat
  
symbol for orange (fruit)
the
man
is
eating
an
orange

 
sign for man
  
sign for eat
  
sign for orange (fruit)
the
man
is
eating
an
orange

Symbol reading

The most sophisticated level is where Makaton symbols and signs are used for every word and linguistic element in the sentence.

symbol for the
symbol for man
symbol for is
symbol for eat
symbol for an
symbol for orange (fruit)
the
man
is
eating
an
orange

sign for the
sign for man
sign for is
sign for eat
finger spelling for a and n
sign for orange (fruit)
the
man
is
eating
an
orange

 

These exist in the Makaton National Curriculum (part 1) resource vocabulary, which provides symbols and signs for all the grammatical elements of English and other major world languages.

The above examples are taken from Corker, J. & Rice, J. (1996). Finding a Voice. Honormead/ Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (Social Services).