Abstract
The chapter shows some strategies used in the signs for denoting outer parts of the human body. Indeed, the body parts, located inside the signing space (the upper half of the body, approx. to the waist height) as its elements, are most commonly denoted through the di-rect deixis.
For denoting smaller body parts (the eye, the nose) is normally used a stretched or bent index finger, for bigger parts (the belly, the chest) is used a flat hand with stretched fingers. The hand contacts the appropriate body part, usually in a repeated movement.
Signs for the body parts outside the signing space (the bottom half of the body) usually use the mapping strategy: the arm represents the leg (the heel, the shin), the size and shape specifier (the calf, buttocks), or lexicalized signs articulated in a neu-tral space (reproductive organs, the knee). Necessary part of signs is usu-ally mouthing based on the Czech language.
Thus, most signs for body parts use direct referencing and they are deictic, but not identical with indexical gestures.