Sign languages are a recurring topic of interest in many disciplines related to artificial intelligence such as Computer Vision, this is mainly due to the fact that by definition they are visual-gestural languages, which means, they require the sense of sight to carry out the communicative act. Frequently, computational approaches for the recognition of these languages arise, or technological products are developed to use the computer as an inclusion tool. However, sign languages are a challenging phenomenon to study, so often, the literature on this subject seems like a competition to find an adequate method between the linguistic perspective and the use of computer vision techniques, rather than a path built from the foundation of different advancements or achievements. In this article, we aim to establish a link between the linguistic analysis of sign languages and the work in the artificial intelligence literature focused on their recognition. In this way, we will be able to identify various growth areas, provide a clear context of the problem, and recognize key elements for the study and recognition of these languages.