Pronouns and Possessives
If you have the opportunity to go to a social event in the Deaf community, you will see a room come alive with signs, natural gestures, facial expressions, and body language. The Deaf are fabulous storytellers and easily capture your attention with the full animation that rounds out their storytelling. Depending on your interest and the application of your ASL skills, someday you may find yourself signing a story. Chapter 6 has just shown you the basic signs for asking questions and making introductions. Let's learn possessives and a few pronouns to continue building your ASL skills.
YOU: Point the index finger of the “one” hand toward the person. In sign language, pointing is referred to as “indexing.” This is an appropriate and important element in this visual language.
To sign “they” “them” “these” “those,” use the same sign form as “you,” adding a sweeping movement in the direction of the objects or subjects.
US, WE: Use the handshape of “K,” palm facing your right shoulder, extend your arm back and forth. The sign for “we” and “us” uses a form of indexing. Instead of pointing to the person and then to yourself, this sign simply swings back and forth between you and an imaginary or real person. Variation: To sign “we,” tap the index finger of the “one” hand on the right shoulder then sweep across the chest and tap the left shoulder.
Possessives
In Chapter 5, you learned how to form two possessive signs “my/mine” and “your.” This chapter will extend the application and uses for the sign “your.” If you have forgotten how to form this sign, return to the chapter and take a quick look at the image. To begin, sign “your,” which is the basic root sign for yours, theirs, his, and hers. To sign all of these words, all you need to do is make a few directional changes and/or add a sign.
To sign “your,” use the “flat” hand, palm facing forward, extend the arm forward toward the person. This sign is the root for the following signs.
To sign “yours,” “theirs,” use the “flat” hand for “your,” palm facing forward, now move your hand with an extended arm left to right across the front of your body.
Should you have a need to be gender specific, you are now ready to learn how to sign “his” and “hers.” The signs for “his” and “hers” are compound signs. A compound sign uses two or more signs to convey an idea.
To indicate “his,” sign “male” first, followed by the sign for “your.”
To indicate “hers,” sign “female” first, followed by the sign for “your.”
THING, THINGS: Move the “flat” hand, palm up, forward and slightly to the right.
If you have lots of things, what-cha-ma-call-its, or thing-a-ma-bobs, simply swing out your right hand and then your left hand. You can also add small up-and-down bobble movements when moving this sign, demonstrating “lots of stuff.”
The possessive signs you have just learned are important and used frequently in our daily conversations.
You have come to the end of this chapter, and you have come a long way. In this chapter alone, you have learned over thirty-five new signs! Try signing them once again to etch them better into your memory.
