CHAIR: [noun--double movement] (Do the sign "sit" twice.)
SIT:
This sign is the "verb" form of the sign "CHAIR."
You just do the first half of the sign "CHAIR." One quick
motion.
BENCH: One movement. Modified form of "CHAIR."
This sign could also be used to indicate a row of people sitting.
couch: This is a combination of "SIT" and "C" classifier handshapes
to show the shape of a couch.
In context, you don't need to do the first part of this sign.
ANXIOUS:
The sign "SIT" can be modified to show someone squirming in their chair.
This can be used to mean "anxiety" and similar concepts.
A student asked me, "How do you sign "Long Time."
My response involved the sign "sit" so I'm including it here:
In general I just do the sign "long" and then "time." BUT...if you are
signing something like, "I sat for a long time" you would modify the
verb SAT with a "temporal inflection." What I mean by that is...you would do
the sign for "sit"...then you would move both hands up an inch, forward, down,
and back (keeping your hands together--or shall we say, "keeping your buns on
the chair") using a circular motion. This motion means that you have been
sitting for a long time--so in that case you would not need a separate
sign for "long time." The concept of "long time" would be shown by the
way you move the sign.
Also see: SWING