The use of a number as a a pronoun in American Sign Language. /
Numerical incorporation in ASL pronouns
Question:
A student writes:
In the Indexing part of lesson 2 I saw the signs "those three" and "those two"
they where signed with the palm up. Can you sign them with the palm down? I live
in the PNW and I have seen deaf people who live in this area sign it with the
palm down as well as up. is this right or should I just do the palm up?
Thanks for reading this.
[Name removed to protect privacy]
Answer:
I recommend you keep the palm up for "THEY-3, THEY-4, THEY-5"
The palm is at a mostly sideways angle for THEY-2.
The palm tends to point to your own body when signing WE-2 and/or YOU-and-ME.
Some reasons why I don't recommend doing NUMERICAL-PRONOUNS palm down include:
Because THEY-2 if done palm down would sort of conflict with a less common
inflection of "look at something from side to side."
THEY-3 if done palm down might be a bit confused with the number "33" or the
sign MOUSE.
If you sign the five of them" -- palm down it would conflict with "in that area
/ in that location or region."
My opinion: No sense inviting opportunities for confusion. You can be more clear
by those signs palm up to reduce overlap.
Tip: if you don't find an answer looking on the Lifeprint-ASLU Facebook page
then that is a good time to ask your question there and get input from the
moderators and other signers. Quite often one of them lives in a specific region
and can support (or expand upon) regional signing tendencies. Just add as much
context or clarification as you can (posting a video is usually very helpful and
appreciated -- but not required).
Also, regardless of any advice you receive online -- always respect and support
the signing choices of local socially active native Deaf adult skilled signers.
https://youtu.be/NArwrI2lD-4
Notes: