Light

[Cherry]

What is the most common way to sign light (as in light bulb, not light weight). I've seen it done very differently on a couple of sites.

Cherry

[aligreat]

If you are talking about a light, you flick the side of your chin with your middle finger. When talking about lights on or off you open or close your hand accordingly. For example, if I were talking about flashing the overhead lights to get the attention of deaf students, I would sign LIGHT by flicking my middle finger at the side of my chin and then opening and closing (5 handshape to S handshape) my hand to show the manner in which I flashed the lights--different speeds have different meanings. If I were talking about turning on the light I would sign LIGHT and then go from an S handshape to a 5 handshape and leave my hand open, and for turning off the light I would do the opposite.

[Cherry]

That is the way I was making the sign, but then I saw the ASL Pro site (www.aslpro.com) and they were using the same flicking motion, but with two hands - one at eye level and the other at chin level. Very confusing.

The *off* and *on* you discribed... is that signed with the palm of your hand facing the students? Also, is that the same way you would sign off or on by itself, or just in regard to a light?

(Bet you thought you were through with this answer! ;) )

Thanks again!

[ASLReBecca]

There's never a "pat" answer to any of these questions, is there?

RED LIGHT/GREEN LIGHT: Okay, so you're driving down the road and you come to a red light. You have to explain to your child that you cannot drive through the light because it is RED.

You would sign LIGHT (flick underneath your chin, then show the light-EXACTLY how you see it) so the palm of your hand would be facing you above eye level, palm open, because the light is on. Then you would sign RED. Now when it changes to green, then you would move your hand down to spots, same as your imaginary lighting system, to where the green light would go. Make sense?

TORCH LIGHT: the kind that makes the light rays go up (don't know how else to explain that one). LIGHT, then your palm would be facing UP, same as the light rays would go, palm open.

TABLE LIGHT/KITCHEN LIGHT/ROOM LIGHT: Since these lights are either on the ceiling or on the coffee table and the light shines DOWN, your sign would be LIGHT, then your palm would be facing down and then opened of course, unless your asking your child to turn it off. :cool:

LIGHT is a directional sign. I think I've explained those before. If not, and you would like more clarification, let me know. Smiles, ReBecca

[Cherry]

Thanks so much for the detailed answer. Knowing that it is a directional sign makes it easier to understand why there may be different signs that mean light. There certainly is a lot to learn!

Cherry