DEAFNESS 269
• Combine signs for things and actions to communicate ideas or sentences. The
arrangement of words does not need to be the same as in the spoken language—
and you can leave out ‘extra’ words like “the” and “a.” Also, words like “to” or
“from” can often be left out or can be indicated by the direction of a motion.
Set the table.
Will you give me a banana, please?
PUT or SET
TABLE
BANANA
(peeling motion)
GIVE
YOU to ME
PLEASE
• Decide whether or not to use letters of the alphabet to make some signs. In
some sign languages the first letter of a spoken (written) word is used as the sign
for that word. At first this will mean nothing to a child who cannot read, and will
be harder. But it can help prepare the child for learning to read and to finger spell.
Again, be systematic:
The sign for
‘W’ is
WALL
WATER
WATERMELON
1. 2.
Be sure that letter-based signs
agree with the word in your
language. In Spanish, “watermelon”
is “sandía,” so the English sign
makes no sense. The Spanish sign is:
SANDÍA
(Tap with finger.)
(Tap with fist.)
• You can make up signs for people’s names by using the first letter of their
name, by showing something that stands for that person, or both.
If María
looks
like this,
you might sign her
name like this:
1. 2.
Sign ‘M’ and then the sign
for María, for ‘glasses’.
TAKE
the BOOK
(Move hands in direction
it should be taken.)
to MARÍA
disabled village children