"you"
"must"
The single forceful movement means "must;" a double, short movement means "should."
"Why?"
Another example of the rhetorical question sentence structure.
"Now-morning"
The sign on the left is "now," and is either done with "Y" hands or, as in this example, with "bent B" hands (like "Y" without the pinkies extended). The sign on the right is "morning:" the open "B" hand, palm up, bends up at the elbow while the non-dominant hand is tucked in the antecubital fossa. See the signs for "afternoon," "night," and "midnight," to see how the non-dominant hand acts as the horizon, and the dominant hand represents the position of the sun.
"blood"
The index finger, palm in, strokes the lips to make the sign for "red." Then the dominant "5" hand, palm in moves away from the non-dominant "B" or "5" hand, palm in, while wiggling its fingers to signify a flowing liquid.
"test"
This is the sign for an academic test with a list of questions, but it is also used more generally. The index fingers curve in several times while moving downward. See also the sign for "ask."
"result"
This means answer, response, or result of a test (not result of an effort). The index fingers, palm forward, move forward while turning palm down, with the dominant index finger starting from the mouth and the non-dominant hand slightly forward of that.
"find"
The dominant "F" hand picks up something. This can also be done with the non-dominant hand palm-up, as if finding something on the palm. "Find" is a conjunction meaning "because it was discovered that." It also means "find" in the more general sense, such as finding an object.
"potassium"
"low"
This also means "short" or "small." See also the sign for "child," which is similar with a shorter movement.
Movies displayed on this page are links to the American Sign Language Browser ©2000 Michigan State University Communication Technology Laboratory. All rights reserved.
Text of this page ©2000 Eileen K. Carpenter, MD