Lorias1228
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Name signs
I've had 4 or is now five????
When I first started learning ASL a 10 year old girl gave me the sign name L going from the left shoulder to the right hip. The same as the sign for LORD.
Well once I found out this meant Lord I was like um I don';t think so... So one day I was talking to one of my professors anjd she gave me the sign name L bouncing off the breast bone. I thought how cool it was that Wendy gave me a sign name... that is until every person I met that was over 60 when I showed my name sign said your name sign mean LAZY???? Um Nooooo. Well then I felt bad about my name sign. I had a friend who I was hanging out with. Her name was Emily and she was always crying. I said her name sign should be E on her cheek drown down like the sign for CRY. And then we said my name sign should be L on the palm of the hand moved like the sign for WRITE since I love to write stories. It was basically in jest that we said these thing since I didn't grow up within the Deaf community I can't technically give name signs. Well I showed these signs to my ASL profs who are Culturally Deaf and they both went can't use them anyway... they break the rules. Okay whatever.... I showed them to the Deaf Club and they were like wahts wrong with them. I said I didn't know other than I couldn't give myself a name sign or anyone else. Fine the said we give you that name sign.
Well, I went back to my profs and they both went nope you can't use that it's not a proper name sign. But I had no real understanding as to why. Then I met my friend Billy and he was like okay I'm giveing you a name sign. He then gives me the sign L next the mouth made in a sweeping movement like the sign for CAT or LAUGH. Again... the name signs broke the rules. By this time I was about to tell everyone I didn't care anymore just to sign my first name as my name sign. But then Billy changed my name sign to be L, A on the right side of the chin. Finally a name sign that passed the professors.
Anyway as to why those other name signs broke the rules...
A name sign is supposed to be arbitrary. That is it can't represent something. Like L sweeping next to the mouth. It is the movement for Cat but since it is not the sign CAT then it is not proper.If Billy had given me the sighn for Cat as a sign name because I like cats fine but since it was made with the L then it is not correct and breaks the Sign Name rules.
There is a book on the rules by Samuel Suppella(spelling) that helped me understand a lot about what can and can't be used in the Deaf Community as a sign name. Interestingly it seems most Deaf people don't know the rules either.
So now my sign name is L, A on the right side of the chin. Billy used my middle initial so that I was differentiated from anyone else using the L sign name in the same location.
There you have it my long and boring disertation on how I got my sign name.
Lori
I've had 4 or is now five????
When I first started learning ASL a 10 year old girl gave me the sign name L going from the left shoulder to the right hip. The same as the sign for LORD.
Well once I found out this meant Lord I was like um I don';t think so... So one day I was talking to one of my professors anjd she gave me the sign name L bouncing off the breast bone. I thought how cool it was that Wendy gave me a sign name... that is until every person I met that was over 60 when I showed my name sign said your name sign mean LAZY???? Um Nooooo. Well then I felt bad about my name sign. I had a friend who I was hanging out with. Her name was Emily and she was always crying. I said her name sign should be E on her cheek drown down like the sign for CRY. And then we said my name sign should be L on the palm of the hand moved like the sign for WRITE since I love to write stories. It was basically in jest that we said these thing since I didn't grow up within the Deaf community I can't technically give name signs. Well I showed these signs to my ASL profs who are Culturally Deaf and they both went can't use them anyway... they break the rules. Okay whatever.... I showed them to the Deaf Club and they were like wahts wrong with them. I said I didn't know other than I couldn't give myself a name sign or anyone else. Fine the said we give you that name sign.
Well, I went back to my profs and they both went nope you can't use that it's not a proper name sign. But I had no real understanding as to why. Then I met my friend Billy and he was like okay I'm giveing you a name sign. He then gives me the sign L next the mouth made in a sweeping movement like the sign for CAT or LAUGH. Again... the name signs broke the rules. By this time I was about to tell everyone I didn't care anymore just to sign my first name as my name sign. But then Billy changed my name sign to be L, A on the right side of the chin. Finally a name sign that passed the professors.
Anyway as to why those other name signs broke the rules...
A name sign is supposed to be arbitrary. That is it can't represent something. Like L sweeping next to the mouth. It is the movement for Cat but since it is not the sign CAT then it is not proper.If Billy had given me the sighn for Cat as a sign name because I like cats fine but since it was made with the L then it is not correct and breaks the Sign Name rules.
There is a book on the rules by Samuel Suppella(spelling) that helped me understand a lot about what can and can't be used in the Deaf Community as a sign name. Interestingly it seems most Deaf people don't know the rules either.
So now my sign name is L, A on the right side of the chin. Billy used my middle initial so that I was differentiated from anyone else using the L sign name in the same location.
There you have it my long and boring disertation on how I got my sign name.
Lori
or feel good on chin ??
J/K
