Seeking help for a book

lugoblah

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Hello. I'm working on a murder mystery story involving deaf people. I know that honorifics such as Mr. and Mrs. don't really exist in sign language. While I was reading through it, I noticed that a young female character says "ma'am" to her babysitter. Looking at it, it seems wrong, but I'm not really sure how to fix it. Is there a word or phrase that the girl could sign to signify that she recognizes the babysitter's authority and shows respect to the babysitter? Or would it be more appropriate for the girl to do the babysitter's name sign? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
Hello. I'm working on a murder mystery story involving deaf people. I know that honorifics such as Mr. and Mrs. don't really exist in sign language. While I was reading through it, I noticed that a young female character says "ma'am" to her babysitter. Looking at it, it seems wrong, but I'm not really sure how to fix it. Is there a word or phrase that the girl could sign to signify that she recognizes the babysitter's authority and shows respect to the babysitter? Or would it be more appropriate for the girl to do the babysitter's name sign? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

hmm.. in my experience I don't think in the Deaf community addresses each other with names or uses any honorifics (I could be wrong though) only when we are talking about the person or to get the person's attention through another person. I think the girl would be waving her hand getting her babysitter's attention, or stomping her feet, or flickering the light off or on, or using her voice like a little yell. Or maybe a light gentle (or a strong impatient touch!) touch on the arm. If she has a friend or a brother and he's standing near the baby sitter she might sign saying the babysitter's name sign and the sign "touch" to get her attention. Or if she's looking for the babysitter and sees her brother or another person she might sign "babysitter, where?" or the person's name sign , where? Or showing some manners she may ask the babysitter "do you mind I do this...?" Name signs are unique to each individual to their personality. Maybe the girl shows her respects by signing "thank you" after the conversation is done. Hope that helps.
 
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