Clark (1885) describes all right under his entry straight: “pass lower edge of extended right across palm of extended left, edge touching palm, hands at right angles.” This sign was likely inherited from the LSF tout droit (all right) meaning “follow a straight route.” In the earliest records of this sign, the outer edge of the right flat hand traces a straight line across the left palm. In the early twentieth century, this sign could mean “all right,” “right,” and “correct” ( Higgins 1923). We have additional evidence that all right meant “right” or “correct”
because of the complementary entry wrong in Long (1910), where the right hand traces a bent line across the left palm (see flip out). Today, two unique movements elucidate two alternate meanings of the English word right:
all right, meaning “okay,” is produced with several short concave arcs, while right, meaning “a privilege to which one is entitled,” is produced with a single concave arc. Initialization with
the letter H results in the sign honest. ASL all right ASL right (YD from Long 1910)
almost 9
all ow
Laurent Clerc brought this sign to the U.S. The two flat hands, palms facing each other, move away from the body as if tracing the edge of a path. Long (1910) glossed the sign may, citing that it indicates permission. In France, the etymon of this sign is a gesture used by hearing people to let someone pass but also sarcastically to mean, “Go then, since you want to go there!” (the under-lying suggestion being “I think you are wrong”). It is also similar to a gesture where the palms are raised and move around the body, also used sarcastically to mean, “Go ahead, sir.” In ASL, ini-tialization with the letters L or P means let or permit, respectively.
alm os t
The tips of the fingers of the right flat hand graze the back of the left hand before contracting into the thumb handshape. Though not documented in historical texts, this sign is possibly an assimilated compound of the signs approach and first, both of which
were inherited from LSF. ASL almost
ASL approach (YD from Long 1910)
LSF premier ( Lambert 1865)
ASL allow (Illustration by Pat Mallet)
10 alone
al one
Clark (1885) describes the use of the extended index finger to symbolize a person as a common gesture. The circu-lar movement of the index finger comes from the image of a solitary individual pacing aimlessly.
a lw ay s
Lambert (1865) describes the French sign toujours (always) as “a circle that does not start or finish.” Paulmier (1844) describes the sign as “if, with the index, I trace a rapid, circular move-ment in the air, I cut the wings of time, I describe a circle, the serpent, who is the symbol of eternity in paintings.”
The circular movement of the hand evokes the never-ending cycle, an image that had been reflected in gestures used by the broader hearing communities (Calbris 2002). In one ASL variation ( Higgins 1923), the index finger is held horizontally, pointing away from the signer, identical to the old form docu-mented by Pélissier (1856 ).
ASL alone ( Illustration by Pat Mallet)
ASL always LSF toujours (Pélissier 1856 )
and 11
an al yze
This sign comes from the old LSF chercher (search), where the double hook hand was placed close to the face ( Pélissier 1856 ), and “the movement and expression [resembled ] a person who looks from right to left” ( Lambert 1865). This sign is not the source of the ASL sign look for (see entry for a full explanation).The ASL sign analyze and its French counterpart chercher partout (search everywhere) depict the act of searching in depth. The dou-ble hook handshape is also used in the LSF sign jardiner (to garden), which transmits the same metaphor behind the word dig, whose figurative meaning is to find something through research.
and
The union of the fingers in a bundle symbolizes an ensemble of things ( Kendon 2004; see also “The Bundled Handshape,” p. 217). The use of the bundled handshape to translate the conjunction and manifests the word’s meaning in its purest sense. The same sign was once used in Signed French for et (and ), reduced to its final handshape illustrated here.
ASL analyze
LSF chercher partout (IVT 1997)
ASL and LSF et
(Leaflet of a deaf peddler, 19th century.
Above the illustration we see the symbol & [and ])
12 angry
angr y
Higgins (1942) saw the origin of the sign angry as “the old sign of anger, rending of one’s garments.” In actuality, this sign derives from the French sign colère (angry), which was originally produced with one hand on the left side of the chest, symbolizing blood boiling in the chest. De Gérando (1827) describes its production as “the open right hand, with open and bent fingers directed toward the heart, executes a rapid and repeated movement from low to high near the heart as if marking the blood agitating.”
The claw handshape in both LSF and ASL carries metaphorical associations with harsh or mean things (see mad and selfish). Although Long (1910) docu-ments angry as being produced with one hand, it is frequently produced with two hands in contemporary ASL and LSF.
animal
The Brothers of St. Gabriel (1853–1854) describe animal thus: “Sign air while batting the hand or with both of the hands forming the letter M pressed against the stomach and following the movement of forced respiration.” The LSF letter M is nearly identical to the bent mitten handshape we see in the contemporary ASL sign. Listing quali-ties of generic concepts was common in old LSF and ASL. Pélissier (1856 ) cites three signs in his entry animaux (ani-mals) that correspond to the behaviors characteristic of most animals: “Pro-duce the signs breathe, walk, fly”
followed by the sign etc. animal was first documented in the U.S. by Brown
ASL angry
LSF colère (Pélissier 1856 )
LSF colère (IVT 1986 )
ASL animal (YD)
any 13 (1856 ) as the sign breathe. Clark
(1885) similarly describes the produc-tion of the sign as “move the hands out-wards a few inches, repeating motion to indicate the swelling and contraction of the chest in breathing.” The sign has since moved to the area of the upper chest where the fingertips of the bent mitten hands make contact. The origi-nal iconic rendering of animal, then, is completely obscured.
any
➊ In the beginning of the twentieth century, the production of this sign involved the extended right thumb jumping along the horizontal axis in small arcs from left to right in front of the signer ( Long 1910; Higgins 1923).
The root of this sign is the French sign chaque (each), which Lambert (1865) described as “with small jerks of the fist, trace a circular movement in front of the body where only the thumb is raised.”
The extended right thumb does not represent the letter A from the English word any as Higgins (1923) suggests, but is from the French sign un (one) (see “un (One): The Hidden Number,”
p. 239). Pélissier (1856 ) notes that “the closed hand, except for the thumb which appears to be un, jolts from left to right with successive jumps, as if it wanted to touch or designate each object.” This sign also corresponds to the etymology of the French word chacun, a compound of chaque + un (each + one).
➋ In the contemporary sign, the jumping movement has been reduced
to a single, outward pivot of the wrist. ASL any 2
ASL any 1 (YD from Long 1910)
LSF chaque (Lambert 1865)
14 applause