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Hi there! I am Studyfin, your friendly ASL guide. Today we will learn how to sign family words using a super cool trick!
In American Sign Language, your face is like a map. The area around your forehead is used for male signs. The area around your chin is used for female signs.
Let's look at the sign for Father. You tap your thumb of an open '5' hand on your forehead. This works because the forehead is the male sign zone.
Now let's look at the sign for Mother. You make the exact same '5' hand shape, but you tap your thumb on your chin. The chin is the female sign zone.
We can compare this rule to other family signs. For Brother and Sister, both signs start with a modified 'L' hand. Brother starts at the forehead and moves down, while Sister starts at the chin and moves down.
Imagine you want to sign the word 'Grandfather' and 'Grandmother'. How can you use the ASL zone rule to figure out where each sign starts?
- Identify the gender of the family member. 'Grandfather' is male, and 'Grandmother' is female.
- Recall the zones on the face. The forehead is the male zone, and the chin is the female zone.
- Place your hand near the forehead to start the sign for 'Grandfather'.
- Place your hand near the chin to start the sign for 'Grandmother'.
- Bounce your hand forward in two small arches to complete the 'Grand' part of both signs!
