At home
The house, the things in it, and the noun-verb pattern hiding in CHAIR.
Focus
How ASL makes nouns
SIT once is a verb; the same movement small and twice is CHAIR. EAT once; FOOD twice. Supalla and Newport documented this noun-verb pattern in 1978, and once you see it you'll spot it everywhere — CAR/DRIVE, AIRPLANE/FLY.
Iconicity with a shelf life
PHONE is a landline handset held to the ear. The object is vanishing; the sign isn't. Children now learn it as an arbitrary form — a live example of how iconic signs become conventional.
Signs in this lesson
Open any sign for its full history, sources and minimal pairs.
Touch the fingertips of two flat hands to form a roof peak, then draw them down and apart as walls.
Hold two flat hands together, palms out, and swing one open and shut.
Lay a flat hand against your cheek and tilt your head onto it.
Stack your forearms, flat, and pat the top one down on the bottom one.
Tap the two fingers of an 'H' hand twice across the fingers of your other 'H' hand.
Press flat palms together, then open them like the covers of a book.
Hold a 'Y' hand to the side of your face, thumb at the ear and pinky at the mouth.
Hold two fists like a steering wheel and turn it back and forth.
Pat the top of your head with a flat hand.
Tap two fists together side by side, twice.
Pinch the fabric of your shirt near the shoulder between thumb and index and tug it.
Scrub your index finger side to side across your front teeth.