Feelings & states
Hungry, thirsty, sleepy, sick, mad — everyday states, and the handshape family behind several of them.
Focus
Meet the 'feeling' finger
FEEL, LIKE, SICK, EXCITED and TOUCH all use the open-8 hand — middle finger bent forward. It's a documented handshape family, and it means one hand position unlocks a whole set of emotion words.
Same hands, different face
HUNGRY and WISH are the same movement. What distinguishes them is context and expression. Emotion vocabulary teaches you early that the face is not decoration.
Signs in this lesson
Open any sign for its full history, sources and minimal pairs.
Draw a 'C' hand down the center of your chest, tracing the path food takes.
Draw the tip of your index finger down the front of your throat.
Let an open hand droop down in front of your face, closing slightly, as your eyelids drop.
Touch the bent middle finger of an 'open 8' hand to your forehead (the other hand may touch the stomach), with a pained face.
Hold a claw hand in front of your face and draw it toward you slightly as the fingers tense, with an angry face.
Touch the thumb and middle finger of an open '8' hand to your chest, then pull the hand away as they close.
Draw both index fingers (or flat hands) up from the corners of your mouth toward your cheeks — while smiling.
Point two index fingers at each other and twist them toward one another — at the place that hurts, if you like.
Hold an open '8' hand in front of your mouth and twist it away, nose wrinkled.
Tap the thumb of an open '5' hand against the center of your chest.
Watch out for
Pairs in this lesson that learners mix up — the drill will test exactly these.
- THIRSTY / HUNGRY — Both trace down from the throat. THIRSTY uses one finger at the neck; HUNGRY a C hand on the chest.