A@Chest-RadialBack Contact

American Sign Language edit

Alternative forms edit

(rotated with the knuckles facing toward the signer) A@Chest-TipBack Contact
(with the “open A” handshape) OpenA@Chest-RadialBack
(emphatic form, made with a large, quick motion, without the repeated contact) A@Chest-RadialBack

Etymology edit

The same handshape as various signs indicating oneself, e.g. A@RadialFinger-1@Center-FingerUp (“oneself”), and the same location as other first person pronouns.

Production edit

This entry needs a photograph or drawing for illustration. Please try to find a suitable image on Wikimedia Commons or upload one there yourself!

This one-handed ASL sign is produced as follows:
1. Posture the dominant hand in a shape similar to the “A” handshape (i.e. with the fingers together and curled into a fist, the thumb unopposed and closed) but with the tip of the thumb extended about an inch past the edge of the index finger on the chest, radial (thumb-side) edge of the dominant hand facing back.
2. Touch the back of the thumb twice against the chest.
3. Hold the hand still briefly.

Noun edit

Upload png, jpg, or gif image. (ASL gloss: MYSELF, SELF-ONLY-1)

I myself; only I; I and no one else

Usage notes edit

This sign indicates that the signer alone satisfies the sentence predicate. This pronoun and the related SELF-ONLY signs are only used as subjects.

Related terms edit

A@Chesthigh SmallFrontandback (“SELF-ONLY, you yourself, he himself, she herself”)
A@IpsiChest-RadialBack A@ContraChest-RadialBack (“SELF-ONLY-PL-1, we ourselves”)
A@Chesthigh RoundHoriz (“SELF-ONLY-PL, you yourselves, they themselves”)
A@RadialFinger-1@Center-FingerUp (“self, oneself”)