"AUSTRALIA" The American
Sign Language (ASL) sign for: "Australia"
A common version of the ASL sign for Australia:
You may see a version showing the 8-handshape with the pads of
the middle finger and thumb touching rather than the tip of the middle finger
touching the pad of the thumb. Both versions are legit. There is a lot of
variation though so see the notes below.
The Auslan Sign Bank (at auslan.org.au/dictionary) also shows the "8-hand to
5-hand" version of AUSTRALIA:
(Source: Australia/Australian search result from "The Auslan Dictionary,"
Signbank. Retrieved 1/19.2019 from:
http://www.auslan.org.au/dictionary/words/Australia-1.html ) (Licensed
under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0.)
Notes:
The two-handed, neutral signing space, palm-downward, forward arching (pick up
and drop) version of the sign for Australia is purported to have originated
based on the concept of British prisoners having been exiled to (picked up and
dropped off in) Australia. (Lapiak, 2019)
"New South Wales, a state in southeast Australia, was founded by the British as
a penal colony in 1788. Over the next 80 years, more than 160,000 convicts were
transported to Australia from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, in lieu of
being given the death penalty." (Sood, 2012)
AUSTRALIA-[legacy-version]-[version
of: ANTHROPOLOGY]-[version of: CUBA]
Notes: For a discussion regarding the "kangaroo" memory aid for the sign
Australia see: FOLK ETYMOLOGY
References:
Lapiak, J. (2019) "This sign is often assumed to be related to a
kangaroo's paws. But, the actual reason behind the sign is that England picked
up and dropped British convicts off as an "exile" in Australia by ship (noted by
Andrew Knox and Deaf Australians)."
(Source: Lapiak, J. (2019) "ASL sign for: Australia," Handspeak, retrieved
1/19/2019 from https://www.handspeak.com/word/search/index.php?id=133)
O'Keeffe, Karl, (n.d.) "Australia," Signmoney.net, Retrieved 1/19/2019 from:
https://media.signbsl.com/videos/bsl/signmonkey/mp4/australia.mp4
Sood, (2012) "New South Wales, a state in
southeast Australia, was founded by the British as a penal colony in 1788. Over
the next 80 years, more than 160,000 convicts were transported to Australia from
England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, in lieu of being given the death penalty."
(Sood, 2012)
(Source: Sood, Suemedha (Jan. 26, 2012) "Australia's Penal Colony Roots," BBC
Travel, retrieved 1/19/2019 from: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20120126-travelwise-australias-penal-colony-roots
)
Additional References:
Source: https://www.spreadthesign.com/en.us/search/
"Australia" in Turkish signing:
https://media.spreadthesign.com/video/mp4/11/449611.mp4
Australia in Portuguese signing:
Source: https://media.spreadthesign.com/video/mp4/14/476460.mp4
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