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e-mail


EMAIL / me-EMAIL-you
In this version of "email" the right index finger makes a pass through the cavity of the left "c" hand. 
(The "C" hand is often modified so that the fingers are bent from the knuckles and are relatively straight.")

Discussion: 
This is one of those signs that could easily spark an argument.
I'll share my thoughts with you on the topic and you can do what you want.
Some teachers might try to tell you that this sign is a noun/verb pair--meaning that the single movement equals a verb and the double movement equals a noun. 
My own experience is that the "1-handshape" (passing through a somewhat flattened "C" handshape) version of this sign using a single movement can be interpreted as either a noun or a verb depending on the rest of the sentence.  Then in situations where it is important to distinguish between the noun form and the verb form--
use a single movement as the verb form and a repeated movement is the noun form. 
Let me give you a comparison.  Back in the "old days" the term Google was just a noun.  And then later it became both a noun and a verb. Now we tend to capitalize it as a noun and lowercase it as a verb, but the same "word" can be both a noun or a verb depending on the rest of the sentence.


Note: the sign "EMAIL" has gone through many variations.  Back when email started becoming popular I noticed a bent-B-hand version being used prior to the index finger version.  As time passed the index finger version started showing up more than the bent-B-hand version.  Thus I think of the index finger version as the new form of the B-hand version.

The sign has also become directional.

The sign "you-EMAIL-me" starts away from you and moves toward you.


I used to use a lexicalized-fingerspelling version of this sign:

Note: The sign moves outward while it is being done.
I notice that I quite often drop the letter "A" as I do this sign.


Sort of amusing now, but "in the old days" you might also have seen an "initialized version" based on the "TTY-call" sign. 
In this version, the right "e" hand slides along the left index finger.


In a message dated 7/8/2006 3:22:33 PM Pacific Daylight Time, jhender@ writes:
I've also seen quite frequently a variation where you wave an e-handshape in the air and then sign 'letter/mail' by licking your thumb and slapping it in the corner of an open-b-handshape like it was a piece of mail.
Justin

Justin,
If you just broke up with your girlfriend and feel like committing grade suicide try doing that version on an expressive ASL test.
Heh.
But hey, thanks for sharing.  Really.
--Bill




American Sign Language University ™ ASL resources by Lifeprint.com © Dr. William Vicars
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