try

Hi again... sorry to bother you twice in the same mail run, but I'm not finding the sign for "TRY" on your pages nor on [the other site I looked at]... SO! I need your personal opinion.

My ABC/ASL text shows this sign with two "S" hands... The ASL dictionary shows "T" hands and a third resource shows "A" hands (which looks too much like a double handed "ANY").

I asked Walt (my husband and role model) and he uses "T" as I do yet I realize this is also the initialized version of the older ASL sign, but is that any different than using the initials for groups ("TEAM",
"FAMILY", etc)

And for the base older version of "try" would it be with "S" or "A" hands?  

--Brenda
 

Hi Brenda,
The sign try is often done "in the real world" by "real deaf people" with "T" handshapes.  There are three general groups of people who do it differently:
1.  People who are of such advanced age that they still sign "telephone" using two hands because that's the way we did it "back then."
2.  People who are confused.
3.  ASL instructors who have the disease known as "ELP" which stands for "English Letter Phobia."  Heh.  These are purists longing for the good old days of "pure" ASL who therefore teach in a "prescriptive" manner rather than a descriptive one.  These are the ones that refuse to initialize words like "FREE" and "INDEPENDENT."  These types sign breakfast, lunch, and dinner by combining the sign for EAT and then adding the time of day MORNING, NOON, or NIGHT.  Makes me wonder how they sign "YELLOW," "HOSPITAL," or "GOVERNMENT?"  I recently saw one such ASL instructor sign "WORK ROOM" rather than sign "OFFICE" with an "O" (I'm NOT making that up.) 

Now, regarding which would be the "base" or "older" version of "TRY" my initial thought was "S" hands, but the more I research it, and the more I think back to my younger days, the more I'm leaning toward "A" hands.  I plan on asking a few of my older friends this Sunday (the ones nearing or in their 80's) and see what they have to say about the matter. 
Consider for a moment the sign "CONTINUE" and ponder its possible connections to the sign for "TRY."  Both signs are somewhat related to the meaning "persevere."  Next time I'm around a French Deaf person I'll have to ask how they sign in over there and maybe they do it with either an "S" or an "A." 

But in any case, if you teach the sign "TRY" with "T" hands and someone criticizes you for it, you can always point to your hubby and me and say "go take it up with them."  Heh.  One day I will add a "vote" feature to my website and let people vote for which version of certain signs they use, and also indicate their background in signing so as to establish their credentials.
Cordially,
Bill

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Update to this discussion:
I asked Byron Cantrell (Deaf, Deaf School/Georgia, Deaf wife, long-time ASL instructor) and he was very much committed to signing TRY with "S" handshapes.  He also felt that all of the various versions of TRY (attempt, strive, etc.) should be done with "S" handshapes with the exception of "EFFORT" which he felt should be signed with "E" handshapes.
I pointed out that perhaps the sign TRY had some connection to the sign "CONTINUE" and he opened up a little and considered that perhaps there was something to that idea.  Then he changed the subject and started talking about an old Georgia School sign for "STAY" that looked like an abbreviated form of the sign "REMEMBER."