APPEAR: The
American Sign Language (ASL) sign for "appear"
The right sign for "appear"
depends on your meaning.
If you mean appear as in "show up" there is a specific sign for "showing up."
SHOW-UP or "pop-up"
Also see:
SHOW-UP
Note: I've seen some ASL teachers use the "pop up" sign (above) as part of the
concept of a "pop quiz." I don't have a problem with that but personally I
prefer to sign SURPRISE Q-U-I-Z instead
If you mean "appear" as in "it appears that..." then you should use the "SEEM" sign.
SEEM:
Also see: SEEM
If you mean "appear" as in "looks" or a person's appearance, you should use the
"FACE" sign.
FACE or appearance:
Question: A student asks:
Is there a difference between "appear" and "tampon", or is it just context?
Response:
Think of the signs APPEAR-(show-up) and TAMPON as being on the same spectrum
with a lot of overlap. By that I mean yes, they can look the same and be
distinguishable only by context -- however you can sign TAMPON using a
micro-pause at the point of "insertion" resulting in a very minor difference.
So sometimes the signs look the same.
Sometimes the signs exhibit a very minor but observable difference.
Plus be aware that many skilled signers prefer to just spell "tampon."
PAD:
PERIOD:
Notes:
Also see: FACE
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