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ASL: "glass"
GLASS:
If you mean "glass" as in something you drink from, see the "CUP" sign.
Notes:
Topic: GLASS-[material]
Question:
A teacher of the Deaf writes in to ask:
"One of my ASL students was describing a church and signed S-T-A-I-N-E-D GLASS (tapping his teeth), which, despite the obvious context, looked like STAINED TEETH. It prompted me to look up the sign for GLASS to see if there was another sign for it, and I found one where the signer taps her cheekbone instead of her teeth. I know that occasionally signs change in the Deaf community, and was wondering if you were familiar with the cheekbone tap as opposed to tapping your teeth."
Response:
While I know that certain signers (whom I have the utmost respect for) tend to tap their cheek to mean "GLASS-[material]" I think regarding the general (nationwide most widely recognized) sign for "glass" I'd personally go with the version of GLASS that is commonly signed by tapping in the air in front of the teeth https://youtu.be/UNKBkD3UbUk
If we "are" seeing or have seen a shift in that sign it would be to tap the chin (or near the chin). Note however that tapping the chin unfortunately conflicts with a version of "Finland." There are quite a few older versions of glass I'd consider worthy of knowing (by interpreters, ASL nerds, and ASL instructors) but not necessarily consider all of the versions "common" enough to be worthing of "using." (Recognize yes, use in daily conversation -- no.) The best course of action (if you have access to an active Deaf community) is to check with the socially active adult Deaf in your local area.
In the case of signs like "glass" we end up just having to do the best we can to find widespread / popular versions of signs and use those until it becomes obvious to us that the local community prefers some other version.
Regarding a general sign for "glass," see:
The six minute mark of:
https://youtu.be/Jz-yfXPFXiw?t=360
See the 7:26 mark:
https://youtu.be/MEjwhwS5B1o?t=446
See the 1:55 mark:
https://youtu.be/Iu0Wu3LcRQ4?t=114
Really though, if your target concept is "stained glass windows" -- the sign "glass" isn't crucial. The two crucial parts of that concept are "COLOR" and "WINDOW." It is assumed or understood most that church windows (Europe and the United States at least) tend to be made of glass. (Not always of course but we are dealing in generalities here.) Thus you could sign: WINDOW COLOR and then use a (classifier) depictive sign to indicate the size and area of the window and/or just sign DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT in the location of a window.
Warm regards.
GLASS-[version]:
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