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ASL: "piano"

 

PIANO:

 

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How would these two sentences be signed?
I want to play piano.
I want a piano.

To that we could add:
I play piano.
(As in: "I play the piano." I am a pianist.)

My response:
1. The more we find ourselves having to map (or link to) to English -- the more we find ourselves adding extra signs to accomplish that mapping.
2. The more context -- the fewer signs. The less context -- the more signs.
So how we sign any particular concept will depend on context and our goals (one of which might be to prepare a student to take a test that will be given in English -- thus requiring us to make sure that students will become aware of English -- which we accomplish via mapping to English via signs. (Which causes our signing to become English-like).
About context:
If a piano is in the room and it is play time and a child signs:
I WANT PIANO.
It likely means "I want to play the piano."
If a person is in their home staring at a huge empty space on the floor and recently signed: "DURING ME GROW-UP, FAMILY ALWAYS HAVE PIANO" and then the next signs on their hands are "I WANT PIANO" -- it probably means they want to acquire a piano (and put it in that empty space).
If you take away the context and want to discuss playing or having a piano, to differentiate your sentences and make your meaning clear you will find yourself needing to add signs like:
HAVE
BUY
GET
PLAY
CAN
etc.
 

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