American Sign Language

Production

• This two-handed ASL sign is produced as follows:
  1. 
     Posture the nondominant hand in the “bent B” handshape in front of the center of the chest, nondominant palm facing back. Posture the dominant hand in the “bent B” handshape with the dominant hand at the back of the extended finger(s) of the nondominant hand, dominant palm facing back.
  2. Move both hands to the following posture by rotating the finger tips upward and the thumbs away from each other.
  3. 
     Posture the nondominant hand in a relaxed version of the “bent B” handshape in front of the center of the chest, nondominant palm facing up. Posture the dominant hand in a relaxed version of the “bent B” handshape with the dominant hand at the ulnar edge (little-finger side) of the nondominant hand, dominant palm facing up.
  4. Hold both hands briefly in this posture.

• Stokoe: B_⊤B_⊤^ɑ

GUH Hand	LUH Hand	LUH Move	GUH Move	GUH Hand	LUH Hand
GUH Palm	LUH Palm	Second	Second	GUH Palm	LUH Palm
GUH Position	LUH Separation	Third	Third
bent-B	bent-B	Parallel	Rotate	bent-B	bent-B
In	In			Up	Up
	Touching on
	LUH Side

Adverb

(ASL gloss: HOW)

1. (interrogative) how
2. (rhetorical) how; by; with; using; used to introduce a relative clause that describes the manner of the action of the main clause

   1@Sternum-FingerBack 1@SideChesthigh-TipFingerUp-1@SideChesthigh-TipFingerUp 1@NearSideChesthigh-TipFingerBack-1@NearSideChesthigh-TipFingerBack C@NearThumb-TipUp-C@NearCenterChesthigh-TipUp C@NearUlnar-PalmBack-C@CenterChesthigh-PalmBack BentB@BackFinger-PalmBack-BentB@CenterChesthigh-PalmBack BentB@Ulnar-PalmUp-BentB@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp B@Side-PalmForward H@Side-PalmForward S@Side-PalmForward

   (ASL gloss) ME COME CLASS HOW? B-U-S

   “I come to class by bus.”

Usage notes

• (interrogative “how?”): In this sense, the sign usually appears at the beginning of a sentence, with the eyebrows furrowed for the duration of the question.
• (rhetorical “how”): In this sense, the sign usually appears at the beginning of the relative clause, with the eyebrows are raised only during this sign. The rest of the clause then either is unmarked with regard to non-manual signals or is marked by a slow, repeating head nod.

Derived terms

• BentB@BackFinger-PalmBack-BentB@CenterChesthigh-PalmBack C@Ulnar-PalmUp-C@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp 1@CenterChesthigh-TipFingerForward ‎(“How are you?”)