American Sign Language

Alternative forms

• (with palm facing forward) 1@Side-PalmForward

Production

• This one-handed ASL sign is produced as follows:
  1. 
     Posture the dominant hand in the “1” handshape about half an arm's length in front of the shoulder, dominant palm facing back.
  2. Hold the hand briefly in this posture.

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
1
In

Number

(ASL gloss: ONE)

1. one; 1

Usage notes

• Some people always sign the number 1 with the palm forward. For others, however, the palm faces back (i.e., as 1@Side-PalmBack) for the actual number 1 but the palm faces forward when used as a part of a longer number like 555-1234, as a time (i.e. one o'clock), and in certain other numeral-incorporating constructs.
• Like other single-digit ASL numerals, this sign is incorporated into several other signs to indicate a single instance. Several of the derived terms below show that numeral incorporation.

Derived terms

• 1@Palm-FingerUp-FlatB@CenterChesthigh-FingerUp RoundSurfaceSmall 1@Palm-FingerForwardUp-FlatB@CenterChesthigh-FingerUp ‎(“one minute”)
• 1@Palm-FingerUp-FlatB@CenterChesthigh-FingerUp RoundSurface 1@Palm-FingerUp-FlatB@CenterChesthigh-FingerUp ‎(“one hour”)
• 1@SideNeckhigh-FingerUp-Claw5@BaseForearm-PalmDown RoundVert 1@BaseForearm-FingerAcross-Claw5@BaseForearm-PalmDown ‎(“one day”)
• 1@BasePalm-PalmDown-FlatB@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp 1@Finger-PalmDown-FlatB@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp ‎(“one week”)
• 1@BackFinger-FingerAcross-1@CenterChesthigh-FingerUp 1@BackHand-FingerAcross-1@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp ‎(“one month”)
• 1@Chin RoundMidline 1@FromChin ‎(“one year old”)

See also

• Previous number: O@Side ‎(“zero, 0”)
• Next number: V@Side-PalmBack ‎(“two, 2”)
• For use as a classifier, see 1@Side-PalmForward.