Old ASL signs vs New signs

Daft said:
They certainly weren't here!

car - miming using a steer wheel
truck - regional sign - looks like the sign for country but with Y handshape
van - had to be fingerspelled.

The use of the three fingers moving along wasn't considered a sign, but a classifier. This I remember when a hearie thought the use of a 3 handshape was the sign for car and was then explained to him by a group of deafies that it was a classifier and not actually the sign for a car.
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Ah... when I was growing up... it was just using the THREE hands ontop of each others.... then one move away from the other. Then if we want to identify it as a car, truck or van... we just fingerspell it afterward.
 
Reba said:
We use CAR like your sign; sometimes one-handed, more "cool".

BUS and VAN, spell.

TRUCK (as in pick up), regional sign, like the sign for HAY.

TRUCK (dump truck, delivery truck, semi), large horizontal steering wheel, like used in a truck.

English signers use the C-C, T-T, B-B, V-V vehicle signs.


We use the 3-hand classifier for vehicles, and sometimes the B-hand, palm down, classifier for vehicles, such as showing bumper-to-bumper traffic.
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what's the sign for hay?
 
:ty: ya'all! *waving back in redneck fashion*
 
In some areas, the sign for "grass" or "hay" is also used for "truck".

In this area, the 3-handshape was never a sign for car, it was a classifier. (I've re-checked with some elderly deaf who confirmed this.)

Just remembered another old sign for truck! It's like the old sign for car of miming a steering wheel, but the steering wheel is parallel to the floor.
 
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it was just using the THREE hands ontop of each others.... then one move away from the other
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This is how we sign traffic jam or the use of classifers showing several cars which are parked alongside the street. If you wanted to show a parking lot filled with cars, the hands were placed next to each other and then pulled apart.
 
Daft said:
This is how we sign traffic jam or the use of classifers showing several cars which are parked alongside the street. If you wanted to show a parking lot filled with cars, the hands were placed next to each other and then pulled apart.
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Yes, we do that too.

I am talking about placing the two THREE hands ontop of each others, like you would do with the SEE version of CAR, TRUCK, VAN, BUS and so on. However it's accompanied with fingerspelling afterward.

Ah, whatever... I converted to the SEE signs after so many people using the initialized signs anyway. I haven't used the above since my family left Lethbridge.
 
My ASL teacher who was deaf also gave us the sign for Coke as a shot in the arm with no drink motion after. I really liked him because he gave new signs and then also gave us the old sign. He explained we don't use this sign and this one is better. Also for we were given for car (hands on wheel) and hands farther apart and vertical for truck or bigger vehicle. BUS he said new sign is fingerspell B-U-S which is the new way, but he also gave us the old sign for bus (reach foward and grab an invisible handle and then pull fist toward yourself while swinging your fist out to the side and away to mimic manual bus door operation). These are things I feel I need to know to communicate with both old and new. I have to say though that to me a good signer is about also acting out. My teacher was very good at acting out. He did all the signs but also was very visual. If he were to sign Truck you would know how big, how bumpy the ride, everything just by his actions.

Anyway back on topic. It is sad that trying to find correct information on ASL online for self study is really bad! Plus everything is pay pay pay. I mean I do not mean any offense but people say why hearie no learn ASL? Because of PAY. Just to get any information even half way good is pay. If I want to learn Japanese or any other language there is more information free and no wrong words. I don't mind old vs new signs, I just hate when they only show old or new or WRONG signs. Or no important Signs are consistent. Like this I think is important the word "danger"
I tend to beleive aslpro.com has this sign right because the girl that signs it (if you look up danger on aslpro) she seems way more current in her signs where as most of the others on that site seem old or some even I think wrong. Signing Savvy | ASL Sign Language Video Dictionary has "danger" sign totally different from aslpro but which is correct? • ASL • American Sign Language does not even have the sign for "danger". If you look up loud + alarm + danger it is too different from site, to site, to site, this is why you have to use 5 + sites just to cross reference to find the right sign sometimes they seem even wrong, or at least cross reference to see which is most popular. again • ASL • American Sign Language does not even have the word "alarm". I think warning words should be important especially audio alarms that deaf can not hear so a hearie can warn. I know it is a bit picky and I know which way I would sign these words because I have put the effort in to learn. It might not be right and I agree that even if you know no sign that a deafie would be able to know what you are saying (deafies are not stupid) but I still get very frustrated because it is hard enough to learn without having to look up ONE word 5 times before moving on to the next word. Plus even if you learn it, there is no way to know that you are using the right sign, the old sign, the new sign, regional sign, or sometimes (even more frustrating) the religious version of the sign.
Combine this with people on sites like youtube trying to teach ASL and they are signing SEE, or BSL, or teaching people wrong on purpose. This is no lie I once took a course in College (my first class) which was American Sign Language, I like the teacher I thought she was good. I always wondered what happened to that teacher.. Well I suspect she got fired because now that I know ASL, I also know that entire class was not ASL it was SEE. So even the pro people get it wrong or miscommunicate.

I am a hearie and I also think it even more frustrating than I think for deaf.

Sometimes I can not have a teacher for ASL so I have to learn online but many different sites have different signs for the same word and makes me :mad:
I don't mind if there are old signs as long as they would show the new signs too!
 
For the sign "danger", I would use the one from ASLpro, the other sign from the other website sort of looks like "refuse".

As for the sign for "bus", the old sign here is fingerspelled "B U S" - the new sign is both hands in B handshape and one in front of the other, then pull the hands apart.

I believe the absolute best way to learn ASL is to hang out with the Deaf Community.

Personally, I think it really depends on the sign whether I like the new vs the old. Generally, I tend to prefer the old sign because often it is more visual than the new.
 
Thank you Daft! I am happy someone went through such a long post and also bothered to look at the signs and give the right answer. I too thought the aslpro one seemed more correct but was not sure. I like to know these things!

Thank you for putting the time into reading that post it was a bit messy and long winded. I really appreciate it! Merry Christmas!!
 
Cope,

No worries. Something I have heard several deaf people say, "No sign is wrong. The sign might be used wrong or not used in the area." You may learn a sign that is perfectly valid and use it with another person who has never seen the sign before. If you are conversing with a deaf person, don't dwell on whether the sign is incorrect or not. Just make sure you understand what is being said and continue.

For the sign for alarm, check out the sign on ASL pro for alarm-bell. That's the sign we use for "alarm".

But also remember, you must understand the context of what is being said to decide which sign is most appropriate. For example, the word "observe". If I want to say "i am observing the stars", I would sign observe like "look" with two hands and doing the circular repetivite motion. But if I want to say,"We observe that holiday", I would sign "honor" for "observe".

Good luck on learning ASL. :wave:
 
I have been singing sence 1986. I taught myself although I have gone to collage for some sign languae training. The sign for coke is shown as someone putting a bottle cap back on the bottle. although there are other signs that are less appropriate to use.
 
I taught myself although I have gone to collage for some sign languae training. The sign for coke is shown as someone putting a bottle cap back on the bottle.
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That's the sign for "pop" or "soda". That sign includes Pepsi, 7-up, Coke, Dr Pepper, Mt Dew, Fanta, etc.

The signs for brands of pop we use:

Coke - like an injection into the arm; however, many ppl prefer it fingerspelled
Pepsi - same sign as Italy
Dr Pepper - Sign doctor and then sign pepper
Mt Dew - Sign mountain and then fingerspell Dew
Fanta - fingerspelled
 
I use the DANGER sign that is on aslpro.com. I've never seen the version used at Signing Savvy.
 
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