Appendix:Sign language entry names

Each sign entry name describes as a sequence of segments (holds and moves of the hands) separated by spaces.

Posture

A posture is a handshape, location, and orientation of one or two hands. One posture is made during each hold segment in a sign. Two postures are made during each move segment (one at the beginning of the move and one at the end).

A posture made with only the dominant hand is named as Handshape@Location-Facing. A posture made with two hands is named as DominantHandshape@Location-Facing-NondominantHandshape@Location-Facing.

Handshape

See also: Appendix:Sign language handshapes

A handshape may be one of the following common shapes:

1: the “1” handshape
3: the “3” shape
4: the “4” handshape
5: the “5” handshape
Claw5: the “claw 5” handshape
6: the “6” handshape
7: the “7” handshape
8: the “8” handshape
Open8: the “open 8” handshape
9: the “9” handshape
A: the “A” handshape
OpenA: the “open A” handshape
B: the “B” handshape
FlatB: the “flat B” handshape
OpenB: the “open B” handshape
BentB: the “bent B” handshape
C: the “C” shape (B~o)
FlatC: the “flat C” handshape
SmallC: the “Small C” handshape
D: the “D” handshape
E: the “E” handshape
FlatF: the “flat 9” shape
G: the “G” handshape
H: the “H” handshape
I: the “I” handshape
L: the “L” handshape
K: the “K” handshape
M: the “M” handshape
N: the “N” handshape
O: the “O” handshape
SmallO: the “Small O” handshape
FlatO: the “Flat O” handshape
R: the “R” handshape
S: the “S” handshape
T: the “T” handshape
V: the “V” handshape
BentV: the “Bent V” handshape
X: the “X” handshape
OpenX: the “Open X” handshape (i.e. with index finger loosely hooked by extending the base joint but partially bending the medial and distal joints, the other fingers curled into a fist, with the thumb unopposed and extended)
Y: the “Y” handshape
ILY: the “I/L/Y” handshape
Corna: the “corna” handshape

As an alternative to the common handshapes above, a handshape in an entry name may be a combination of the following values:

A...: Four fingers closed, pads contact palm.
S...: Four fingers closed, tips contact palm.
1...: Index finger extended, others closed.
!...: Middle finger extended, others closed.
I...: Little finger extended, others closed.
Y...: Little finger extended and spread, others closed.
=...: Index finger and little finger extended and parallel, others closed.
y...: Index finger and little finger extended and spread, others closed ^[1]
H...: Index finger and middle finger extended and together, others closed.
V...: Index finger and middle finger extended and spread, others closed.
K...: Index finger extended, middle finger partly open, other fingers closed.
D...: Index finger extended, all others partly open.
R...: Index finger and middle finger crossed, others closed.
r...: Middle finger extended, index finger partly open and crossed under middle finger, others closed.
W...: All fingers extended and together except for closed little finger (pinky).
6...: All fingers extended and spread except for closed little finger (pinky).
7...: All fingers extended and spread except for closed ring finger.
8...: All fingers extended and spread except for closed middle finger.
F...: All fingers extended and together (not spread) except for closed index finger.
9...: All fingers extended and spread except for closed index finger.
B...: All four fingers extended and together.
4...: All four fingers extended and spread.
T...: All four fingers closed, index finger spread by thumb.
N...: All four fingers closed, middle finger spread from ring finger by thumb.
M...: All four fingers closed, fing finger spread from little finger (pinky) by thumb.
..."...: The extended fingers are retracted at the tipard joints to form a hook.
...^...: The extended fingers are bent only near the palm.
...~...: The fingers are lax. It has a less rigid shape.
...u: The thumb is in an unopposed rotation and fully extended, leaving the palm flat.
...u-: The thumb is unopposed and fully closed, with the palm nearly flat, the thumb pad facing down toward the wrist.
...u^: The thumb is unopposed and bent at the proximal joint, with the palm flat, the thumb against the radial edge of the palm.
...u": The thumb is unopposed and hooked, forming a gap between the thumb pad and the edge of the palm.
...o: The thumb is in an opposed rotation and fully extended, with the joint near the wrist flexed so that the thumb base draws inward to make a valley in the palm and the thumb tip may easily contact the tip of any finger.
...o-: The thumb is in an opposed rotation and fully closed, pressing against the palm or against any closed the fingers, the thumb pad facing toward the wrist.
...o^: The thumb is opposed and bent at the wrist and the base, forming a valley in the palm, the thumb pointing diagonally across the hand, to the base of the little finger.
...o": The thumb is opposed and hooked, forming a valley in the palm and an open space between the thumb pad and the palm.
...c: The thumb tip contacts a finger tip of the same hand.
...p: The thumb pad contacts the finger pad or the inside or radial side of a finger of the same hand.
...f: The thumb restrains one or more fingers of the same hand by holding the fingernails or the backs of the fingers.
...t: The thumbnail or back of the thumb is restrained by the pad of a finger of the same hand.

Location

A hand may be located with respect to the other hand , the body , or space .

Locations on the opposite hand

Many two-handed postures are made with the dominant hand in contact with, near, or otherwise aligned with the other hand.

If the dominant hand is not directly contacting the other hand, the location name starts with a proximity value:

@Near...: Near the other hand.
@From...: A medial distance from the other hand.
@Distal...: Distal from the other hand.

Postures on the other hand are named as a combination of the following zone and hand part values:

@In...: The inside. The side nearest the palm.
@Back...: The backside. The opposite side of the palm.
@Radial...: The radial edge. The side closest to the thumb and index finger.
@Ulnar...: The ulnar edge. The side closest to the little finger.
@Tip...: The tip. The end of a finger or thumb.
@Base...: The base. The end closest to the elbow.
@Palm: The inner side of the hand.
@...Forearm: The forearm. The half of the arm from elbow to wrist.
@...Wrist: The wrist. Where the base of the hand rests on the tip end of the forearm.
@...Hand: The whole hand.
@...Finger: The fingers.
@...Thumb: The thumb.

Locations on the body

If the hand is not directly contacting the body, the location starts with a proximity value:

@Near...: Near the body.
@From...: A medial distance from the body.
@Distal...: Distal from the body.

Locations on or near the body are named with one of the following values:

@Backhead: The back of the head.
@Top: The top of the head.
@Forehead: The center of the forehead.
@Sfhead: The side of forehead.
@Nose: The area around the nose, in front of the cheeks, including just below the eyes.
@Cheek: Above the jaw, behind the nose.
@Ear: Above the jaw, behind the cheek.
@Mouth: Below the nose, above the lower lip.
@Lip: The lower lip, above the chin, below the mouth.
@Jaw: Below the cheek and ear, behind the chin.
@Chin: Below the lower lip, above the neck.
@Neck: Below the chin, above the sternum.
@Forearm: From after the elbow to just before the wrist.
@Upperarm: The upper arm, from after the shoulder to the elbow.
@Shoulder: To the side of the sternum, before the upper arm.
@Sternum: Below the neck, above the chest.
@Chest: Below the sternum, above the trunk.
@Trunk: Below the chest, above the abdomen.
@Abdomen: Below the trunk.
@Leg: Below the abdomen.

Locations in space

If the hand is located in space more or less than about an elbow's length from the body, the entry name has one of the following proximity values:

@Near...: Out a proximal distance from the body, within a few inches.
@Distal...: Out a distal, comfortable arm's length from the body, away.
@Extend...: Out to a fully extended arm's length away from the body.

Locations in space are given with a side-to-side quality and a height:

@Center...: On the plane that divides the body into right and left halves.
@Inside...: Lateral with the breast, on the same side of the body as the postured hand.
@Side...: Lateral with the shoulder, on the same side of the body as the postured hand.
@Left1...: 30 degrees left of center. This and the following five side-to-side values are used to specify an actual location in space, e.g. when pointing to a person.
@Left2...: 60 degrees left of center.
@Left3...: Directly to the left, 90 degrees left of center.
@Right1...: 30 degrees right of enter.
@Right2...: 60 degrees right of center.
@Right3...: Directly to the right, 90 degrees right of center.
@...Tophigh: As high as the top of the head, above the forehead.
@...Foreheadhigh: As high as the forehead, below the top of the head, above the nose.
@...Nosehigh: As high as the nose, below the forehead, above the mouth.
@...Mouthhigh: As high as the mouth, below the nose, above the chin.
@...Chinhigh: As high as the chin, below the mouth, above the neck.
@...Neckhigh: As high as the neck, below the chin, above the sternum.
@...Sternumhigh: As high as the sternum, below the neck, above the chest. This height is treated as the default in entry pagenames.
@...Chesthigh: As high as the chest, below the sternum, above the trunk.
@...Trunkhigh: As high as the trunk, below the chest, above the abdomen.
@...Abdomenhigh: As high as the abdomen, below the trunk.

Facing/orientation

By default the hand is assumed to be oriented in a natural, relaxed direction, e.g. palm facing the opposite hand, either below the shoulders with the tip pointing away from the signer or in a higher location with the tip pointing up. Otherwise, a hand part (from above) is specified as the part of the hand facing, along with one of the following directions:

-Palm...: The inner side of the hand faces the given direction.
-Finger...: The extended finger or fingers points in the given direction.
-Thumb...: The thumb points in the given direction.
-...Forward: The indicated part of the hand is facing forward, toward the vertical plane ahead.
-...Back: The indicated part of the hand is facing backward, away from the vertical plane ahead.
-...Up: The indicated part of the hand is facing up, away from the horizontal plane below.
-...Down: The indicated part of the hand is facing down, toward the horizontal plane below.
-...Across: The indicated part of the hand is facing toward the contralateral side of the body, across and beyond the opposite lateral side.
-...Aside: The indicated part of the hand is facing aside, toward the ipsilateral side of the body, away from the center of the body.

Other features of holds and moves

Holds and Moves: Simple holds and movements are not named in entry titles. Otherwise, one-handed holds and moves are named with no dashes and two-handed holds and moves have a dash separating the dominant hand details (before the dash) from the nondominant hand detals.

The following entry name values mean that the hand is held or moved differently from the usual straight, direct path:

Round...: The hand moves in a round path in a given plane.
Seven...: The hand moves in a large angled path in a given plane, tracing a large "7" path.
...Horiz: Along a horizontal plane, parallel with the ground. The hand moves with a single constant height.
...Vert: Moving along a vertical plane, a constant distance forward.
...Midline: Moving along a midline plane, a constant distance to the left or right.
...Surface: Moving along a plane parallel to the surface of the body, a constant distance from the body.
...Oblique: Moving along an “oblique plane”, horizontal from side to side but sloped upward in the forward direction.
Slow: Moving slowly, taking a deliberately long time to reach the next posture.
Fast: Moving fast, reaching the next posture quickly.
Accel: The hand moves in an accelerating path.
Tense: The hand moves with a tense quality.
Small: The hand moves in a small path.
Large: The hand moves in a large, exaggerated path.
Contact: The moving hand makes contact with the body or the other hand.
Wiggle: The extended fingers repeatedly flex and extend slightly.
Hook: The hooked fingers (those fully extended only at the base joint) repeatedly flex and extend.
Flatten: All bent fingers (those flexed only at the base joints) repeatedly flex and extend at the first joint.
Twist: The hand, wrist, and part of the forearm twist back and forth.
Nod: The hand bends alternately down and up at the wrist.
Release: The thumb repeatedly releases and restrains the closed fingers.
Rub: The pads of the thumbs repeatedly rub the pads of one or more fingers.
Circles...: The hand makes small circles in a specified plane.
Squeeze: The hand repeatedly squeezes together into a fist and opens up.
Sidetoside: The hand moves repeatedly from side to side.
Frontandback: The hand moves repeatedly frontwards and backwards.
Upanddown: The hand moves repeatedly up and down.