ASL: How to Sign about Your Family Members
If you want to share information about your family by using American Sign Language (ASL), you need to know a few signs. Describing your family is one way to tell someone about yourself. Using the common signs in this table can make your eccentric family seem almost normal.
Signs for some other members of your family, such as grandparents and in-laws, are a bit trickier:
Grand-relatives: To talk about your grandparents or your grandchildren, fingerspell G-R-A-N-D, and then sign the person's role.
In-laws: Sign the person's role and then sign law.
Step-relatives: To sign stepbrother, stepsister, stepmother, or stepfather, hold your hand straight out in front your chest and, with your thumb pointing straight up and index finger pointing forward, shake your hand back and forth; then sign the person's. (It sort of looks like you’re pointing at someone with a very shaky hand.)
Half-siblings: Sign a half-sibling by expressing the manual “1/2,” and then brother or sister.
Language Phrases Glossary
accusative case
When noun or pronoun is the direct object of the verb of the sentence, you are required to switch to the accusative case ending.
Language Phrases Glossary
dative case
When noun or pronoun is the indirect object of the verb of the sentence, you are required to switch to the dative case ending.
Language Phrases Glossary
genitive case
When the noun or pronoun indicates possession, you are required switch to the genitive case ending.
Language Phrases Glossary
instrumental case
A Russian grammatical term that indicates that the noun or pronoun assist in the carrying out of an action, you are required to switch to the accusative case ending.
Language Phrases Glossary
interrogative
Words used to ask questions, such as who, what, when, where, and why.
Language Phrases Glossary
macron
A small, horizontal mark above the vowel that indicates a long vowel sound. Make the vowel sound like its name.
Language Phrases Glossary
nominative case
When noun or pronoun is the subject of the sentence, you are required to switch to the nominative case ending.
Language Phrases Glossary
prepositional case
A grammatical case that indicates that the noun or pronoun is the object of a preposition, you are required to switch to the accusative case ending. Used with the Russian prepositions: v (v; in), na (nah; on), o (oh; about), and ob (ohb; about).
