Getafix: [speaks, while pointing upward] Let me remind you that it's mainly the Greeks and Romans who use the written word. We Gauls stick to oral tradition […]
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.
(the person, classifier for a standing person): As a person classifier, the pad of the index finger represents the face and the lower phalanges represent the lower portion of the body. The finger can thus be moved or turned in various ways to represent corresponding movements of the person. For example, if the hand slowly bounces while moving forward and then turns to the left, it means something like “the person was walking along leisurely and then made a left turn.”
To show interactions with other classifiers, the nondominant hand is often used as this classifier:
^ Emily Shaw, Yves Delaporte (2015) A historical and etymological dictionary of American Sign Language: the origin and evolution of more than 500 signs, Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 239
