Words in Hand

One of the problems for hearing people about this whole area is that it can be really difficult to see examples and catch them. Especially if we don't know the meaning of the sign or the role of that particular facial feature.

So if we look at the last example Gerry gave us, for example this sign. It can be easy for hearing people to not realise it has meaning in the language. "Oh I can ignore that bit. I've understood what comes before and after, so I'll just ignore that sign." If hearing people ignore that, they are losing information and it can distort the language.

So let's have a look at a little story from Maureen, where she uses that sign. I think you will enjoy the story where she talks about the first visit by her parents-in-law for tea (depending which way you sign it). Now, I'll give you a little bit of help and tell you exactly what to look for. The first example of this sign is when she says "the oven could have gone on fire". What she actually signs is this. So the sign – with the lip pattern ‘um' – gives us information that something could have happened… but it didn't happen.

The second time she uses it is when she tells us she is talking to her father-in-law and she says to him "it could have spoiled the dinner and been lousy", which was signed like this. So the sign gives us all that information.

Now look for yourselves and see if you can catch the two signs.