Page:The philology of the sign language.djvu/6

 Thus, the entire day is indicated by outlining with the forefinger the arch that the sun travels. In "morning" the sun is rising; at "noon" the sun is directly overhead; in the "afternoon" the sun is sinking; at "evening" the sun has just gone over the horizon, while "night" is the time when the sun is entirely below the horizon. The sign for "week" came from the idea of seven fingers, to represent the seven days, slipping forward together to make one unit. It is surprising to find the number of persons who do not know why the sign for week is so made, and who in consequence make the sign incorrectly. A "month" is a longer division of time, measured on the twelfth finger, while a "season" is literally "months three," followed by the appropriate adjective of "growing," "hot," "falling leaves," or "cold." A "year" is one clenched fist revolving about the other to represent the earth's yearly revolution around the sun. The "future" is always in front of us, while the "past" is always behind, so that time phrases like "next week" or "next month," "last year," etc., are easily made by adding the desired sign for future or past.

Perhaps this is as good a place as any to speak of the idiomatic order of the sign-language. The tendency now is like that of spoken language, to simplify it as much as possible, and for the sake of the "English" of our pupils to make it as much like English as possible. There are certain idiomatic constructions, however, that tend toward vigor and emphasis. One of these is the same as the French order—because, as has been said, our sign-language came from France—namely, to put most adjectives after the noun. This makes for clearness and vividness when, as frequently happens, the modifiers are a series of descriptions pictured in the air. We want, first of all, to know what the speaker is talking about. Is it a man, or a mountain, or a mouse? Once we know that, we can follow the descriptions much better than if we must wait until we reach the end of the phrase before we grasp the subject.

The senses are generally indicated in the sign-language by pointing to their respective organs, as to "hear," to "see," to "feel," physically by touching the back of the left hand with the tip of the middle finger of the right hand, emotionally, by touching the heart; to "taste" and to "smell." "Deafness is the ear that is "closed," while "blindness" is the eye from which the light is shut out.

The signs for mental ideas are very suggestive, for without exception they are made by touching the forehead, to indicate 6