Page:The philology of the sign language.djvu/7

 the mind. "To think" seriously of something is to revolve the matter in our minds. This can be easily pictured by the forefinger revolving over the forehead. "To know" is to pat the forehead with the tips of all the fingers of one hand, as if to signify that something of value is stored away there. We "remember" a thing if we first "know" it and then press it in, or seal it into the mind with the same gesture that our ancestors sealed their letters with little red wafers on the end of their thumb. When we "forget" something it is wiped off our mind as a sponge wipes off the writing on a slate. "Wisdom" is measured by the depth of the mind, while "folly" is its shallowness, and "smartness" or "clearness" appears to scintillate from the mind in an upward and outward motion. "To dream," "to imagine," to follow an "ideal," "to persevere," "to hope," "to despair," all depend upon the mind, and all, except the last, have an upward tendency.

In a similar way, as the heart is supposed to be the seat of the emotions, the passions are portrayed by touching the heart with varying gestures of affection or abhorrence, grief, anger, and so on. The passions may also be acted out, and here the person with the dramatic instinct excels. I am looking forward to the time when our moving picture "stars" may have among their numbers some of our own deaf boys and girls.

After all, what is the sign-language but a comprehensive and effective combination of pantomime, facial expression, and gesture? Just as an artistic piece of sculpture may depict an emotion or even a story, without words or without action, so the beautiful sign-language seems to become a series of animated statues, and may convey to the eye what the modulations of the voice carry to the ear. A good sign-maker, then, may become a power among his fellow-men. The deaf man or woman who can express his thoughts in only halting signs is greatly handicapped in his association with others—but let him learn the exact meaning of every sign in the most forceful and clear manner, and he can sway his audience as a speaking orator can. We cannot all make graceful signs, but we can all make correct and clear signs, if we take pains to do so.

Badly made signs are confusing even to persons thoroughly conversant with the sign-language, just as poor enunciation and slip-shod methods of speaking are difficult to understand. To be clear and effective, four general principles of sign-making should be remembered:

1. The signs should be slow—not funereal, of course, but dignified, so that the eye may follow every motion. 7