BICYCLE in sign language

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." -- Albert Einstein.

a drawing of bicycle

A drawing of herself and her mother riding on their bicycles by Juli at age 4;7. The picture includes the blue sky, the sun, and the rainbow. The cyclists wear the helmets, too.

ASL sign for "bicycle"

How to sign "bicycle" in American Sign Language?

Meaning: A vehicle composed of two wheels held in a frame one behind the other, propelled by pedals and steered with handlebars attached to the front wheel.

Pronunciation (sign description): Two-handed "S" hands (handshape), palms down, (orientation), apart in neutral space with the dominant hand in higher space (location), both hands move forward in circle alternatively high-low (movement).

Kid signing "bicycle"

The time-lapse video shows an example of how the bilingual ASL-speaking toddler acquired the ASL word "bicycle" and how the phonological form naturally developed.

Observe how the movement evolved. The toddler used a few different handshapes over time, including "baby-O", "A", flat-O" and finally "S". All these handshapes are unmarked where out of 50+ handshapes in ASL, only about 7 handshapes are unmarked.

Vocabulary

Related signs: TRICYCLE, UNICYCLE, CYCLING.

Usage/Grammar

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Written ASL

[Note: ASL writing is not an official standard. This sign language writing remains in a state of open space to allow room for experiment, evolution, and improvement.]

ASL written for BICYCLE

ASL digit written and contributed by Todd Hicks in the ASLwrite community, 2017.

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