LONE, LONELY in sign language

How to sign "lone", "lonely" in American Sign Language (ASL)?

Definition (lonely): sad because one has no friends or company.

Pronunciation (sign description): Dominant index finger, palm facing left if right-handed, top of forefinger in contact with chin, moves downward twice in a slightly oval motion.

Related signs: DESPONDENT, SAD, UNHAPPY.

Definition (lone): affected with, characterized by, or causing a depressing feeling of being alone.

Pronunciation (sign description): Dominant index finger held in space, palm facing signer, move in small horizontally circular motion.

Related signs: SOLO, SINGLE, UNACCOMPANIED, UNESCORTED, INDIVIDUAL.

Vocabulary

Related signs: ISOLATED, ALONE, SOLITUDE, SOLITARY.

Creative work

The video art is called "Lone Poetry: a visual poem" (2006) which explored a concept of writing and poetry. Many of my works are about deconstruction of phonocentrism, inspired by Derrida's works.

Artist statement: "In relation to the theory of complementarity or Derridean hinge, this work flips the sides between image and word, and between visuality and textuality." That is, flip English word into image and ASL into text to deconstruct the association of ASL with "sign", which itself is a word from the stand of neuroscience." White is the writing surface, black represents ink.

The story behind the creation of this video and idea was that during my MFA year, I went to a few university libraries in hope to find some inspiration for my work. I checked the poetry section for books on sign language poetry. None, except for one strange, improper approach from a hearing perspective. Telling myself, I had to be a source of innovation and inspiration to myself.

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 LONELY

ASL digit written and contributed by Adrean Clark in the ASLwrite community, 2017.

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