SPEECHLESS in sign language

How to sign "speechless", "dumbstruck" in American Sign Language (ASL)? Few possibilities in ASL translations.

ASL signs for SPEECHLESS

If you're speechless, you cannot talk or just don't know what to say (in either speech language or sign language), probably because something is shocking or surprising like a friendly gray extraterrestrial greeting you at the door.

Meaning (speechless): Unable to speak or sign, especially as the temporary result of shock or some strong emotion.

Pronunciation (sign description): Two open hands apart in neutral space, palms down/in, move downward once with the "th" mouthing.

Variation: so shocked or surprised as to be unable to speak.

Speechless is not always literal. You can be stunned yet still can talk. It's a way of saying "I'm stunned."

For "not capable of being expressed in words" or "at a loss for words" in some contexts, use a phrase in ASL glossed as "NOT-KNOW fs-DO SAY".

Vocabulary

Related signs: SILENT, MUTE, UNCOMMUNICATIVE, INARTICULATE.

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