Signs for LIGHT UP

The sign for "light up" can be inflected to several ways, depending on the sentences.

Meaning: To start to burn with a bright flame.

Meaning: to make or become light. E.g. "the sign to fasten seat belts lit up".

Meaning: to make or become bright, cheerful, etc. E.g. someone's face or eyes light up.

Deaf Art

Sensory Switch by Kim Anderson
Image courtesy of Kim Anderson. www.andersondesignsks.com

The 8"x10" watercolor "Sensory Switch" (2019) by Deaf American artist Kim Anderson states about her artwork (as well as an advice) as follows:

"American Sign Language... was finally introduced to me during the summer of 1988 in college, just a month after I graduated from high school. That was when I had my very first group of Deaf peers and had my very first Deaf professor (first role model). It took me the whole summer of '88 to pick up the most natural language, ASL, among my Deaf peers. Once the educational system and my environmental surroundings switched to my visual sensory universe, using my eyes to access ASL and interpreting services, my whole world LIT UP! I finally got the "Pah!", "Aha!", "Got it!", "Yes!" and so on moments! Best of all, switching the access through my eyes rather than through my aesthetic ears, my brain started expanding, absorbing and getting the long-overdue cognitive stimulation towards healthy intellectual, and social-emotional growth. The point is, every Deaf baby should have their visual sensory universe switched on from day one."

Her story illustrates a very common experience among deaf people who grew up in mainstream schools (often isolated) and/or grew up with some limited access until they join Deaf people, Gallaudet University, RID, and/or Deaf community that opens up their social-cognitive growth with full access to (sign) language.

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Search Tips and Pointers

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For best result, enter a short word in the search box, then select the alphetical letter (and page number if needed), and click on the blue link.

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Don't forget to click "All" back when you search another word with a different initial letter.

If you cannot find (perhaps overlook) a word but you can still see a list of links, then keep looking until the links disappear! Sharpening your eye or maybe refine your alphabetical index skill. :)

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ASL has its own grammar and structure in sentences that works differently from English. For plurals, verb inflections, word order, etc., learn grammar in the "ASL Learn" section. For search in the dictionary, use the present-time verbs and base words. If you look for "said", look up the word "say". Likewise, if you look for an adjective word, try the noun or vice versa. E.g. The ASL signs for French and France are the same. If you look for a plural word, use a singular word.