WHO sign language
This word entry contains 1) ASL signs for "who", 2) Old ASL, 3) toddler signing.
ASL signs for WHO
How to sign "who" in American Sign Language (ASL)?
Meaning: What or which person or people.
Pronunciation (sign description): Forefinger in dominant "L" hand (handshape), where tip of thumb is in contact with chin (location), flexes twice (movement).
Generational variation. Older common ASL sign. Less common than the other above.
Pronunciation (sign description): Forefinger of dominant hand in front of mouth circles around mouth twice.
Old ASL in Deaf History
The 1910 book The Sign Language, a Manual of Signs by J. Schupler Long, the illustration shows the old ASL for "who" which still has been used by Deaf signers for a very long time.
"Who -- Purse the lips as in pronouncing 'who', then pointing the forefinger at the mouth, a few inches away, move the end of the finger around in a circle. As interrogative, express inquiry on face or make '?' in air with forefinger." Ref (1910)
The excerpted clip above from the 1913 film "Memories of Old Hartford" shows American Deaf narrator John B. Hotchkiss (1845-1922) signing "who" with a larger movement. Ref
Baby Signing
See how the baby signs WHO in the video clip.
In the video, she was asking in ASL, translated as, "Who is this boy?" Isn't she really too young to check him out? Ha.
Vocabulary
Related words: WHOSE.