Signs for COLOR

Color is in the eye of the beholder. "How we perceive colour depends on our culture and language." – Prof. Anna Franklin. Ref

ASL signs for COLOR

Learn some common colors and the word "color" in ASL.

Meaning: The property possessed by an object or substance with respect to light reflected by the object, that can be determined visually by measurement of hue, saturation, and brightness of the reflected light.

Pronunciation/articulation: Dominant "5" (handshape), palm in (orientation), wiggling fingers (movement) on the chin (location).

Isn't this ASL sign "color" so COLORFUL? :D

Not to be confused with the sign SPEAK -- different palm orientation and handshape ("4" for SPEAK contrasting "5" for COLOR).

Related colors in ASL

Related signs of the common colors: BLACK, WHITE, GRAY/GREY, RED, GREEN, YELLOW, PURPLE, BLUE.

Related concepts: Without LIGHT, there is no color. Without COLOR WHEEL, there is no ART.

For exercises on the vocabulary of colors, see the tutorial page.

Baby signing "color"

In general, toddlers begin to recognize colors as early as 18 months, around the same time they begin to notice different shapes, sizes, and textures. Though, they should be able to name at least one color between the ages of 18 months and 3 years old.

Children develop at different paces; Deaf, hearing, and coda babies are not different in terms of their natural language development and the milestones in recognizing and naming colors, whether signed or spoken language as their first language.

In a case study of the baby "Juli", I introduced colors to her at age 1;6. At 1;7, the baby learned to differentiate the colors, for example, between yellow and red. At age 1;8, she was able to name all colors, except some mystery surrounding "black" sometimes as red.

At age 3;9 in the video, the toddler Juli asked her mother a simple question, "What is your favorite color?" The mother gave a long, complex 21-second answer; after all she's an artist. Then, Juli helped her mother by suggesting, "light purple?" with an encouraging nod. So sweet and funny.

Colors around the world

One culture/language has only two color terms: dark (cool colors) and light (warm colors). Another has a few terms. For example, blue and green are together as one term. Another language/culture doesn't have a term for 'color'. The way we perceive colors can also change over time. Ref