FAMILY in sign language

ASL signs for family

Learn some family-related terms and the signs for relatives in American Sign Language.

Meaning: A basic social unit made up of parents and their children.

Pronunciation/articulation: Two-handed "F" handshape (palm out) with the thumb-forefinger circles together diverge in an arc movement and converge with the pinkies.

Non-SEE sign. Some signers choose to replace the F-handshaped sign FAMILY.

Family signs

Vocabulary for the immediate family unit in a FAMILY TREE: MOTHER, FATHER, CHILDREN, DAUGHTER, SON.

More vocabulary for the extended members of a family: GRANDPARENT who spoils you, well, in a good way to show you how special you are, GRANDMOTHER who gave you a knitted sweater for Christmas, GRANDFATHER who gives you a $20 monthly allowance, GRANDCHILD when you're really old enough to have one.

Vocabulary for RELATIVES: AUNT who bought you new shoes for your graduation, UNCLE whose eyeglasses broke when rough-playing with you when you were kid, COUSIN who showed you his new video game.

More vocabulary for STEPFAMILY.

Related links

Curious what Deaf family and hearing child of Deaf parents are like in a family home where all family members and, in some cases, extended Deaf family members like grandparents, cousins, and aunts or uncles manually speak their natural language as native signers?

About 90% of deaf population are born to hearing parents, language acquisition depends on how their parents choose the avenue, whether they decide to acquire the signed language along with their deaf children or not. In most cases, deaf children learn sign language through deaf peers and at deaf schools or later in Deaf community.

For many Deaf people, Deaf community is part of their life, especially in the old days where many Deaf considered their Deaf clubs a second home. But, time has changed in the 21st century with technologies and the Internet.