RED in sign language

Red is the color of passionate love, anger, danger, and heat. Or, it's the color of luck and prosperity. What it symbols depends on cultural perspectives. It's the color of blood and tomatoes.

Printable ASL sign for RED
Printable

ASL signs for RED

How do you say "red" in ASL?

Meaning: Any of various colors resembling the color of blood and rubies.

Pronunciation/articulation: Dominant "1" -> "X" handshape with the tip of the finger on the chin, brush down twice.

Pronunciation/articulation: Dominant "1" -> "X" handshape with the tip of the finger on the chin, brush down once.

Variation: The movement may be once or twice in contexts. For example, for bright or bold red, the movement is inflected to one long strong movement.

Old ASL

"Red. -- Draw the end of the forefinger of the right 'G' hand downward across the lower lip, two or three times." (1910) Ref

"Red -- Draw the end of the forefinger downward across the lower lip two or three times." (1912) Ref

No change occurred ever since, except in the 1970s when the 'R' handshape was used for a couple of decades before reverting back to the original ASL signword.

Baby signing "red"

How the ASL-speaking baby "Juli" acquired the concept of colors and how she perceived the colors was interesting. There will be an update here.

This video above shows the child uttering "red" in ASL in the early language development.

Related signs

Let's play "color math". What COLOR do you get when you mix red and YELLOW? ORANGE. What do you have when you combine red and WHITE? PINK! How about red and BLUE? PURPLE.

Written ASL

[Note: ASL writing is not an official standard. This sign language writing remains in a state of open space to allow room for experiment, evolution, and improvement.]

ASL writing for RED

Two possible written forms: the left (movement once) and the right (movement twice). Written digit contributed by Adrean Clark, 2015.

ASL written for RED

Another version of the digit for claw 1 handshape. Written ASL digit for "RED" contributed by Jolanta in the ASLwrite community, 2018 (the digit first emerged in 2015/16?).

Related

Group: color

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