To sign 'midnight', start by holding your non-dominant arm horizontally across your body with the palm facing down to represent the horizon. Rest the elbow or forearm of your dominant arm on the back of your non-dominant hand. Point your dominant hand straight down toward the ground, keeping your fingers flat and together.
To sign this, you can sign 'movie', 'finish', and then 'midnight'. Pointing straight down emphasizes the exact time.
Sign 'me', 'sleep', 'around', and then 'midnight'. Keep your non-dominant arm steady as the horizon.
Sign 'we', 'leave', 'time', and 'midnight'. Make sure your dominant hand points directly at the floor.
To sign this, you can sign 'movie', 'finish', and then 'midnight'. Pointing straight down emphasizes the exact time.
Sign 'me', 'sleep', 'around', and then 'midnight'. Keep your non-dominant arm steady as the horizon.
Sign 'we', 'leave', 'time', and 'midnight'. Make sure your dominant hand points directly at the floor.
They use the same base structure but opposite directions. For 'noon', your dominant hand points straight up, representing the sun at its highest point. For 'midnight', it points straight down, showing the sun at its lowest.
While the flat hand is most common and shown here, some signers use a '12' handshape (index and middle fingers extended) pointing down to represent 12:00 AM. Both are widely understood, but the flat hand is a great standard to learn.
Yes, resting your dominant elbow or forearm on the back of your non-dominant hand helps stabilize the sign and clearly establishes the spatial relationship of the sun below the horizon.
