To sign Minnesota, use your dominant hand to spell the state's postal abbreviation, M-N. Start by forming the ASL letter 'M', with your index, middle, and ring fingers draped over your thumb. Then, smoothly transition to the letter 'N' by tucking your ring finger in, leaving only your index and middle fingers over your thumb. Keep your hand in the same location in front of your shoulder as you change handshapes.
Point to yourself for 'I', sign 'live', and then use the M-N sign for 'Minnesota'. You do not need to sign the word 'in'.
Sign 'Minnesota', then 'winter', and finally 'cold'. Be sure to emphasize the cold with a shivering motion and a matching facial expression to show that it is 'very' cold.
Point to the person for 'you', sign 'from', and then 'Minnesota'. Remember to raise your eyebrows and lean forward slightly to indicate a yes/no question.
Point to yourself for 'I', sign 'live', and then use the M-N sign for 'Minnesota'. You do not need to sign the word 'in'.
Sign 'Minnesota', then 'winter', and finally 'cold'. Be sure to emphasize the cold with a shivering motion and a matching facial expression to show that it is 'very' cold.
Point to the person for 'you', sign 'from', and then 'Minnesota'. Remember to raise your eyebrows and lean forward slightly to indicate a yes/no question.
No, in ASL, Minnesota is almost always signed using the two-letter abbreviation 'M-N'. Spelling out the entire word is unnecessary and would slow down your signing.
No, you should keep your hand steady. Bouncing between letters can make it look like you are signing double letters or separate concepts. Just change the handshape smoothly in one spot.
States with short names (like Ohio or Utah) are often fully fingerspelled, while longer state names frequently use abbreviations (like MN for Minnesota or AZ for Arizona) to save time and effort during conversation.
