To sign 'mountain', start by making the sign for 'rock': form both hands into fists and tap the back of your non-dominant fist with your dominant fist. Next, open both hands into flat handshapes with your palms facing forward and slightly down. Finally, move both hands upward and outward, tracing the steep, rising slope of a mountain.
To express this, first sign 'MOUNTAIN' using the rock and slope motions. Then, use both hands to indicate a very tall height, looking upward as you do so to emphasize the massive, towering scale of the peak.
Start by signing 'I WANT', then use an alternating upward gripping motion with your hands to represent the physical act of climbing. Finish the sentence by signing 'MOUNTAIN' to show what you are climbing.
Begin by signing 'MOUNTAIN' to establish the location. Then, sign 'SNOW' by holding your hands up and fluttering your fingers downward like falling snowflakes, placing the snow over the mountain area you just traced.
To express this, first sign 'MOUNTAIN' using the rock and slope motions. Then, use both hands to indicate a very tall height, looking upward as you do so to emphasize the massive, towering scale of the peak.
Start by signing 'I WANT', then use an alternating upward gripping motion with your hands to represent the physical act of climbing. Finish the sentence by signing 'MOUNTAIN' to show what you are climbing.
Begin by signing 'MOUNTAIN' to establish the location. Then, sign 'SNOW' by holding your hands up and fluttering your fingers downward like falling snowflakes, placing the snow over the mountain area you just traced.
The first part of the sign is actually the ASL word for 'rock.' Since mountains are made of stone, the sign literally translates to 'rock' combined with the shape of a mountain. This compound structure is very common in ASL for creating specific vocabulary.
No, your hands do not need to touch. They start in front of you after completing the 'rock' sign, and then they move upward and outward. The motion represents the sides of the mountain rising up, and leaving them apart emphasizes the vastness of the slope.
While the concepts are similar, the sign for 'hill' is slightly different. 'Hill' usually skips the 'rock' part entirely and uses a gentler, more rolling upward motion with flat hands. In contrast, 'mountain' uses a steep, high diagonal slope to emphasize the height and ruggedness of the terrain.
