To sign 1 in ASL, hold up your index finger and fold the other fingers down, with the thumb holding them. Raise your dominant hand beside your shoulder, at about chin height. In this video the palm faces forward, toward the person you are signing to. Hold the hand still for a moment: 1 has no movement.
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How to sign it
Handshape: only the index finger up, the other fingers folded under the thumb.
Location: beside your shoulder, at about chin height, on the side of your dominant hand.
Palm orientation: the palm faces forward.
Movement: none. Hold the handshape still for a moment.
Tip to remember it
Lifeprint notes that 1 to 5 are signed palm forward in a series of numbers, such as a phone number, a time of day, an age or a number with two or more digits.
Use it in a sentence
DOG 1.
One dog.
This video signs 1 with the palm facing forward. Lifeprint notes that on its own, for example when answering how many, 1 is often signed with the palm facing back toward the signer, and that Deaf signers use both versions.
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Signed by a Deaf, fluent ASL signer.
Description checked against AISA's own video (the reference); Lifeprint (ASL University), lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/n/numbers1-10.htm.
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