View sign 'work'
work
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DescriptionBring extended hands in front of body, fingers pointing to front, back of right hand to right, left to left, hands few inches apart, right hand a little higher and slightly in rear of left, so that tips of right fingers are about opposite left wrist; then raise and lower the hands by wrist action. |
NotesClark says to bring right hand forward after raising the hands and then carry the hands a little to the right, reversing the position of hands; ie. right in front; then lower and raise as before and carry to the first position, repeating motion. Clark notes that this sign is used very often in the sense of make and work, and frequently in such sentences as "I will try and fix it for you," "We are farming," "Will go to my people and work hard for them," "With them," "For peace." (Rather more in the sense of work than make.) I saw a Piegan Indian simply push his hands downwards, closing and opening them as though clutching at something; and I have also seen others give a more tremulous motion to hands. These gestures are not common. A Sioux who was not very proficient in sign language said, when I asked him the gesture for work, that he would make signs for "coming to agency; white man talks to me; tells me to chop wood; move about," etc. |