The book presents information on how name signs are given to individuals in the Deaf community. There are two categories – Arbitrary name signs and Descriptive name signs. While arbitrary name signs do not reflect in any way the person’s appearance or personality, they are rule-governed in how they are produced. My name sign, TOM, is an example of an arbitrary name sign. So are the names of the children in my family, TARA, LEALA, CARY, TROY, and PAX. On the other hand, descriptive name signs provide some representation of the person’s appearance or personality. These name signs usually evolve from descriptors related to a newcomer to the Deaf community. For example, when a person whose most distinguished physical mark is a purple birthmark on her face arrives at a Deaf school for the first time, she might be described by PURPLE MARK-ON-THE-CHEEK. That description could eventually become a name sign with the evolution from PURPLE MARK-ON-THE-CHEEK to MARK-CHEEK. Another example is when a person is remembered by his tearful arrival at the Deaf school as a young boy. The process of describing this boy that cries a lot eventually becomes his name sign, which approximates CRYING. |