Sign language for the word more

MORE in sign language

In this entry, learn how to sign «more» in sign language (ASL) and its associations, such as «one more», «more and more», etc. And watch a time-lapse video of how an ASL-speaking kid utters «more» from the earliest emergence to sentence usage in ASL.

ASL signs for MORE

How do you say one of the most common signs or words — «more» in ASL?

Meaning: Comparative of many, much; a greater or additional amount or degree.

Pronunciation (sign description): Both «flat-0» hands (handshape) with the palms facing each other (orientation) slightly apart in space (location) taps twice on the fingers of both hands (movement).

One more

Hey, one more (pun intended). One more thing. How do you say «one more» in ASL? See a few variations of the sign ONE MORE.

More and more

The sign is literally transcribed as «more and more» but when it’s translated into English when it’s used in a sentence. It can mean «growing», «increasing», or such. It’s usually referred to a recent time of some events or situations observed.

Meaning: ‘at a continually increasing rate. [Video by Antonia M. Polke, 2018.]

more than

Meaning: ABOVE.

Related signs for «more»

ONE MORE thing if you want to know OTHER or ADDITIONAL words like EXTRA or maybe FURTHER.

Baby-Toddler-Preschooler Signing MORE

Not only ‘more» is one of the most common words or signs in English and ASL alike (and also true for many other languages), but it’s also one of the earliest and the most common signs or words among babies and toddlers, asking their mom or dad for more grape, milk, play, sleep (maybe!), or something.

The time-lapse video of how the baby acquired the word «more» in the early language acquisition (ASL) through all stages from communicative gesture to babbling to one-word stage to two-word stage.

In this time-lapse video, the baby started with a communciative gesture. Then, it gives a glimpse of the babbling form for «more» before the baby can form the signed word «more» during the one-word stage of language development. Then, there is a sentence in the two-word stage.

At age 1;3 in the video, the mother purposefully waited after the baby requested for «more grapes». She just sat there, nodding and smiling, «Yup, more grapes». Then, the baby suggested, «help.»

To give you an understanding of the contexts, gestural pointing (not linguistic pointing or pronoun which is a different process in the brain) generally emerges at about 7 months or later. Babbling both in manual-speaking and vocal-speaking usually emerges at 6-7 months.

Note that there is no such as «more» in baby sign language because 1) it’s an ASL word; 2) ‘baby sign language’ itself is cultural appropriation; 3) baby sign language is as fallacious as «baby speech language».

Related words: The ASL sign «more» comes with the magical word PLEASE for toddlers and maybe true for teenagers (ha) who beg you for something like a candy, a chocolate, and toys. And, borrowing your car.

With baby sign language, the word ‘more’ is also one of the first
signs that your infant will pick up easily. Babies use this sign for a
lot of meanings at first. This could mean ‘more food’, ‘more play’,
‘more bath’, etc.

Simply touch your closed finger tips together with both hands.

Photo is below. *smile*

Apple | Ball | Bath | Dog | Drink | Eat | Father | Finish | Full | Help | Hungry | I love you | Milk | More | Mother | Pain/Hurt | Please | Scared/Afraid | Stop | Telephone | Thank you | Water

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Baby Sign Language Homepage

Find the Sign for ‘More’ in British Sign Language (BSL)

Babies Signing on Video

Signing Related Activities for You and Baby

What’s the Sign For…?

Suggest/Request Signs

Back to Online Sign Language Glossary

A. Alphabet and Fingerspelling:

Learning the alphabet and fingerspelling is a crucial part of mastering sign language. Each letter of the alphabet has a corresponding hand shape, which can be used to spell out words and proper names. Practice is key to becoming proficient in fingerspelling, as it requires a lot of hand-eye coordination and dexterity.

B. Numbers and Counting:

Numbers are an essential part of everyday communication, and counting in sign language has its own unique set of signs to represent them. In addition to the basic numbers, there are also signs for ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) and fractions (half, quarter, etc.). Counting is also done differently in sign language, with the use of repetition and specific hand shapes to indicate quantities.

C. Greetings and Introductions:

Greetings and introductions are a fundamental part of social interactions, and sign language has its own set of signs to express them. Common greetings include “hello,” “goodbye,” and “nice to meet you,” while introductions can be done by fingerspelling names or using specific signs for family relationships (mother, father, sister, etc.).

D. Yes and No:

In sign language, there are several ways to express agreement or disagreement. The most common signs for “yes” and “no” involve nodding or shaking the head, but there are also signs for “correct” and “incorrect.” Facial expressions and body language can also convey meaning in sign language, so it’s important to pay attention to context.

E. Thank You and Please:

Expressing gratitude and politeness is an important aspect of communication in any language, and sign language is no exception. Signs for “thank you” and “please” can be done using specific hand shapes and movements, and they are often accompanied by facial expressions to convey sincerity and emotion. Mastering these signs can help build strong, positive relationships with deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.

F. Basic phrases for Beginners

If you’re interested in learning some basic sign language phrases, check out our recent blog post on “20+ Basic Sign Language Phrases for Beginners.” Whether you’re looking to communicate with someone who is deaf or hard of hearing, or simply interested in expanding your communication skills, this post provides a great starting point for learning American Sign Language (ASL).

We have compiled a great collection of videos showing the top 150 basic ASL sign language words.

These are the words that you should learn first. Learning the signs for these ASL sign language words is a great way to build a basic vocabulary foundation before learning full American Sign Language. These 150 words were chosen by finding the most important words learned in our ASL 1 course. These are the words that students learn first in the class and are therefore extremely useful to learn–especially if you plan to take an ASL class in the future.

These top 150 words have been organized into 11 categories: Common, Animals, Colors, Descriptions, Family, Food, Home, People, Questions, School, and Time. This should make them easy to find and easier to learn. The more important categories are listed toward the top. These are the basic ASL sign language words that you will find yourself using the most often. The categories toward the bottom are best for enriching basic conversations. Keep in mind that this list is just a starter and contains only the most common basic signs used in American Sign Language.

And, of course, there is more to American Sign Language than just memorizing vocabulary. ASL has its own grammar, syntax, culture, and history! Don’t forget to check out our free American Sign Language online classes where you can learn sign language and not just the basic sign language words!

• 🏁 First Signs
• 🐴 Animals
• 👶 Baby Sign Language
• 🎨 Colors
• 🍔 Food and Drinks
• 👪 Friends and Family
• 🏠 House and Home
• 👥 People
• 👕 Descriptions and Clothing
• ❓ Questions
• ❄️ Seasons and Holidays
• 📚 School and Education
• 🕑 Time
• ☀️ Weather

> Want to learn more? Find out which Start ASL course is right for you >

Basic Sign Language (ASL) Grammar Explanations

The Five Elements

Just like how we see English words as the arrangement of letters, there are five basic sign language elements that make up each sign. The five elements are: handshape, movement, palm orientation, location, and facial expression. American Sign Language is a very expressive language, and understanding these elements will give you a better understanding of how signs are made and what makes them different.

Your Dominant Hand

You have a dominant and non-dominant hand. If you are right-handed, your right hand is your dominant hand. If you are left-handed, your left hand is your dominant hand. If you are ambidextrous, choose one hand to use as your dominant hand, and stick with it.

There are three types of signs when it comes to what hand you will use:

• One-handed signs: Uses only your dominant hand
• Two-handed symmetrical signs: Uses both your dominant and non-dominant hand where they both move the same way
• Two-handed non-symmetrical signs: Uses both your dominant and non-dominant hand where the dominant hand moves while the non-dominant hand remains stationary

Your non-dominant hand will never move unless your dominant hand is moving the same way. This is very important for when you graduate from basic sign language into more complex signing. You don’t want to get confused!

Basic Handshapes

These are a few basic sign language handshapes that are used to form many signs. Practice forming these handshapes–you will find them very helpful for learning ASL vocabulary.

• Open hand: Your hand is flat and your fingers are spread apart (5 hand)
• Flat hand: Your hand is flat and your fingers and thumb are touching
• Curved hand: Your hand is curved and your fingers and thumb are touching
• Bent hand: Your hand is bent at the knuckles and your fingers and thumb are touching and held straight
• Clawed hand: Your hand is curved and your fingers are separated
• And hand: Your hand is formed so that all of your fingertips are touching
• One hand: Your index finger is up with your palm facing forward

Your Signing Area

Your signing area is the space in front of your body from the top of your head down to your waist and from shoulder to shoulder. Most signs are made in this space during everyday conversation. Your signs should not extend beyond this area unless you are signing for a huge audience (where you should sign larger and slower).

Direction

Basic sign language direction is very important when it comes to the meaning of signs. A sign can have one meaning when it moves one way and another meaning when it moves the other way. For example, the signs for IN and OUT have different directions and different meanings.

Direction can also provide information about the subject and the object of a sentence in basic sign language. You can move the sign GIVE away from you to signify that you are giving something to someone. You can move the sign GIVE from one person to another to signify that the first person is giving something to the second person. You can do this with many signs, such as: TELL, ASK, and SEND.

Tense

In English, words are spelled differently to indicate the past, present, and future. In basic sign language, you use your body to indicate tense. Signs for the present are signed in front of your body (TODAY and NOW), signs for past are signed moving backward (BEFORE and YESTERDAY), and signs for the future are signed moving forward (TOMORROW and SOMEDAY).

Intensity

In English, intensity is usually shown by adding words. In ASL, intensity is shown by varying the intensity or speed with which a sign is made or by incorporating facial expression.

For example: the sign for WALK can be made quickly or slowly to indicate how the person is walking, LIGHT BLUE is signed with a slight wrist turning motion, and SMART becomes BRILLIANT and PRETTY becomes BEAUTIFUL when signs are exaggerated.

Iconic Signs

When signs look like the word they are representing, these are said to be iconic signs. These signs can often be recognized by people who don’t know basic sign language. The sign for ELEPHANT is signed like an elephant’s trunk. The sign for SWIMMING looks like a breast stroke. There are many signs like this.

Some signs seem to be arbitrary when you first see them. When you look at the root, though, some signs becomes more iconic. The sign for HOME is made by placing your hand on your lips, then on your head. This represents where someone eats and sleeps.

Initialized Signs

An initialized sign is one that has the handshape of the first letter of the word. You will come across many of these signs in basic sign language and some are very helpful for knowing the specificity of the sign. For example, the signs for DOCTOR and NURSE look the same except that DOCTOR is signed with a “D” handshape and NURSE is signed with an “N” handshape.

The Person Ending

To show a person’s occupation or nationality, you would add the person-ending sign after the occupation or nationality. For example, you would sign TEACH + person-ending for the sign TEACHER. You could also sign AMERICA + person-ending for the sign AMERICAN. To make the person-ending, point both of your flat hands forward in front of your chest with your palms facing each other. Then, move both of your hands down at the same time.

Gender

Location is what shows you the gender of some signs. Most male signs are formed on or near the forehead while most female signs are formed on or near the cheek or chin. For example, FATHER is signed by touching the tip of your thumb to your head, while MOTHER is signed by touching the tip of your thumb to your chin.

Plurals and Possessives

To form plurals, you have a few different options:

• The most common way is to repeat the sign several times on either side of your body. Repeating the sign for CAT would mean “multiple cats.”
• You can also add a number or sign that indicates quantity after the sign. You can sign CAR + MANY to mean “many cars.”
• You can also form the sign, then point with your index finger at a number of locations in your signing area. You can sign HOUSE then point around in your signing area to mean “many houses.”

Possessives are rarely used because you can usually use context. However, you can sign the letter “S” with a twist of your wrist after you sign the noun or fingerspell the word that is in possession of the thing you are talking about.

Negatives

To form a negative, you can do a few things:

• Sign the word NOT before the intended word. In relation to English, this adds the un-, im-, in-, or dis- prefix to the word (NOT + HAPPY = “unhappy”).
• Shake your head back and forth while signing the word (BELIEVE + (shake head) = “don’t believe”).
• For some signs, you can twist your hand downward to indicate a negative (WANT + (twist hands so palms face downward) = “don’t want”).

Articles

Articles (a, an, and the) are normally left out of basic sign language conversation. They are not necessary. However, articles are sometimes used for teaching deaf students English.

Punctuation

Like articles, punctuation marks are left out. They are also unnecessary (facial expression suffices). If you feel you need to add a punctuation mark, just trace the shape of the mark in the air with your pointer finger.

Numbers

Please see the Numbers section of our ASL Dictionary for videos of how different numbers are signed in ASL.

Repeating Signs

Repeating a sign several times can make that sign plural. Repetition can also add another dimension to ASL. To show a continuous action, you would form the sign with a repeated, slow circular movement. To show a recurrent action, you would form the sign with several quick repeated movements. For example, you can sign LOOK several times with a slow motion to show that you gazed steadily at something, but signing LOOK with a quick repeated motion shows that you glanced at something numerous times.

We hope we were able to clear some things up about basic sign language for you! Now that you are armed with this information, are you ready to learn some ASL? Then jump on over to our free American Sign Language lessons!

> Want to learn more? Find out which Start ASL course is right for you >

Let’s take a trip around the world to explore sign languages, their stories and their finger alphabets. The journey to communicating globally begins here!

Sign language is a visual means of communicating through hand signals, gestures, facial expressions, and body language.

It’s the main form of communication for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community, but sign language can be useful for other groups of people as well. People with disabilities including Autism, Apraxia of speech, Cerebral Palsy, and Down Syndrome may also find sign language beneficial for communicating.

And as you will see in the different languages below, it has even had other uses throughout history.

Not a Universal Language

There is no single sign language used around the world. Like spoken language, sign languages developed naturally through different groups of people interacting with each other, so there are many varieties. There are somewhere between 138 and 300 different types of sign language used around the globe today. 

Interestingly, most countries that share the same spoken language do not necessarily have the same sign language as each other. English for example, has three varieties: American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL) and Australian Sign Language (Auslan).

Basics of Alphabets and Fingerspelling

Most people start their sign language journey by learning the A-Z or alphabet equivalent in sign form.

The use of the hands to represent individual letters of a written alphabet is called ‘fingerspelling’. It’s an important tool that helps signers manually spell out names of people, places and things that don’t have an established sign.

For example, most sign languages have a specific sign for the word tree, but may not have a specific sign for oak, so o-a-k would be finger spelled to convey that specific meaning.

Of course, not every language uses the Latin alphabet like English, so their sign language alphabet differs as well. Some manual alphabets are one-handed, such as in ASL and French Sign Language, and others use two-hands, like BSL or Auslan. Though there are similarities between some of the different manual alphabets, each sign language has its own style and modifications, and remains unique.

Sign Language Alphabets from Around the World

American Sign Language (ASL)

Although ASL has the same alphabet as English, ASL is not a subset of the English language. American Sign Language was created independently and it has its own linguistic structure. (It is, in fact, descended from Old French Sign Language.)

Signs are also not expressed in the same order as words are in English. This is due to the unique grammar and visual nature of the sign language. ASL is used by roughly half a million people in the USA.

Learn the ASL alphabet by demonstration in this video, or with the chart below!

British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language (BANZSL)

Sharing a sign language alphabet is British Sign Language, Australian Sign Language (Auslan) and New Zealand Sign Language. Unlike ASL, these alphabets use two hands, instead of one.

Chinese Sign Language (CSL)

Probably the most-used sign language in the world (but there is currently no data to confirm this), Chinese Sign Language uses the hands to make visual representations of written Chinese characters. The language has been developing since the 1950s.

French Sign Language (LSF)

French Sign Language is similar to ASL – since it is in fact the origin of ASL – but there are minor differences throughout. LSF also has a pretty fascinating history.

Japanese Sign Language (JSL) Syllabary

The Japanese Sign Language (JSL) Syllabary is based on the Japanese alphabet, which is made up of phonetic syllables. JSL is known as Nihon Shuwa in Japan.

Arabic Sign Language

The Arab sign-language family is a family of sign languages across the Arab Mideast. Data on these languages is somewhat scarce, but a few languages have been distinguished, including Levantine Arabic Sign Language.

Spanish Sign Language (LSE)

Spanish Sign Language is officially recognized by the Spanish Government. It is native to Spain, except Catalonia and Valencia. Many countries that speak Spanish do not use Spanish Sign Language! (See Mexican Sign Language below, for example.)

Mexican Sign Language (LSM)

Mexican Sign Language (‘lengua de señas mexicana’ or LSM) is different from Spanish, using different verbs and word order. The majority of people who use Mexican Sign Language reside in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Variation in this language is high between age groups and religious backgrounds.

Ukrainian Sign Language (USL)

Ukrainian Sign Language is derived from the broad family of French Sign Languages. It uses a one-handed manual alphabet of 33 signs, which make use of the 23 handshapes of USL.

Plains Sign Talk (Indigenous to North America)

In North America, Plains Sign Talk (also known as Plains Sign Language) is an Indigenous sign language that was once used between Plains Nations to support trade, tell stories, conduct ceremonies, and act as a daily communication language for Deaf people. It was used between Nations across central Canada, the central and western United States and northern Mexico.

Watch the video below to see an example of signing used in First Nations cultures in North America.

Learn How to Fingerspell like a Pro

Once you’ve learnt how to fingerspell each letter of the alphabet, it’s time to polish your form! Check out these tips to improve your fingerspelling:

• Pause between spelling individual words. This improves the comprehensibility of your signing.
• Keep your hand in one place while spelling each word. This can take practice, but it makes it much clearer for others to read back. An exception to this is when you are fingerspelling an acronym. In this instance, move each letter in a small circle to let people know not to read the letters together as a single word.
• If you are fingerspelling a word that has a double letter, bounce your hand between those two letters to indicate the repetition of that letter. You can also do this by sliding the letter slightly to the side to indication it should be doubled. It can be difficult to not bounce between every letter when first learning to fingerspell. You can use your free hand to hold your write to help steady it while practicing. Eventually, you’ll get used to keeping your hand steady by itself while fingerspelling.
• Keep your fingerspelling hand at the height of your shoulder. This is the most comfortable position for your signing and the other person’s reading.
• Keep your pace consistent. There is no need to race through when spelling a word. It’s more important that each letter is clear, and the overall rhythm is consistent.

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