Baby Sign: Genius or Gimmick? A Linguist's Verdict

Is baby sign language real, effective, and worth your time?
Edited with Gling AI: bit.ly/46bGeYv
patreon: / languagejones
#linguistics #babysign #babysignlanguage #parenting #parentingadvice #language

[@Chocomint_Queen]

The idea of a baby just constantly signing "dog" in their sleep is hilarious and adorable.

[@languagejones6784]

She sits bolt upright and signs “all done” at the end of her naps now 😂

[@christophermiller8244]

8:03 "Once she understood the concept of signing with her hands, she just started making her own." Stuff like this really highlights how freaking cool humans are!

[@Pun_isher]

My baby came up with her own sign for nursing, and we were amazed.

[@helenbaumander3953]

Then you'll really love the story of Nicaraguan sign language

[@emmyyang4339]

As a late-deafened person (I became deaf at like 12) who didn’t have access to sign language until recently, I always find it hilarious when people talk about the “drawbacks” of teaching babies to sign. Like, ooooh, a multi-lingual baby, how terrible!!!

[@ericmalcew225]

I laughed at that Han Chinese joke and then immediately felt like a nerd. Well played Dr. Jones

[@languagejones6784]

I literally misspoke because of lexical priming the first time and cracked myself up so hard I knew I had to actually include it in the script

[@ericmalcew225]

@@languagejones6784 I’m grateful that you did haha! Things like that make your channel such a haven for people like me. Helps me remember the difference between unique and alone, so I sincerely thank you

[@artugert]

Where was the joke? I missed it.

[@Didntwanttomakeauser]

@@artugert Han Chinese the dominant ethnicity in China, vs Hand Chinese speaking Chinese with your hands.

[@artugert]

@@Didntwanttomakeauser Oh haha, thanks

[@cobaltwolfknight]

Our younger son is about to be five, and he still sometimes signs "please" while asking for something instead of saying please.

[@fredski248]

my niece learned normal signs (she has extended family on the dad's side who're deaf), and i agree: she's maybe the calmest and most cooperative child I've ever had the pleasure of interacting with and people do get all weird about you doing something entirely benign, that if anything, makes your child that bit happier

[@Skyb0rg]

I was raised with some baby signs, and my mom always retells a story when she thought I was saying “mama” for the first time and got so excited and rushed into the room, only to see me sticking out my tongue at our plush frog.

[@fleurymarc]

I loved all the encouraging comments for new parents. :)

[@languagejones6784]

Some of those on various Reddit threads and so on really made a difference for me during late nights. I figured I’d pay it forward.

[@georgebecker5409]

I really liked the encouraging preface before getting into what "the best" thing to do might be

[@romanvasquez5786]

More: continue activity/process that is still happening, or recently finished. (Different episode of bluey) Again: repeat activity/process that has ended with some different activity in between. (Rewatch the same episode of bluey) Want: helps denote which activity you desire more or again. "I want to watch bluey" That's my best attempt.

[@languagejones6784]

Pretty good! More and again are totally about the aspect of the thing they describe, whether ongoing or completed!

[@thenathanhaines]

My son would point at airplanes going overhead, say "aah," then sign "milk," as he would do for his bottle or a toy. One day his older stepsister asked "why does he always sign 'milk' when he sees an airplane, and I said, "Well, the sign technically means 'milk,' but the way he uses it, it means 'mine.'" She thought that was funny. When we'd watch cat videos on KZbin at the end he'd bounce in my lap and say " 'gain-again!" while signing "more" twice. But mostly I'd tell people the day we taught him sign language was the day he stopped crying. It was awfully nice. (Although he was very mellow before that, too.)

[@foogod4237]

This is really cool. Not having ever been a parent, I had never even heard of Baby Sign before, and when you first introduced it I was sure your conclusion was going to be "like so many other hyped parenting-related things, it's just a gimmicky cash-grab". It's really neat to see that that actually isn't the case, and it appears to be a genuinely useful tool (that not only helps the baby, but can actually make your parenting life easier too). I'd also love to know if the use of Baby Sign early in life has any affect on the language processing abilities or affinities for multiple languages later on in their development. It seems plausible that it might actually help them later as well (since you're basically beginning their language development even earlier, and introducing them to essentially being multilingual from the moment they can first utter audible words)...

[@antiquelady60]

Teaching our daughter to sign was a lifesaver! She was late to start speaking and teaching her signs reduced her and our frustration. This was before "baby sign" was a thing, but since my husband and I already knew sign language it was worth a try. I recommend it to all new parents.

[@busomite]

We had both our kids do baby sign and it was super helpful, would do again.

[@performingartist]

Too funny....my wife is a profesional ASL interpreter and we had two Han Chinese babies. Yes they were signing within a couple weeks of when we adopted them at 9 months old. And it makes it very easy when both of us could sign before we had them!

[@Radddd]

We did this, but only for a handful of simple words/concepts, mostly to do with eating. We just accompanied basic questions/answers with gestures. It was helpful, and I can endorse that our half-assed approach was "effective", but I forgot we even did it until I saw this video. Spoken words started coming in after a few months and the gestures faded away, though the gesture for "more" (which had morphed to mean "hungry") lasted ages. And that's my very scientific contribution to this video :p

[@helenbaumander3953]

Thank you for saying the effort is worth it. There are so many hearing parents of Deaf children, and educators of non-speaking autistic people that use those challenges and a bunch of other nonsense to not let them use manual language. Autistic people end up being dependent on an iPad for communication. An iPad staff are able to take away from them and can break.

[@pjl22222]

If you think people are "upset" that you're teaching your baby to sign, that's nothing. My deaf grandmother was born in the 30s and people were actively against teaching her sign. Again, she was deaf. They thought she'd be better off learning to read lips and learning to approximate speech sounds. It never occurred to them that you can do both and that learning sign makes the other two things easier and less frustrating. They are a lot less against it now a days but it could still be better.

[@helenbaumander3953]

@@pjl22222 I am well aware of the history and how much Deaf children have and continue to suffer because Alexander Graham Bell was so ablist.

[@deborahwager5883]

Love this one! There's so much fear-mongering surrounding signing, and it's great to see good information being put out there. I just wish the parents of deaf kids would hear that it's okay to sign with their kids, because so many of them are told it's not.

[@M4TCH3SM4L0N3]

We only really taught our children "more," "all done," and "eat," and I never noticed either of them trying new signs, but that's really awesome to know! I have taken an intro Linguistics course, so I mostly knew all of the rest, but I never get tired of discussions about childhood language development! I hope you do more videos about it in the future - especially when your daughter is old enough to take the Wug test!

[@yuvalne]

my partner and I are both neurodivergent, so once we have a kid there's a very high chance that kid will be neurodivergent or autistic. being forced to learn spoken languages can be traumatising to many autistic kids, and it has been demonstrated sign languages are easier for many of them when they wish to be nonverbal, so that's another huge advantage in my opinion.

[@RevMarkSmith]

Two observations from the UK - we have Baby Sign over here but based on BSL not ASL My main observation is that if you can get your child a DEAF teacher (or a hearing teacher is fluent in BSL) rather than a hearing person using a sign system derived from BSL you get a much better deal. - they will naturally use simplified BSL or ASL grammar and syntax (as they would use with a deaf child) rather than an artificial language system Your child will not only develop sign vocab faster but you and your child will then also develop sign language grammar and syntax which usual also happens earlier than they can in spoken english - they'll get to do numbers earlier and all this will help their cognitive development and their later development of spoken english. Especially the use of placement can help increase long and short term memorability of numbers (my wife researched this in he post grad Deaf education research) Please consider this .

[@hillarys-hill]

I have used a tiny set of baby signs with both of my children to fantastic effect. We kept the vocab limited so that it was easy to teach to babysitters and grandparents. “Milk”, “water”, “food”, “more”, and “all done”, plus the generic universal pointing gesture are almost all that we use. But it has helped so much! And even when our oldest was 2.5, it was still useful in the midst of temper tantrums or other meltdowns.

[@user-mx8sz5jw7b]

Just a tip, “bath” in ASL should involve the hands moving in the same direction simultaneously, not in opposite directions. Good luck! Keep it up!!

[@Veilure]

Some more videos about this -- tutorials? -- would be much appreciated. 😅

[@vackrakristaller]

I've never heard this topic before as a childless 26 year old. I'm not super into the developmental part of philosophies of mind. But, this is SO cool and all the babbling stuff at the end is extremely Deleuzean.

[@carodajka13]

I taught my daughter some signs, I think the first one she learned was around her 8th month. It felt weird to sign at a baby at first, but when she learned it it was really cool. She was always asking to go out :) or where daddy was or to play with her favourite toys. She knew around 20 signs I think. I couldn't comment on her development, if it helped or hindered her, she developed "normally" . But as I said, it was really cool to communicate with a small baby that doesn't speak :)

[@emilyhart579]

I just like how you signed "Jones". :). Nice.

[@AylaSkyrider]

As a HoH adult who plans on teaching their babies sign, this entire thing made me very happy. thank you!

[@max585t]

Thank you so much for this video. My son has a speech delay, we tried to do baby sign earlier on with him and while he picked up a few "words", he has forgotten all but "want". I was worried that trying to do baby sign has impacted his verbal language development. This video put that worry at ease

[@languagejones6784]

You’re the target audience! With sustained bilingual (verbal) immersion, kids develop the same or slightly faster, but it looks slower sometimes because it’s distributed across two languages. That’s before they “catch up” and surpass their peers. For baby sign, it’s a different modality, but it will NOT impede spoken language development. There are all sorts of reasons kids might have a speech delay, and none of them are about parenting mistakes. I’m sure you’re doing great - just support your little one where he’s at. You’ve got this

[@DaveTexas]

We have triplets. We were told that multiples - especially multiples that were very premature (32 weeks) - often have delayed speech. A number of doctors told us that teaching children some basic signs would be helpful in communication with them. So from the time they could sit up, we started using signs when we’d say certain words and do certain things. "Eat," "drink," "more," "done," "want," "pick me up," "sleep," all that kind of stuff. It took a while at first for us to figure out what signs they were using, but once we could figure out what they were trying to sign, we worked with them to improve their…clarity? I’m not sure what the right word is to describe "diction" in sign language. We wanted all three of them to use precisely the same signs for things. This way, they could even communicate with each other to some extent. True to what we were told, they were fairly delayed in their verbal speech. First words happened for each at 18-20 months, and multiple words together didn’t happen until 26-30 months. Unlike what we were told to expect, they did not create their own language before speaking standard English; we’ve long wondered if this was because they were speaking in signs before trying to say words. Once they started speaking multiple-word phrases, their acquisition of language exploded. They went from "want snack" to whole sentences in a few months. Two of the three boys were faster than the third; the third just didn’t seem to have much to say. He’d let his brothers do the talking. The other funny thing about their acquisition of language was how everything was like a competition between them. They’d each want to be the first to do/know something. They wanted to learn the alphabet and it became a race to see who could identify each letter first. Once one did that, the other two quickly followed. The same for reading words, for writing letters and their names, all of it. (This happened in other areas of development, too, like with potty training, which was fantastic - they were done with diapers before their second birthday! Saved us a TON of money…)

[@teolinek]

Interesting!

[@ramimorrison5420]

The algorithm is hungry. We must feed it!

[@perrybarton]

I'm commenting because the algorithm just gave me the "more" sign, and also on accounta I'm a word guy and I find your vids interesting. 🤓 I'm intrigued by the idea that preverbal babies can communicate basic wants and needs far "ahead of schedule." Very cool!

[@StormSliding]

I used basic ASL with both of my kids and it made things so much easier. I did make sure to say the word every time I signed it or when they signed it to try and reinforce the language part too. Thanks for the great video.

[@maxjahnke]

Nice video! I learned a new thing about languages today. I had no idea that baby sign existed. Thanks.

[@shydra]

As a pediatric neurologist and a linguist I am extremely appreciative for this video. You mentioned doing some research for the video -- any particularly great/useful papers you would recommend that I could have on hand if any educated parents ask for data? Thanks!

[@Andrew-bz4yo]

super interesting video! i've been curious about baby sign since i saw people online using it years ago. to me it seemed unintuitive that babies would be able to pick up signs and reproduce them more consistently than verbal communication, but i was not aware that babies use signs on average earlier than they use speech. hearing the anecdote about being able to effectively communicate with an 8 month old is super cool

[@drinkumbrella]

We knew it was working when our kid started goofing around with similar signs. His favorite was “bunny bunny fork fork”. Finally started speaking when he didn’t have the vocabulary/grammar to express more complex stuff.

[@tanizaki]

How do you know he knew he was signing “bunny” and “fork” and not just responding to your favorable reaction? Maybe it was his “favorite” because it got the reaction he liked best. This is what we saw with Koko the gorilla. (who could not sign)

[@SingYourStory]

Great video!!! (Watching the baby make herself understood, in addition to being occasionally miraculous, is often hilarious!!!)

[@adprince011]

First off, congrats on being a cool dad (no sarcasm there, like an ACTUALLY cool dad). Secondly, I love the goofy signs you did in the video (BYE-BYE!); ASL is awesome and I'd love to see more of it. And lastly, now you have me curious (by mentioning multilingualism in babies) how many languages your children will know growing up. Are you gonna try to teach them all the languages? I wish that was possible...lol

[@juliehayne4636]

My friend taught her infant baby sign but I wasn't aware of it and was puzzled as to why her baby kept gesturing to me in a consistent manner (the sign for hungry). I thought it was EXTREMELY cool when I inquired of my friend and she explained. Nice "baby mic-drop" at the end of the video!

[@lennih]

Immensely interesting video and subject.

[@I_am_Irisarc]

Very interesting. I had never heard of baby sign. I am an animal communicator, and I get some of the same reactions to what I can do. People think I'm crazy, or making it up, but there has been too much clear non-confirmation biased results for it to be made up. I actually have vets that I work with who have had good results with their pet patients when I am asked to help. I know this is not a language like humans teach and speak to each other. I don't know how I do what I can do, but I do know how wonderful it is for thinking beings to be able to be heard for the first time.

[@teolinek]

I believe that children quickly outgrow basic communication (milk, bath, doggy) and want to talk about more complicated stuff. So there should be no problem with the drive to speak (or use real sign language).

[@TomteMiley]

This is so interesting! If I ever should have a baby I will definitely look into this more

[@oscarenglebert]

Thanks

[@Jurek009]

Wow that's neat. Never knew this existed but it makes sense.

[@JonBrase]

I was speaking before a year and was speaking full sentences complete with auxiliary verbs at 24 months ("Daddy will help me!", unfortunately, Daddy wasn't gullible enough to fall for the "go over mommy's head" strategy), so I myself probably wouldn't have gained more than a month or two from sign language in infancy, but I'm starting to think more and more that the local sign language should be part of elementary education and should be taught in the home if possible.

[@artugert]

Why do you think the local sign language should be taught in school?

[@JonBrase]

@@artugert Because sign language being generally known would be useful in multiple ways. Job with a noisy environment or equipment that interferes with speech? Right now workers have to rely on domain-specific sign vocabularies with no attached grammar. Apraxia of speech can delay the acquisition of spoken language for years. If the child has good motor skills, sign language provides an alternative method of communication. Autistic individuals can have auditory sensitivities that make spoken conversation more draining than normal. On a tough day, fallback to a silent means of communication may be desirable. Autism can also be associated with apraxia of speech (though it can also be associated with motor issues, so this isn't one-size-fits-all). And, of course, the more people know sign language, the easier life is for deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

[@artugert]

@@JonBrase That sounds great and all, and are all good reasons, but I personally have never in my life had an opportunity to communicate in any way with a deaf, autistic, or speech-delayed individual (not sure if I’ve even ever met one, to be honest); nor have I worked in a noisy environment. If I had learned sign as a kid, I probably would’ve forgotten it by now, due to never having an opportunity to use it. Maybe I’m unusual in this regard? I don’t know. But either way, I’m very much in support of learning multiple languages, the more the better! It’s a shame how many Americans are monolingual. And maybe if people learned it, they would use it even when it wasn’t necessary, just for the fun of it, or because they just like it. Oh, I thought of another time it would be useful: keeping kids quiet! I have a two year old, and when we’re in an environment where it’s necessary to be quiet, he still doesn’t understand. Maybe if he knew sign language, we could tell him to only use sign while we are there or for that period of time, and maybe he would be more apt to listen. And also for adults when they want to be quiet, like in a library or when you don’t want to wake someone up. And if a lot of people used it often, crowded places would be less noisy.

[@Ludix147]

My friend's baby also uses the "more" sign for "want" :D they are happy with baby sign language, but it didn't have a large impact apparently.

[@adriaanvandoorn1263]

We started signing with our kids as well, just some basic things like 'eat' and 'drink', but they started to speak really fast. Tomorrow is my son's second birthday and he speaks in phrases up to seven words and can tell us whatever he wants! Needless to say that we stopped signing.

[@zevelgamer.]

Shalom! I'm waiting for you live stream on Sunday on my first day to become a mod. I'm super excited! I wanna get a linguistics degree in English at Bar Ilan university and I wish as I could grow up I could start doing that degree. What can I do with it though?

[@Riokaii]

Im surprised you didnt touch on the "prison of their own mind" potentially being an incentive/reason for verbal speech development. If i can already communicate with my hands, theres a less external and internal environmental pressure to acquire the verbal skills as quickly/immediately. I'd be curious if there is a possible link between baby sign and delayed verbal development as a causal association. Of course, in those situations of observed delayed verbal, this reinforces the parents perceived benefit of having done baby sign, because they assume that the same delay would have occurred without it, so baby sign is all upside. I do expect, even if that hypothesis is true, that the "delay" effect is minor. Babies like to participate, if people are talking, they'll want to talk too, so it likely isnt an actual meaningful "con".

[@CosmicDoom47]

I imagine it's similar to any kid raised with 2 languages - eventually the kid is going to have to learn English to communicate. Most multilingual kids have "split" vocabulary development across their languages initially but it all catches up by the time they're older.

[@stevencarr4002]

Gosh . That was something that I had no idea existed. Very, very interesting.

[@phyphor]

As a Brit I have heard of Makaton, which seems like a similar thing to baby sign albeit with a different base and end result. It's good to know that whatever system is used that it helps a baby communicate before they can speak.

[@bittersweetkark]

Manding /requesting in behavior analysis is requesting weather modified signs, pictures or vocal responses is a way to help people functionally communicate and reduce problem behavior. Its critical for people with both receptive and expressive languages deficits. The communication system can be arbitrary as long as it is repeatedly paired with reinforcement which will develop "meaning"/function. But for sure I've never seen any of the people I work with use ASL and the systems and signs often remain rudimentary. I also don't really work with people who are deaf or hard of hearing so... my exposure is limited lol. Interesting topic! I wonder what his take is on Skinner's theory on Verbal Behavior.

[@rollo.q]

It is always a brilliant thing to teach babies sign. However, i think the deaf community does have some concerns about baby sign. Partlydue to the disconnect from actual sign languages and local sign, partly the baby sign movement's attitude to sign in general . While asl/bsl etc might seem too complicated, deaf and koda children are often signing at 6 months (and babbling etc)- two months before baby sign would have you start! Children who learn baby sign also often find their families abandon it once they can speak, and even if they dont, it remains a simplistic personal vocabulary rather than a building block for learning further sign. They cant communicate with their local sign community. Jess kellgren fozard talks about it on youtube as a deaf parent in relation to her own childs development. I recommend her take on the matter.

[@languagejones6784]

Agreed. That’s part of why I wanted to be very careful to state that it is not teaching your child ASL. I’ll check out that recommendation

[@LucTaylor]

I have no experience with sign language (including this specific version) My daughter's first non vocalized communication was that she would stick out her tongue when she wanted daddy (me) Her first word was "dadadadadadada" which was cute By the time she had her 18 month checkout the pediatrician told me she had a larger animal vocabulary than most children her age had a total vocabulary. Wasn't really a big surprise though, cuz we'd gotten rid of the television to avoid the temptation to use it as a babysitter and had a collection of animal pictures I called the virtual zoo.

[@seekthuth2817]

More implies you want an amount of something you've had or currently have, like cookies. Again is the same concept but for action. Want is much less specific than more or again, it can be used for pretty much anything.

[@mynamejefffffff]

i know some brazilian sign language since i sign to my boyfriend when it's hard for me to speak (i'm autistic). if i ever have children, i'd probably teach them at least some signs early on and then move on to actual sign language once they're old enough to understand it. there's a high likelyhood that they're gonna be autistic too, so it's probably gonna be helpful. at the very least they get bragging rights at the playground ;)

[@helenjohnston3178]

We did some with our girl. BSL based. We have Mr Tumble on kids BBC who uses Makaton, a dislect(?) Of BSL for those with disabilities. I'd love more on gestural languages.

[@RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS77]

To be honest it felt like too much work and I never got around to it and now she is not at all shy about just telling us with words things she wants anyway.

[@tompflug5726]

Good video

[@whitneyszypula5539]

For multicultural parents who want to teach their child 2 languages by using the OPOL method, can you still do this along with baby sign? For example when one parent makes the sign for milk they say "milk" and the other parent says "du lait." You did not actually say that you speak and sign at the same time, but I am assuming that is how it works since you still want them to learn spoken language as well.

[@languagejones6784]

I have been speaking and signing at the same time most of the time but not always (sometimes just one or the other). OPOL and baby sign is such a good question! I don’t know of any research on that off the top of my head

[@whitneyszypula5539]

@languagejones6784 ok good to know for the speaking part, thanks!

[@MrC0MPUT3R]

Whoa. My 1 year old niece made up the exact same sign for "more" after watching (a freaking lot) of Ms. Rachel lol. Coincidence? 🤔

[@languagejones6784]

It MUST be a coincidence as ours has never seen Ms. Rachel, and we don’t even mention her name in our house - it’s like Voldemort or the PIE taboo around saying the word for “bear”

[@MrC0MPUT3R]

@@languagejones6784 She who must not be watched

[@kobikaicalev175]

Used baby sign with our daughter who's now 9, as well as growing up trilingual in oral languages, she was still quite fussy, that's just her,.her Younger brother is completely different, she picked up very few signs , I think mostly due to us parents not signing at each other at the time, we took ASL ourselves when she was 4, too late. She did sign Milk, Change, More, and still uses them sometimes now. Baby sign videos we were playing to her - did not effect anything, Just direct interaction

[@kobikaicalev175]

BTW , no language delays what so ever, I'm also a linguist and followed milestones, she was on spot, 50 words active vocabulary at 18 months for example. First spoken words at 13 months. Younger brother - actually started speaking orally at 8 months, before signing anything, started signing at 13 months or so

[@r_and_a]

late discovered autistic gen Xer who was a delayed talker (tho early reader 🤪) but luckily went to a tri-lingual preschool (spanish, english & asl) as communicating with my hands often feels more natural so wonder if other benefits might be specifically for neurodivergent folks? signed communication systems not only provide an alternative communication option (something i've seen be helpful in group homes for people with various developmental disabilities) but appear to encourage caregivers developing flexibility/curiosity wrt understanding others 🤔 used "baby sign" with my autistic infant before knew either of us are "on the spectrum" & had similar experience as described in the video 🥳 i'm sure our shared neurodivergence increases our mutual understanding but suspect early communication successes also strengthened our relationship

[@thenoblegnuwildebeest3625]

Would you consider a video on Nicaraguan sign language?

[@mickgorro]

I'm thinking of a movie which, back-translating from Italian, would be titled "I introduce you to my parents" (Ti presento i miei), where a baby is communicating by signs, was that baby sign? UPDATE Title is "Meet the parents".

[@handcoding]

For someone who’s wanting to get started with baby sign language, is there a particular book or other resource that you might recommend for this?

[@ManicEightBall]

How many different signs can a baby learn at age 8 mos, 10 mos, etc?

[@artugert]

Depends on the baby

[@ncpolley]

More/want/again dont seem to have a practical distinction to a baby. For an adult, we might say there are more sheep in x field, but that doesnt mean we want it. Or we might ask if something will happen again.

[@tinkergnomad]

Engagement.

[@irgendwieanders2121]

More and Again do contain an aspect of Want? Like Stop and No More contain an aspect of Don't Want? Just thinking out loud...

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

I was hoping to see an example

[@TheAntibozo]

Any use of Piaget's theories in the implementation of baby sign?

[@victoriacrawford5439]

I was going to try this with my kids but they started talking so soon I didn’t get a chance!

[@ludological]

You can't be out here giving me a puzzle and expecting me *not* to give it a shot! Want (noun): A single, cognizable desire. Want (verb): To desire something cognizable. More (determiner, pronoun): A quantity or degree that is greater than some contextually derivable (or soon-to-be stated, e.g., "more ADJ. than NOUN") baseline, or something that, when combined with that baseline, could be considered additional. Want + More: A declaration that the speaker has a cognizable desire which is specifically either (a) the desire for some unstated (but contextually derivable) amount to be higher or (b) the desire to encounter, receive, engage in, or otherwise interact with additional instances of some unstated (but contextually derivable) thing (e.g., the referent of a noun or verb). Again (adverb): A modifier that indicates that its target, a word or phrase that is cognizable as having occurred, having been the case, or having been finished, should be interpreted as either hypothetically or actually occurring, being the case, or starting another time. Want + Again: A declaration that the speaker has a cognizable desire which is specifically for some unstated (but contextually derivable) subject that has transpired, been true, or completed to transpire, be true, begin, or complete again. More + Again: A declaration that the speaker has a cognizable desire which is specifically either (a) for some unstated (but contextually derivable) quantity or degree that has already been made higher to be made even higher, or (b) for some unstated (but contextually derivable) thing that has already been added to some baseline to be added to it once more. TL;DR: To my mind, "want" is like "desire," "more" is like "additional," and "again" is like "repeat"

[@ethanvelez2462]

Lol my kid also used a poorly formed more sign to indicate any generic want/request

[@kawumbakawumba2782]

just for algorithm

[@ghostofmybrain]

babies have hands, on average.

[@R3T4L1AT3]

hey boss just leaving a comment for the algo

[@languagejones6784]

Much obliged!

[@mandolinsam7901]

Al. go. Rhythm. Or maybe Al. Go. Rhy. Thm? Syllables are a myth, right?

[@le-ore]

“Rhythm” is two syllables. Words are a myth.

[@viniscreios]

4:30 What's baby sign language? 😳 More like: What's baby sign language? 😠

[@Guishan_Lingyou]

Now I feel bad for having been a terrible parent ;-)

[@languagejones6784]

I’m sure you did great!

[@Guishan_Lingyou]

@@languagejones6784 I did manage infant potty training with 1/2. People should look into it.

[@stevencarr4002]

I was shocked and saddened to learn that segregation has lead to the development of Black American Sign Language, different from American Sign Language. I have a dream that one day, all Americans will speak the same common language,

[@jessl1934]

Glad this video popped up because it reminded me to do my research. Unfortunately, my concerns were well-founded and it appears that you are a part of the moral whitewashing of the apartheid and genocide that is taking place in Palestine. This disappoints me deeply. I just wonder - once Gaza has been completely ethnically cleansed and it has been annexed into Israel, just like the Golan Heights and plenty of other examples of land-grabs, once all the bones of the inhabitants have been ground into the dirt, will you still pray for Israel? Will it take until the last Palestinian has been driven from their ancestral lands before you wake up to what Israel represents or will you continue to support it? Hold compassion in your heart for whoever you choose. That's your business. But remember that you have to answer to your God and it will be you who must account for supporting the state that is currently perpetrating exactly what has been done to your own people throughout history. If what was happening in Gaza was happening to your people, would you still be comfortable with those who support the state that was perpetrating these atrocities? How many times have you prayed for Israel and yet how many times must there be another Hind Rajab that you avert your gaze from before you finally say enough? Will you be the one to say enough or are you waiting for your God to say it first? Do you remember what happened the last time Israelites strayed from God; have you failed to learn that lesson? "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." -Desmond Tutu Linguistics is wonderful but there is no love of linguistics strong enough to make me support Zionists. None of this will change your mind, so I'm out.

[@hya2in8]

what did he say to support israel

[@jessl1934]

@@hya2in8 He is a member of B'nai Jeshurun, a Zionist organisation. One that is far from being the worst sort of Zionist organisation but one which supports the existence of Israel while ostensibly caring about the plight of Palestinians, which amounts to supporting the existence of war planes while praying for the bombs to stop dropping or praying for the victims of the holocaust while investing money in IG Farben. I'm not capable of that level of moral hypocrisy and the people who are end up being nothing more than the moral smokescreen for the atrocities being committed.

[@languagejones6784]

@hya2in8 The “zionist organization” they describe in their post is…a synagogue. One that recently hosted Palestinian peace activists. In case you were wondering about whether it’s about Zionism or about Jews.

[@jessl1934]

@@languagejones6784 B'nai Jeshurun's own words: "We affirm the central Jewish value of love of Israel and are committed to a meaningful relationship with the state and its peoples. We marvel at the wonder of a sovereign nation that has in-gathered its exiles, defended its borders, and moved from pioneering achievements in agriculture to astounding success in high technology. Israel has evolved from a besieged fledgling to a thriving nation that radiates a continuing promise of renewed Jewish culture." That's unequivocally Zionism. You can put scare quotes around it all you want to but there is no denying that reality. Do they support all of Israel at this synagogue? What about the lands of the Golan Heights which Israel stole? Or the settlements that are displacing Palestinians from their homes and their ancestral lands? Do they support Yaakov Fauci stealing a Palestinian family's home from under them because "if he doesn't do it, somebody else will"? Will B'Nai Jeshurun support all of Israel when the ethnic cleansing of Gaza is complete and they begin building upon the mass graves that are currently being created by the state of Israel in this very moment? Are you going to look proudly upon the new borders of Israel as it continues to expand, like a meat grinder for humanity? Like I said, you are part of the whitewashing of Israel's actions. No doubt you pray for the Israeli and the Palestinian, the IDF soldier who is bombing the Palestinian as well as the Palestinian who has those very bombs raining down on them. You are neutral in the face of horrific injustice. When you see what happened to Hind Rajab, does your heart brim with love for Israel? Are you proud of how Israel "defends its borders" from literal women and children who have no place to flee to as the IDF flattens the last place standing in all of Gaza? If you are opposed to the genocide, when have you publicly spoken against it? Or are you going to wait another 8 months before you finally decide to say something? Your neutrality in the face of these atrocities speaks to your moral character and the moral character that your religion has instilled in you. No doubt that feels insulting but you do see yourself as representative of your faith, no? You do see Israel as representative of your faith as well, don't you? If you want to consider yourself as a representative of your faith, if you do consider Israel as the embodiment of your religious values then would it not be hypocritical to object to me viewing you and viewing Israel through the same lens? I genuinely wish that your God did exist because in the Torah it says that he cast your people out for turning away from God. Do you think if your God existed he would see the genocide being enacted by the descendants of the Israelites and think that it glorifies his creation or would he once again turn his back on his people and cast them out, abhorred by the reprehensible actions being done in his name? Like I said, none of this will change your mind. There is no atrocity that would be too much for you and we both know it. I'd end this by saying peace but as they say - no justice, no peace. So be it.

[@hya2in8]

@@languagejones6784 that certainly makes his complaints much sillier