Pronouns and Indexing
Indexing is when you set up a point to refer to a person or object that is or is not present in the signing area. This is also known as referencing or creating referents.
If the person of object is present, you can just point at him, her, or it to mean HE/HIM, SHE/HER, or IT.
If the person or object is not present, you would first need to identify the person or object. Then, you can “index” the person or object to a point in space. Once you have set up this referent, you can refer back to that same point every time you want to talk about that person or object.
To refer to referents, you would use these types of signs:
- Personal Pronouns
- Possessive Pronouns
- Direct Verbs
For example, if you are talking about Bill and Suzy, you can sign Bills’s name and point to your left. Then, you can sign Suzy’s name and point to your right. When continuing your dialogue about Bill and Suzy, you would then point to your left or right whenever you refer to them (you would no longer need to spell out their names).
Indexing on your non-dominant hand
You can also use your non-dominant hand as a way to index and talk about your friends or family.
For example, when you are talking about your siblings, you can index them on your non-dominant hand by pointing to different fingers for each sibling, starting with your thumb for your oldest sibling and working your way down to your last finger for the youngest.
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