VETERAN:



See: ARMY
NOTES:
In a message dated 11/8/2010 10:08:25 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, Molly writes:
Hi Bill,
I saw you a while back at the Cal-Ed conf. I do believe. I am now teaching ASL
in Riverside area. I was curious on if there is another sign for “Veteran”
beside “Past Army”. The term veteran includes
all military which is Marine, Navy…and so on.
Thanks so much.
Keep in touch!!
Molly
--------------------------------
Molly,
Hello :)
I tend to spell "V-E-T." :)
But your question brings up an important point. The sign commonly labeled
as ARMY in books and on websites can also be
interpreted as "military" or "soldier."
Thus you wouldn't really be signing "PAST ARMY" you would be signing "PAST
MILITARY" (even though we all tend to think of it as the "ARMY"
sign) -- the signs are the same, the challenge is the labeling
system. At the beginning of your lesson you could introduce the
concept of a veteran as being someone who was previously in the military,
then for the rest of the conversation it would be more efficient to simply spell
"V-E-T."
If your conversation is going to focus exclusively
on veterans, after setting up your context (and clarifying that you are
discussing "veterans") you could go ahead and just sign "ARMY" and your
audience, students, or conversation partner would (should) understand that you
are using the sign to mean "veterans."
-Dr.
Bill