Months of the year in sign language

Level: Beginner

Table of Contents Show

Numeral incorporation
Frequency of months
Exercises: Which/what month?
ASL Basics II
Is there a sign language month?
What is January in sign language?

Learn how to express months of the year in American Sign Language (ASL).

The ASL signs for the months of a year are usually fingerspelled in abbreviation. Eg. JAN for January, FEB for February, MARCH for March, APRIL for April, MAY for May, JUN for June, JULY for July, AUG for August, SEPT for September, OCT for October, NOV for November, and DEC for December.

Practice listening (with your eyes) and repeat watching the fingerspelled abbreviations to improve your receptive skill.

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The speed of fingerspelling which a bit more faster than the video above in real life is normal. If you find them too fast, remember to pay attention to the configuration (shape and movement) of the word, not letter by letter.

Numeral incorporation

The following illustrations demonstrate some ASL signs how to express a number of months.

month

If you sign two words/signs, it's, for example, THREE + MONTH. But, you can use a numeral incorporation which merge two signs into one sign. E.g. THREE-MONTH.

three-months

The base word (or morpheme) month can be modified by incorporating with an ASL number between one and nine. For example, three months above. For the numbers after ten, you sign a number and then "month".

Frequency of months

The following illustrations demonstrate some ASL signs how to to express a frequency of month(s).

monthly; every-month

bimonthly; every-two-months

The base word (or morpheme) monthly can be modified by incorporating with a number between one and nine. For example, bimonthly above, "every three months", "every six months", etc. The repetition of the sign (movement) is generally twice.

Exercises: Which/what month?

Watch each of the videos and try your answer. Each question asks you what or which month it is for an event or holiday.

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Beginner

New to sign language? "Where do I start?" or "How do I start learning sign language?" This ASL Rookie guide lists some selected links to the tutorials for ASL beginners to get started and keep rolling. It may be a useful review for intermediate-level learners and ASL students as well.

Some tutorial pages are a mix of free and premium versions. Access to premium content and links below are available in the PatronPlus subscription. More links/posts will be added from time to time.

ASL Basics

Personal Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns
WH-questions
Yes/no questions
SVO sentence structure
OSV sentence structure
Numbers 1-10+
Basic time: future, present, past

ASL Basics II

Asking what the sign is for a word
Spatial referencing
Verb inflections
Contrastive structure
Listing and Ranking
Classifier basics

Booster

Are you able to carry everyday conversations in ASL? Are you a student in the intermediate levels and beyond, who wishes to boost up your signing skills? You've come to the selected tutorial series. (Some premium content are available to PatronPlus membership.)

Literary Arts

Stories, poems, performance arts, etc. in sign language.

Fables

Bear and Two Travelers, The
Lion and the Mouse, The
Rabbit and the Turtle, The
Wind and the Sun, The
Raven and the Swan, The
Rooster and the Fox, The
Old Lion and the Fox, The
Cock and the Diamond, The

Fables II

Crow and the Pitcher, The
Fox and the Grapes, The
Peacock and the Crane, The
The Cracked Pot
Deer and His Reflection, The
Farmer and his Sons, The
Frog and Boiled Water, The
Goat and the Bridge, The

Stories

The Star Arrow: a poem
The Deer and the Leaf
Moon in my Bedroom
Deaf or Dead: a true story
The Tooth Tale
Synchronicity: a true story
The Little Match Girl

Deaf Jokes

Birds on the Telephone Lines
The Hitchhiker
The Hotel
The King Kong and the Lady
The Timber
Zap stories

Parables

More is Not Enough
Overflowing Cup
The Sound of Silence
Maybe
Moving Mind
The Moon Cannot be Stolen

Baby Signing

This documentation project follows a child's language acquisition, literacy development, and phonological acquisition in sign language, specifically ASL, from newborn to age five in a natural native-ASL environment and visual culture.

Is there a sign language month?

The UN General Assembly has proclaimed 23 September as the International Day of Sign Languages in order to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf.

What is January in sign language?

📅 January. With your dominant hand, hold your hand up and have your palm facing forward and fingerspell J-A-N. 📅 February. With your dominant hand, hold your hand up and have your palm facing forward and fingerspell F-E-B.