# Are "deaf" and "Deaf" different words in American Sign Language? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-deaf-and-deaf-different-words-in-american-sign-language/378393 "2006-10-30T02:47:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-deaf-and-deaf-different-words-in-american-sign-language/378393/1 "2006-10-30T02:47:40Z")
The protests at Gallaudet University have made me ponder something lately. I don’t know ASL (except for the very basic signs and the manual alphabet). Can anyone who does speak ASL tell me whether “deaf” and “Deaf” are different words in it? How do ASL speakers differentiate outside of print? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-deaf-and-deaf-different-words-in-american-sign-language/378393/2 "2006-10-30T03:05:53Z")
I don’t know much about being deaf but I have been around here long enough to know that there are some oddities surrounding this question that would never be intuitive to anyone outside of the deaf community. Wikipedia has some info. “Deaf community and Deaf culture are two phrases used to refer to persons who are culturally Deaf as opposed to those who are deaf from the medical/audiological/pathological perspective. When used in the cultural sense, the word deaf is very often capitalized.” …more > **[Deaf culture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaf_culture)** > > Deaf culture is the set of social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values, and shared institutions of communities that are influenced by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. When used as a cultural label especially within the culture, the word deaf is often written with a capital D and referred to as "big D Deaf" in speech and sign. When used as a label for the audiological condition, it is written with a lower case d. Carl G. Crone Me... ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-deaf-and-deaf-different-words-in-american-sign-language/378393/3 "2006-10-30T16:31:06Z")
It’s the same gesture. I’d imagine the context would make a difference. And a lot of ASL involves body stance and facial expressions. An emphasised gesture would probably be enough to indicate ‘Deaf.’ But I am not deaf or Deaf, just took ASL classes, I can’t really say I speak it, I just memorized some of the language basically, so take my answer with a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-deaf-and-deaf-different-words-in-american-sign-language/378393/4 "2006-10-31T00:30:44Z")
In ASL, the signs do not have upper-case/lower-case versions. So “deaf” and “Deaf” would be signed the same way. But as people have indicated, there is a difference in connotation between deaf and Deaf in the community. Somewhat analogous to the difference between describing someone as Negro, colored, black, Afro-American, etc. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-deaf-and-deaf-different-words-in-american-sign-language/378393/5 "2006-10-31T00:44:27Z")
Hmm. Thinking about it, when I mean ‘Deaf’, I typically use a facial expression to put extra emphasis on the word, or add a classifier that means ‘big’ before signing the word to indicate that I mean deaf-with-a-big-D. If I mean ‘deaf’, I don’t add any special modifiers or emphases to the word. Does that help? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-deaf-and-deaf-different-words-in-american-sign-language/378393/6 "2006-10-31T00:53:56Z")
[QUOTE=lizardling] Hmm. Thinking about it, when I mean ‘Deaf’, I typically use a facial expression to put extra emphasis on the word, or add a classifier that means ‘big’ before signing the word to indicate that I mean deaf-with-a-big-D. If I mean ‘deaf’, I don’t add any special modifiers or emphases to the word. Does that help? [/QUOTE] It does, actually. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Daffyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daffyd/32/8923_2.png) [@Daffyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daffyd)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2006, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-deaf-and-deaf-different-words-in-american-sign-language/378393/7 "2006-10-31T02:53:42Z")
There’s actually a sign used for deaf people who aren’t seen as culturally deaf. (i.e. - deaf, not Deaf…) You take the sign for “hearing person” which is usually signed in front of your mouth, and sign it on your forehead - meaning “thinks like a hearing person”… It’s basically a put-down… a “play-on-signs” as opposed to a play on words… Sorry if I’m not clear, signs are hard to explain in English…