Is the ASL sign "negative" relegated/assigned to only math??

Can the ASL sign "negative" be for feelings/emotions also?
Would like any information from a reputable source from anyone in the know, AKA Deaf, HOH, DeafBlind, Professionals in the fields of ASL, Linguistics for ASL, Educators, Interpreters, Educated, etc..
Is the sign in ASL for the word "negative" only used in the context of math? If so, please provide more information and proof, on the other hand, if this is not true, is there any verification of this?

Thanks in advance and thanks for watching!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• ASL
• Sign Language
• Sign
• Deaf
• HOH
• DeafBlind
• negative
• Linguistics

[Banerika]

Okay, this comes from a Deaf friend who is an ASL teacher. It's used to express numbers like negative seven (-7) but not it's not the sign for "subtract." That's a different sign. It's also used to describe a negative feeling or emotion. Hope that helps.

[ASL8306]

Thanks! That's great. I've gotten some responses on DVTV which are great too, and learned it's better to sign "subtract" differently.

Thanks again.

[xxpowwowbluexx]

Yes, that sign is used all the time to refer to a pessimistic outlook ('think negative'). I've never heard anyone argue that it shouldn't be. But those who say it shouldn't are coming from a prescriptive approach to ASL rather than a descriptive (i.e., it "should be" used a certain way, rather than it "is" used a certain way). Grammar and linguistics is descriptive, as in, "What are most native users doing with the language?" It can only be prescriptive (if ever) once a norm is observed, not o

[chelefrog]

I have seen the sign "negative/minus" used often in everyday conversation when referring to "a negative attitude" and similar English phrases. Makes perfect sense to me.