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Although people sometimes fingerspell the word ""gray"", the sign actually comes from what idea?

A) The idea of an absence of color
B) The idea of gray skies
C) The idea of a mixture of black and white
D) The idea of a combination of all colors

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The sign for "gray" in ASL is associated with the idea of a mixture of black and white, aligning with the theoretical aspects of color mixing in art and the development of color terminology in languages. The correct answer is option C

Step-by-step explanation:

The sign for "gray" in American Sign Language (ASL) is derived from the concept of a mixture of black and white. This is congruent with the theoretical understanding that black is made up of all three primary colors and white is considered the absence of color.

However, when hand mixing paint colors, because of impurities in subtractive color, what might be intended to be black, can often end up closer to brown. Additionally, Berlin and Kay's research into color terminology across cultures indicate that after black, white, and red, other colors like green, yellow, blue, and eventually gray enter into the language.

Given this information, the correct answer to the question is: The sign for "gray" actually comes from the idea of a mixture of black and white (C). When people fingerspell the word "gray", they're typically referring to the color that results from mixing these two colors together in varying proportions to achieve a medium tone. The correct answer is option C

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