We frequently conceive of people and things around us as if they were someone or something else. When we watch a play, for example, we know that the actors are real people playing roles, but in a well-acted play we temporarily conceive of the actors as the characters whose roles they are playing. This can quickly change, however, if an actor can't remember or misspeaks a line. Then we are immediately brought back to the reality of observing actors, as opposed to the reality of the play itself. At the conclusion of the play we also return to our immediate reality and applaud the actors for their performances.

Signers also frequently conceive of areas of the space around them, or even themselves, as if they were something else. For example, consider the signing in Figure 5.1. This stretch of discourse is from a videotaped explanation of how to cook a salmon. The signer is describing slicing open a salmon.

She produces the two instances of the verb SLICE-OPEN↓L1-L2 illustrated in Figure 5.1. The downward arrow in the notation ↓L1-L2 signifies that the hand is produced at a location rather than directed toward it. The notation ↓L1-L2 signifies that the path of the movement begins at L1 and ends at L2. SLICE-OPEN↓L1-L2 is produced with a bent B handshape with the thumb extended away from the palm but along the same plane as the palm.