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From:
"Wayne H. Smith" Date: Wed May 19, 1999 5:47 am Subject: Re: two views | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Steve and Dianne - Thanks for taking the time to explain this. These are precisely some of the questions that I've been coming up with. - Wayne Smith P.S. We'll have to check out our respective genealogies. I know I have Parkhursts somewhere back there. >Steve wrote: > >Well, let me give it a shot. This is what we explain to our students. > >There are two ways of looking at the hands 1. straight-on; 2. top-down >(fingers separated from the hand). The straight-on view is the normal >view--what I see when my hands are in front of me. However, there are times >when I cannot clearly see the handshape, i.e. palm down and fingers pointed >away from the body. The only way I can clearly see the handshape at this >orientation is to look down on the hand. To distinguish the top-down view >from the straight-on, we separate the fingers from the hand. > >There are some orientations that can be written from either point of view >and others that can only be written using one point of view. When you have >two options, it is up to the writer to decide which point of view is >clearer. For example, the sign for "door" here in Spain is two flat hands, >palm toward self, fingers toward center, the fingertips of the dominant >hand tapping the fingertips of the ND hand. Since the palm is toward me, I >can easily write both HSs from the straight-on view. But I lose all sense >of depth and don't know which hand is in front of the other. If I write it >from the top-down view, I can clearly see which hand is in front of the >other. Many times there is more than one way to write a sign. In class we >often asked the students to come up with an alternative way to write the >same sign and then we discussed why we might choose one over the other. > >Here is a question that we were asked: "If my hand is above my head, I look >up and see the palm. How do I write that?" Actually it doesn't matter where >your hand is in relation to your eyes (it's sort of a bird's-eye view, not >a human-eye view). If your hand is palm down and fingers forward you can >only write it from the top-down view (black with the fingers separate from >the hand). You can't write it from the bottom looking up. > >Related to this, straight movements that go side to side can be written >with either single-stemmed or double-stemmed arrows. Usually we use >single-stemmed arrows because they're quicker to write, but again, the >choice is left up to the writer. Both are correct. > >The key is, be flexible. Remember that there is often more than one way to >do things. So, use the symbols to your advantage and make your writing as >clear and easy to read as possible. > >Did I just muddy the water or what? Oh well. > >hasta luego, >Steve | ||||||||||||||||||||
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