SignWriting List
January 27, 2000
Number 1 in the attached file was the way the sign was written in the
original document. There is nothing wrong with the sign...it is
written with the assumption that the reader knows the language. So I
have written three other possible signs to the right...all of them
showing how a foreigner could interpret the assumptions....
1. The original sign shows the five handshape, palm to floor, with a
"squeeze motion", a bend from the middle joint.
2. It could mean this: The squeeze motion could finish in a fist.
3. It could mean this: The squeeze motion could finish with a
claw...all five fingers bent at the middle joint.
4. It could mean this: The squeeze motion only for the middle finger
where the dot was located.
So you can see that the dots "assume knowledge", and just as long as
the writer realizes that others will have to guess as to how the sign
finishes, it is OK.
To avoid guessing, write the second position of course! |
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