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From:
Valerie Sutton Date: Fri Jul 24, 1998 1:32 pm Subject: ASL Handshape Dictionary | |
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July 24, 1998 Hello Everyone - Richard Tennant, a member of the SignWriting List, was kind enough to send me a copy of his new book which has just been released. It is entitled the "American Sign Language Handshape Dictionary". Richard co-authored the dictionary with Marianne Gluszak Brown. It is an attractive hard-cover volume and I am most pleased to have it as a part of my library. Here is information about the publication: From: Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 09:35:34 EDT To: SignWriting List Subject: dictionary I am writing you to call your attention to a recent publication of Gallaudet University Press: "American Sign Language Handshape Dictionary", a unique and long wished for two-way dictionary for sign language. Many Sign language dictionaries in the past have relied on alphabetizing English glosses to order the sign illustrations they represent, causing frequent repetition of illustrations and leading students to perceive signs as some sort of a code for English rather than the elements of an independent language. In contrast, this handshape dictionary displays the illustrations of signs in a morphological order based upon the initial handshape(s) used in rendering the sign, without regard to any particular English gloss. This order is a logical combination of alphabet and number that is quickly understood and applied. Appearing with each illustration are the applicable glosses as well as directions for properly rendering the sign. A sign that has been observed but not understood can easily be located using this arrangement without knowing its English meaning.. In another section of the book, an index of English words and phrases quickly locate the illustration needed to express that idea in sign These two sections, then, make this resource a truly Sign-English, English-Sign dictionary for the bi-directional translation needed in the study of any language. Signs employing the same handshape(s), therefore, appear together and are consistantly ordered in each category by location and movement. Glosses applying to the same sign all appear together with each illustration. One who has worked in this field can quickly see the advantage of this organization and readily conceive of applications of this reference in classroom situations. All three bookstores on the web are offering this dictionary at a discounted price. Some are presenting the favorable reviews it has already earned. We believe you will enjoy examining this attractive and compact book in your bookstore or library and will wish to have one in your personal library as well as in the hands of every student of sign language. Sincerely, Richard Tennant _______________________________________ Valerie {:-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Visit the SignWritingSite: https://www.SignWriting.org The DAC Deaf Action Committee For SignWriting Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA (619)456-0098 voice (619)456-0010 tty (619)456-0020 fax ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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