August 25, 1999
Hello Everyone on the SignWriting List!
What a wonderful group of messages greeted me when I just opened my email box!
And I haven't even had time yet to read them all - I have to go to the post
office......I look forward to responding later this evening...
Meanwhile, if anyone ever feels offended or "sad" over a certain message
posted to the SW List, just write to me personally and I will be happy to
discuss it...we are all family here :-)
My personal email address is:
Valerie
And yes...SignWriting is phonetic/phonemic or kinetic/kinemic...
Even though the SW symbols are visual in nature, the actual writing system
is not like Chinese or Heiroglyphics...but more like the western Roman
alphabet in the sense that the individual symbols themselves have no
meaning. "B" all by itself has no meaning, but when put together in a unit
of three symbols: B-o-y...then the three together means something to a
person who knows English.
SignWriting is a little like that. The handshape with the baby finger
extended has no meaning all by itself, but when placed in a group or unit
with other movements and hand symbols, the "unit" or "sign" means something
to the person who knows the signed language -
Gotta run...more soon -
Valerie ;-)
|
SignWriting List Forum