Charles Butler wrote:
> If my writing is 25 years old--and still readable after 25 years,
>then there is something
>>seriously wrong with a new system that can look at my old handshapes and
>>declare them "unreadable" under a new system.
Ingvild wrote:
>This is what I thought too.
>I completely agree.
>Ingvild
SignWriting List
February 7, 2001
Actually Charles and Ingvild, I feel vindicated by this, and I like
your diagram, Charles, which I have attached again...It is an
excellent way to describe the way we have been writing all these
years. The only thing that makes me feel bad is that you said it was
your system and only yours. Haven't we all been writing that way for
25 years? I know I have. And I like it too, probably because I am
used to it...
And no one said yours was "unreadable"...the signs are perfectly
readable! It just depends on which theory one chooses...each theory
is different...
This subject has been upsetting me for over 6 months. I did not want
to make rules on this, but others wanted rules, and I could not pin
down a lot of things we were doing because it is too close to me and
my thinking and making rules on one's thinking can be hard sometimes.
So your diagram helps pin down why the old ASL signs in our
dictionary are written the way they are.....that is a great help!
Meanwhile I have not explained any of the newer theories properly
from my perspective...I am still working on them, and even if they
work...I would be perfectly happy if you continue to write just as
you have for the past 25 years. I know the old way works because we
have fluent readers who are reading those signs.
So no one is wrong. If we have three or four theories going...we are
just trying things out to see what works. Some countries may stick
with one method and that is OK with me, and I respect their choices.
So I guess I am going to have to stop talking about this right now,
because it makes me feel sad. Feel free to change the topic, someone,
and ask other technical questions....we can come back to this issue
at a later time.
Here is Charles' diagram, which is the best description I have seen
of how we were thinking in the past 25 years... |
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