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From:
Valerie Sutton Date: Fri Jul 20, 2001 9:36 pm Subject: Re: ¿How to write it? | |
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Charles Butler wrote: >In reference to Bug, I changed it in my dictionary to the straight thumb, >because the thumb is actually in contact with the nose, and it is not a bent >thumb. There is no minimal pair that divides the "West Coast" bug with the >bent "Thumb-Index-Middle" but the "East Coast" thumb is clearly straight. >All three of the figures, "Devil, Bug, and Cockroach" all have the thumb in >contact with the nose or the temple. There seems to be a clear dialectical >difference. SignWriting List July 20, 2001 Hi Charles - It has nothing to do with dialect that I know of. The Deaf people who wrote our dictionary back in 1994 were not from the west coast...all three were from Gallaudet...one was raised in New Jersey (east coast), one was raised in Texas (middle US) and the third was from Minnesota or Michigan...I can't remember...so it was not based on anything to do with dialects. Instead it was based on a lack of memory in SignWriter in MS-DOS...there was not any more room for more handshapes in the old MS-DOS construction, so we just chose the one with all three bent, since I know that some people do bend the thumb while it touches the nose at the same time....and the "three fingers bent" handshape was needed for other signs that do not touch the nose. Meanwhile, of course the straight thumb is needed too. I am glad you are able to construct it! And I think writing it with the straight thumb would generally be better - I agree with you...If we had had more memory in SignWriter, the issue would never have come up! -- Val ;-> ----------------------------- Valerie Sutton SignWritingSite: https://www.SignWriting.org SignWriting List Archives: https://groups.yahoo.com/group/sw-l/ To post a message to the SW List: |
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