SignWriting List Forum| Message 831 | Previous | Next [ Up Thread ] | Message Index |
|
SignWriting List Forum |
|||
|
|
From:
Bill Reese Date: Thu Jan 7, 1999 6:45 pm Subject: Re: actors | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Joe - I was wondering when you would get around to the different parts in a signwriting symbol. I don't see how this is any different than how Chinese characters (or Japanese Kanji) evolved. They first started with discrete components that represented an item or idea and, when used in conjunction with each other, represented more complex or abstract concepts. Even today, if you look at the symbols for "Japan", there are two characters representing sun and east for Japan is the "land of the rising sun". When you look at more complex characters there are different component parts that have their own meaning. That is *exactly* why I consider signwriting to be similar to these languages. Disregarding variations, a given sign will have a set number and type of components. The very fact that signwriting has a dictionary of symbols attests to this. "grapheme", huh? Interesting visual equivalent of a phoneme. Could we say that sign writing has signemes? :-) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|