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From:
Mark Penner Date: Fri Jan 8, 1999 6:17 am Subject: Re: actors | ||||||||
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At 13:45 01/07/99 -0500, you wrote: > 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". The difference is that in SignWriting, each "Piece" does not have a separage meaning. For instance, the "B" hand has no meaning in and of itself. It takes on meaning only when combined with orientation, location, and movement. (And, to a degree, facial expression, though for the most part, face has a more grammatical function than lexical. Actually, now that I think of it, Face could be thought of as a lexical unit, since it functions adverbially, at least in Japanese Sign.) > 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. But in general, you don't combine those set components with other set components to make new words, you combine them to make sentences, so I would see it as different than Chinese writing. Mark Mark and Mary Esther Penner Tokyo, Japan https://www.deaf.or.jp/vibi/ | ||||||||
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