Non-dominant, one-handed signing

[Grushkin, Donald A.]

I'm quite aware that Auslan uses the two-handed alphabet.  I refer to it as
BSL letters, since it originated in Britain.  But, I just realized that's
chauvinistic of me, since I should then refer to ASL fingerspelling as FSL
letters, since our fingerspelling originated in France...  So, my apologies
for the chauvinism.  I will try to change my mindset forthwith.

--Don Grushkin

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Adam Schembri, Deaf Studies [mailto:Adam.Schembri at BRISTOL.AC.UK]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 9:33 AM
> To: SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA
> Subject: Re: Non-dominant, one-handed signing
>
>
> This does indeed happen in BSL and Auslan (it's not just BSL that
> uses the two-handed alphabet!) and I have observed it many times in
> casual signing in Australia and the UK. Comprehension of the vowels
> occurs partially in relation to the other letters, so that if you
> produce the X handshape for the dominant hand part of K, you then
> point your G hand in the space slightly to the left (for a
> right-handed signer) for A, keep it in the same place for E, move
> slightly to the right for I and so forth. Of course, contextual clues
> come into play, and often this use of the phantom hand co-occurs with
> English mouthing as well.
>
> Adam
>
> ----------------------
> Adam Schembri
> Centre for Deaf Studies
> University of Bristol
> 8 Woodland Rd
> Bristol BS8 1TN
> United Kingdom
> Telephone: +44 (0)117 954 6909
> Textphone: +44 (0)117 954 6920
> Fax: +44 (0)117 954 6921
> Email: Adam.Schembri at bristol.ac.uk
> Website: www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/DeafStudies
>
>
>
> On Wed, 27 Feb 2002 09:18:46 -0800 "Grushkin, Donald A."
> <grushkind at CSUS.EDU> wrote:
>
> > Des:
> >
> > I can see, for most of the BSL letters, how you could spell out the
> > word on
> > a "ghost hand.  However, the vowels require contact with specific
> > fingers on
> > the n-d hand... I'm sure that could create a lot of
> confusion dealing
> > with a
> > "ghost", especially in words with a lot of vowels... try
> spelling out
> > "kahoolahaue" (I think that's the correct spelling of a place in
> > Hawaii) in
> > BSL with only one hand...
> >
> > Care to clarify?
> >
> > --Don Grushkin
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Des Power [mailto:d.power at MAILBOX.GU.EDU.AU]
> > > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 5:28 PM
> > > To: SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA
> > > Subject: Re: Non-dominant, one-handed signing
> > >
> > >
> > > Remember that us two-handed fingerspellers can fingerspell on the
> > > nondominant hand too :-) - just as Mark says, when the
> other hand is
> > > "encumbered" with a broom, glass :-), etc. (or missing; I
> > > know of at least
> > > one Deaf man who lost most of his non-dominant fingers in a
> > sawmilling
> > > accident). The dominant hand just spells the words out on a
> > > "ghost hand"
> > > thats not actually there - across about the same size space
> > > it would be if
> > > there was a nondominant hand there.
> > >
> > > Des
> > > --
> > > Emeritus Professor Des Power
> > > Griffith University
> > >
> > > 30 Pine Valley Drive
> > > ROBINA, QLD 4226
> > > Australia
> > >
> > > Telephone: (61) 7 55 78 78 84
> > > Fax:       (61) 7 55 78 78 84
> > > Email:     d.power at mailbox.gu.edu.au
> > > Website:  http://www.gu.edu.au/ppages/D_Power
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > I recall the term "encumbered signing", referring to
> > > signing when one
> > > > hand is occupied with driving, holding, etc. How well do the
> > > > conventional adaptations for this common situation adapt to the
> > > > comparable situation here?
> > > >
> > > > -- Mark A. Mandel, Ph.D., d/b/a Dr. Whom
> > > > editing, proofreading, and linguistic consultation
> > >
> >
>