Phonology of numerals

[Mark A Mandel]

On Tue, 14 May 2002, Carol Padden wrote:

#Adam --
#
#I would argue that the reason why these forms are not constrained
#by the symmetry (or dominance) condition is because they are not
#two-handed signs, but two one-handed signs. I'm not sure I understand
#how your forms look, but I've seen similar "two-handed" numeral
#forms in other sign languages (e./g. Italian Sign Language) and a
#case could be made that these function as if both hands are one-
#handed.  Many classifier complexes are like these - the left hand
#is VEHICLE and the right hand is PERSON, 'walking past the car.'
#Movements can be simultaneous, and even lexicalized to some
#extent, but  because both hands can vary independently and
#meaningfully, they are not two-handed signs.

This would also apply to a Japanese SL construction for dates, in which
IIRC one hand shows the number of the month and the other shows the
number of the day.

-- Mark A. Mandel
   Linguist at Large