Phonology of numerals

[Mark A Mandel]

On Wed, 15 May 2002, Karlin, Ben wrote:

#Mark, doesn't the symmetry rule apply in cases where the nondominant hand
#moves?

Yes, although when the hands move as a unit (e.g., ASL HELP) Dominance
is applicable. But here the nondominant hand is not moving, unless you
count the purely passive movement of the outer joints of the middle
finger as the dominant index finger brushes past it.

What's interesting here is that Dominance says that this nondominant
hand should be the same handshape as the dominant unless it's one of the
unmarked handshapes, which open8 is not usually considered to be.

-- Mark A. Mandel