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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=967573408-26092005><FONT face=Arial
color=#800000>If a linguist were dealing with the phonetics of a SL, then one
would expect a definition of all three, namely 'touching', 'parallel' and
'spread'. However, when dealing with phonology (the important
consideration when writing a language), if there are only two significant
distinctions in Japanese SL, one can use the two symbols below
flexibly.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=967573408-26092005><FONT face=Arial
color=#800000></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=967573408-26092005><FONT face=Arial
color=#800000>Geoffrey</FONT></SPAN>
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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> owner-sw-l@majordomo.valenciacc.edu
[mailto:owner-sw-l@majordomo.valenciacc.edu] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Penner
Mark<BR><B>Sent:</B> 26 September 2005 05:39<BR><B>To:</B>
sw-l@majordomo.valenciacc.edu<BR><B>Subject:</B> [sw-l] Japanese Sign Language
"ni" Which is the "unmarked" form?<BR></FONT></DIV>
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<P>We are in the process of trying to determine the standard
fingerspelling for "ni" ( and by the same principle, "mi") in
Japanese Sign language. The handshape has two fingers out, but the
native signer doesn't think of them as the fingers
touching <IMG alt=u
src="http://signbank.org/signpuddle/sgn-JP/dict/sl/u.png" align=middle
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ASL "u") or spread<IMG alt=2
src="http://signbank.org/signpuddle/sgn-JP/dict/sl/2.png" align=middle
border=0 NOSEND="1"> (eg. ASL "v"). In actuality, they do not touch, but
neither are they spread. They are "just there". The "u" option seems too
stiff, but the "v" option seems way too purposefully spread.</P>
<P>We would like to hear from others in the SW community. When you see
the first handshape, do you think of the fingers touching? Or do you
think of two fingers out parallel, maybe, but not necessarily,
touching?</P>
<P>Thanks in advance for your input,</P>
<P>Mark</P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>