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cite="mid:CAECrC0nf7koBQHxexrq8CA30yE8A+Y+6fqrAnitGZhWVjnowqg@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
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<div>We remove touch star on all signs that have just one
contact</div>
<div>and hands are already close enough to show that they are in
contact,</div>
<div>include our logo for <i>Libras Escrita</i>.</div>
<div>
<br>
</div>
<div>See below:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><img src="cid:part1.05020203.03050003@gmail.com"
alt="Imagem inline 2" height="162" width="200"></div>
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First of all, I'm just a beginner. I find this "simplification" a
bit confusing, I wouldn't know how to do the sign on the right if I
had read it alone. I mean, is it *that* obvious for everybody that
the hands are so close that they touch?<br>
<br>
See for example the beginning of ASL for "get (receive)":<br>
<br>
<img alt="" src="cid:part2.05010803.06000704@gmail.com" height="116"
width="65"><br>
<br>
Or the one for "sign":<br>
<br>
<img alt="" src="cid:part3.08070708.00090905@gmail.com" height="97"
width="67"><br>
<br>
The hands are more or less at the same distance as in the Libras
Escrita logo, but they do not touch. So "close enough" is not a
clear enough rule in SW (and that is not an issue if we don't expect
to be able to exchange and study texts from other sign languages).<br>
<br>
I think that in signs where hands touch but they are not right by
each other, the star should not be removed.<br>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAECrC0nf7koBQHxexrq8CA30yE8A+Y+6fqrAnitGZhWVjnowqg@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
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<div><img src="cid:part4.09020603.09080300@gmail.com"
alt="Imagem inline 3" height="160" width="200"></div>
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For somebody that does not know the sign, it might be hard to decide
if they do or do not touch.<br>
<br>
I didn't know about this simplified SignWriting. For movement it's
ok, but I would try to avoid removing the star unless it is
completely obvious.<br>
<br>
And, should the star be removed, I would write the hands so that
they actually touch (no space between them):<br>
<br>
<img alt="" src="cid:part5.09050309.00050109@gmail.com" height="40"
width="33"><br>
<br>
Otherwise, for the sake of simplification, the system adds a
complexity, with a not-so-clear rule (if hands in "libras escrita"
touch so could the hands in the ASL signs above), and it does no
longer mirror the signs so well. *The* beauty of SW is that you can
look at it and read it (even if you don't know the sign language
involved or the sign itself).<br>
<br>
I think that, removing the star without clear rules, makes
SignWriting evolve into a sort of abjad (consonantal alphabet) where
the reader has to provide the missing bits (in Arabic, the vowels).
Meaning also that the reader has to know the language pretty well.
Reading dictionary entries from other languages will be harder. It
is evolution, but I don't know if it makes things simpler, it surely
does not for beginners like me. And we really need a simple *and*
coherent system for real adoption. I guess we've all had our share
of writing systems with rules that do not always apply, systems
where it's not enough to be native, you have to stop and think
before you write.<br>
<br>
For other type of texts it might be safe to assume the reader is
fluent in the language and will know how to read it but for teaching
and learning ... I'd really think twice before globally removing
single stars in "close enough" configurations, or asking students to
do it.<br>
<br>
Eduardo.<br>
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