forefinger and index finger

[Joel S. Berson]

Dan,

I did watch the video, and the sign is what I imagined (except that
he is a two-gunned signer).  I ask you to reread the first sentence
of the *text*, and explain how it corresponds to the sign.  How can
one cross a forefinger with an index finger?  And also tell me where
the *text* explains how the sign denotes both first and last name
(unless it means to say that Hunter Spanjer has registered that sign
to be his full name).

Joel

At 8/29/2012 12:32 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>Since the article explains how the gesture can mean the entire name, and
>the video shows the motion, I am guessing you didn't actually look at them
>before sending them.
>
>DanG
>
>
>On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 12:10 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      forefinger and index finger
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > The first line of a story that a deaf preschooler has been told to
> > change his Signing Exact English name because "it violates a rule
> > that forbids anything in the school that looks like a weapon":
> >
> > "Three-and-a-half  year old Hunter Spanjer, who is deaf, signs his
> > name by crossing his forefinger and index finger and moving his hand
> > up and down."
> >
> > Huh?  I don't mean to make fun of a serious issue, but either this
> > child is seriously double-jointed or the writer doesn't know his ...
> > forefinger from his index finger.
> >
> >
> >
> http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/school-asks-deaf-preschooler-change-sign-language-name-191629255.html
> >
> > The article also says "To his family, friends and those who know the
> > Signing Exact English (S.E.E.) language that the Grand Island, Neb.,
> > boy uses, that gesture uniquely means 'Hunter Spanjer.'
> > "  Really?  How does it denote "Spanjer"?  (I suspect all it means is
> > "hunter".)
> >
> > Joel
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
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