[USA-L News] British Deaf Association in controversial posterdrive

[Nobu@IDGS]

on 13.10.2000 16:49 Uhr, Mark_Mandel at dragonsys.com at
Mark_Mandel at dragonsys.com wrote:
> Be careful what you call "natural", Des. The gesture current in the local
> Hearing culture, or several of them, but culture isn't nature. In fact, I
> believe that this hsh is used in Swedish fingerspelling.

This handshape is used in JSL too; both in fingerspelling and in signs.

The finger "syllabary" letter "se" is made with a pointed middle finger with
the fingertip pointing up and the palm facing front.  (Maybe this is not as
insulting with this palm direction.....)

And this handshape is used in several mutually related signs meaning
brother, but this time with the finger tip pointing up and the palm facing
back (or more precisely, back and up).  When the hand moves up, it means
"older brother."  When the hand moves down, it means "younger brother."  And
when both hands with this handshape move up and down in an alternating
manner, it means "brothers."



By the way, the handshape for the ASL fingerspelled "T" is a taboo handshape
in JSL (and in Japanese society at large including both deaf and hearing
population).

Many Japanese learners of ASL experience difficulty (at least in the
beginning) pronounceing ASL "T," ASL "toilet," etc.



In short, it means that taboo handshapes differ from a sign language to
another.



It is sort of cool among Japanese deaf people to hold up the ASL "I love
you" _sign_ when being photographed, but I thought it was even cooler when I
saw some Japanese deaf people holding up the JSL "brother" handshape (with
the right direction) in front of them knowing that it is NOT a taboo
handshape in JSL but it IS in ASL.

Nobu
--
Nobukatsu Minoura
Institute of German Sign Language, University of Hamburg
Binderstrasse 34, D-20146 Hamburg (till Aug. 2001)
Fax: ++49 40 428 38 61 09, Mobile phone: ++49 174 256 94 49
I'm not old enough to start saying I'm ** years YOUNG. (C) 2000 N. Minoura