Antw: Re: More on the SignTel Interpreter

[Franz Dotter]

Dear colleagues,

As I got also the same letter from Mr. Liebermann, I send you my answer to him:

Dear Mr. Liebermannm

Thanks for the reaction! I ask you to understand that we linguists (somehow also dedicated to the rights of deaf people) want companies advertising solutions for this target group to be honest.
My personal opinion is: any aid/help is better than no aid/help, but it should be noted exactly what the help is capable to do.
There is some grieve in our groups concerning the fact that project teams of universities as well as companies get money for promises in this area which they do not realize.

I am not so familiar with your company's ethics and philosophy and therefore ask you to accept the information above. I am very willing to accept your letter, especially your future plans (but as a linguist I have to add that the automatic translation of one language into the other is along term issue).

At the same time I can agree to the last posting of Angus Grieve-Smith which I hope was also sent to you.

Best Regards

Franz Dotter

P.S.: Concerning Austrian Sign Language, we have just begun to analyse its grammar and lexicon.