Metathesis in signs

[Nancy Frishberg]

In ASL, the order mentioned and demonstrated in materials of 90 years
ago show the movement from ear to mouth in DEAF; today the unmarked
order is from mouth to ear.

I'd say in ASL today the (unmarked) direction of movement is
from-the-center-outwards (in whatever direction).  So in this
example, the first touch is closer to the center of the space (at
mouth) and the second (at ear) further away.

The play on the sign DEAF, made on the nose with the meaning "having
a congested nose," would never be made in the downward (centerward)
direction (*side-of-nose to tip-of-nose).  Rather the playful
DEAF-NOSE moves from closer to the tip to closer to the cheek.  That
is following the unmarked direction for the contemporary
pronunciation of DEAF.

Therefore I prefer Jorg's first theory:  there is some small number
of possible directions the movement can go in, but up-to-down does
not seem to be preferred to down-to-up.  Or perhaps, that this
example is not an example of up/down.

Think also about the external forces on us:  I will subscribe to the
cartiod shape to the signing space, with gravity as a strong
influencer.  Have I just articulated another support for the "motoric
economy" theory that Jorg advanced?   We do live on the planet Earth,
and there are consequences of using heavy articulators.  There may be
a hint of this idea in the Dahlem Workshop volume of 1980 (Bellugi &
Studdert-Kennedy, editors).

--
Nancy Frishberg  +1 650.556.1948  nancyf at fishbird.com