Metathesis in signs

[Rachel Channon]

 ÿÿ t seems the sign for DAY (DAG) in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT)
is such a sign; an index makes (single) contact on the cheek and in an
alternate form it can move away from (contact on) the cheek.

Dear Victoria,
Could you describe this sign and its variant for me in more detail? What is
its etymology? I am surprised and very interested, because there is a group
of signs, call them group A, that move toward the body and have only one
contact point.  They seem to be very simple signs which could be described
by listing their hand and body contact points and handshape and assuming
that moving toward a contact place is the unmarked or default action.  Two
examples are ASL MY and MOTHER.  MY moves toward, and contacts the chest
with the palm of a flat unspread hand.  MOTHER repeatedly moves toward and
contacts the chin with the thumb of a flat spread hand. But if there are
some signs that can move toward or away from a single contact point, then
the descriptions of signs in group A might need to include some indication
of direction such as  œ² oward m
  Thanks Rachel

P.S. Interestingly, the sign for DAY in ASL seems to be reversible also.
The strong hand and forearm move to contact the weak forearm in an
elbow-centered arc that is  ¿  of a circle. The strong arm can either start in
contact with (laying on top of) the weak forearm, or end in contact with it.

Rachel Channon
University of Maryland
rchannon at speakeasy.net