Metathesis in signs

[Russell Scott Rosen]

Hi Nancy:

Where is the reference in literature for Jorg's theory of "motoric
economy"? Thanks!


Rusty Rosen


On Tue, 16 Oct 2001, Nancy Frishberg wrote:

> 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
>