External phonological change

[G Sapountzaki, Deaf Studies]

>
> According to Morris et al., the tooth-flick gesture is commonly used to
> mean "nothing" (in the Levant it's used to mean "broke") or as a hostile
> gesture. In Greece, the hostile meaning appears to be dominant. Is that
> your impression?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Dan.
>
The sign I mentioned has been described to me without any emotional/
subjective interpretation, but simply as an emphatic way of negation,
used nowadays only by very old signers. Of course I will have to go
back to native signers and ask them (I am not in Greece at the moment)
but note that I am not aware of it as a gesture used by the hearing in
Greece - I was surprised to see that there is a gesture similar to it
in France and elsewhere in Europe.


Galini




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G Sapountzaki, Deaf Studies
Galini.Sapountzaki at bristol.ac.uk