Non-dominant, one-handed signing

[Bencie Woll]

To add my pennyworth, what is crucial in onehanded versions of the BSL
(and related) manual alphabet is rotation of the wrist, as much as the
contact point. Although rarely represented on alphabet charts, when the
dominant hand articulates .a., the palm is facing down; for .u., the hand is
rotated so that the palm faces leftwards (for right handed signers). This
feature is preserved and sometimes exaggerated in one-handed versions
and makes identification of vowels relatively easy.

Bencie Woll

On 27 Feb 2002 at 11:55, Grushkin, Donald A. wrote:

> I'm quite aware that Auslan uses the two-handed alphabet.  I refer to it as
> BSL letters, since it originated in Britain.  But, I just realized that's
> chauvinistic of me, since I should then refer to ASL fingerspelling as FSL
> letters, since our fingerspelling originated in France...  So, my apologies
> for the chauvinism.  I will try to change my mindset forthwith.
>
> --Don Grushkin
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Adam Schembri, Deaf Studies [mailto:Adam.Schembri at BRISTOL.AC.UK]
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 9:33 AM
> > To: SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA
> > Subject: Re: Non-dominant, one-handed signing
> >
> >
> > This does indeed happen in BSL and Auslan (it's not just BSL that
> > uses the two-handed alphabet!) and I have observed it many times in
> > casual signing in Australia and the UK. Comprehension of the vowels
> > occurs partially in relation to the other letters, so that if you
> > produce the X handshape for the dominant hand part of K, you then
> > point your G hand in the space slightly to the left (for a
> > right-handed signer) for A, keep it in the same place for E, move
> > slightly to the right for I and so forth. Of course, contextual clues
> > come into play, and often this use of the phantom hand co-occurs with
> > English mouthing as well.
> >
> > Adam
> >
> > ----------------------
> > Adam Schembri
> > Centre for Deaf Studies
> > University of Bristol
> > 8 Woodland Rd
> > Bristol BS8 1TN
> > United Kingdom
> > Telephone: +44 (0)117 954 6909
> > Textphone: +44 (0)117 954 6920
> > Fax: +44 (0)117 954 6921
> > Email: Adam.Schembri at bristol.ac.uk
> > Website: www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/DeafStudies
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, 27 Feb 2002 09:18:46 -0800 "Grushkin, Donald A."
> > <grushkind at CSUS.EDU> wrote:
> >
> > > Des:
> > >
> > > I can see, for most of the BSL letters, how you could spell out the
> > > word on
> > > a "ghost hand.  However, the vowels require contact with specific
> > > fingers on
> > > the n-d hand... I'm sure that could create a lot of
> > confusion dealing
> > > with a
> > > "ghost", especially in words with a lot of vowels... try
> > spelling out
> > > "kahoolahaue" (I think that's the correct spelling of a place in
> > > Hawaii) in
> > > BSL with only one hand...
> > >
> > > Care to clarify?
> > >
> > > --Don Grushkin
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Des Power [mailto:d.power at MAILBOX.GU.EDU.AU]
> > > > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 5:28 PM
> > > > To: SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA
> > > > Subject: Re: Non-dominant, one-handed signing
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Remember that us two-handed fingerspellers can fingerspell on the
> > > > nondominant hand too :-) - just as Mark says, when the
> > other hand is
> > > > "encumbered" with a broom, glass :-), etc. (or missing; I
> > > > know of at least
> > > > one Deaf man who lost most of his non-dominant fingers in a
> > > sawmilling
> > > > accident). The dominant hand just spells the words out on a
> > > > "ghost hand"
> > > > thats not actually there - across about the same size space
> > > > it would be if
> > > > there was a nondominant hand there.
> > > >
> > > > Des
> > > > --
> > > > Emeritus Professor Des Power
> > > > Griffith University
> > > >
> > > > 30 Pine Valley Drive
> > > > ROBINA, QLD 4226
> > > > Australia
> > > >
> > > > Telephone: (61) 7 55 78 78 84
> > > > Fax:       (61) 7 55 78 78 84
> > > > Email:     d.power at mailbox.gu.edu.au
> > > > Website:  http://www.gu.edu.au/ppages/D_Power
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > I recall the term "encumbered signing", referring to
> > > > signing when one
> > > > > hand is occupied with driving, holding, etc. How well do the
> > > > > conventional adaptations for this common situation adapt to the
> > > > > comparable situation here?
> > > > >
> > > > > -- Mark A. Mandel, Ph.D., d/b/a Dr. Whom
> > > > > editing, proofreading, and linguistic consultation
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

Professor Bencie Woll
Chair of Sign Language and Deaf Studies
City University
Tel: +44 (0)20 7040 8354
Minicom/Textphone: +44 (0)20 7040 8314
Fax: +44 (0)20 7040 8577
b.woll at city.ac.uk