/3now1#/

[daisuke at YAHOO.COM]

Dear all,

Hello.  I am reading Stokoe 1960, "Sign Language Structure", after a long time, and I am wondering what /3now1#/ stands for.

In Section 1.0 (on page 37 in its 1993 revised edition), he explains that the phrase "Yes, I know him" can be expressed in 16 different ways (wow!), and he writes:

....; but 'know' is signed by touching the tips of the fingers of the slightly bent hand to the forehead.  It is signed thus in isolation, that is, much as know is said /3now1#/ in isolation; but in sign language utterance 'know' may get only a slight movement upward of the bent hand.

Since KNOW is not an agreeing verb but a plain verb, I presume that /3now1#/ is not talking about agreement; in case it were about agreement, "now" would be more puzzling.  Is it some convention that was used in the sixties?

I appreciate your insights about this.


Daisuke