nondominant handshapes

[Dan Parvaz]

> From the non-linguist in Norway again: There are a number of signs, some
> of wich are well-established, that uses the L handshape for the
> non-dominat hand. They are AUDIOGRAM, STATISTICS,  and several more
> mathematical and special signs.

How many of these signs were coined by native signers? I don't know the
situation in Norway, but there are many signs used in the US that deviate
significantly from natively-coined signs. The ASL signs
TOTAL-COMMUNICATION (symmetrial movement, different handshapes) and,
increasingly, EMAIL (non-dominant handshape is baby-C) are examples of
these. I'm not saying these signs "aren't ASL" (although there are
normative arguments for excluding them) but this wouldn't the first
instance of borrowed words following different phonological rules.

-Dan.