please, confirm some observations

[Zwitserlood, I.E.P. (Inge)]

Hello Eva,
How nice to see that you guys are still working on avatars, and even on grammar! I'm sorry I can't help you with BSL, but I do wish you all good luck. Please let the sign language world know about your achievements, will you?
All the best, greetings to everyone,
Inge Zwitserlood (I used to work at IvD or Viataal in St-Michielsgestel with Margriet and Han)

----- "Eva Safar" <esafar at YAHOO.COM> schreef:

> Van: "Eva Safar" <esafar at YAHOO.COM>
> Aan: SLLING-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU
> Verzonden: Donderdag 17 maart 2011 16:06:19
> Onderwerp: please, confirm some observations
>
> Dear All,
> 
> within the DictaSign project (http://www.dictasign.eu/) we are aiming
> at some 
> grammatical rule formalisation in 4 SLs (for avatars)(Greek, French,
> British, 
> German SLs). We (at University of East Anglia) are being asked for
> comfirming 
> similarities  (or differences) for BSL regarding the contents below.
> The 
> observations are based on the French collected corpus. My BSL is not
> good enough 
> to judge, wether the following hold for BSL as well. So I would like
> to ask you 
> for just identify aspects that differ fundamentally between the
> languages.
> 
> Enumeration
> A non-exhaustive list of elements, signed in sequence.
> Observation
> For each item of the enumeration, the head moves forward or sideways
> (not 
> necessarily similar way each time), accelerating or starting towards
> the end of 
> the time interval used to sign the item. This movement can be more or
> less 
> visible, but each item ends with a clear retraction of the head in the
> opposite 
> direction, starting at the end of the time interval.
> 
> Alternative constructions
> An alternative construction is when different options of a choice are
> listed 
> sequentially, and the semantics is that either one (only) of the
> (usually few) 
> options is to be chosen or considered possible.
> Observation
> For each choice in the list, the base of the head or neck reaches a
> different 
> location towards the end of the time period used to sign the choice.
> <R> We also often observed, but not always, that the choices are
> hand-located in 
> different locations, in which case the shoulders may even turn as
> well.
> <R> Sometimes, but not always, the lexical sign [OR] is performed
> between two 
> choices---not necessarily between each pair in that case.
> Rhetorical questions
> Lexical wh-question signs that mean no question to the addressee and
> are 
> responded by the signer himself immediately after. Typically when
> [WHY?] would 
> be translated into English by “because” or [HOW?] into “by doing”.
> Observation
> Not enough material to verify this or to choose the right one if any,
> but it 
> seems one or both of the following rules applies.
> 	* a (somewhat slow) eye blink occurs in the beginning of the
> “rhetorical 
> answer”
> 	* the chin drops in the immediate beginning of the answer
> Additional question: This category is hard to generalise or break
> down. It 
> definitely still “feels like” one... but is it? Do you have anything
> to support 
> either of the hypotheses above?
> Unrelated weak hand persistence
> This section is interested in the arrangement illustrated below, where
> a 
> two-handed sign S0 is performed, followed by one or more one-handed
> gestures 
> while the ending state of the other hand is held in place. We are only
> 
> considering those where the hands are “geometrically” unrelated,
> thereby 
> excluding things like pointing to the weak hand, classifier
> predicates, etc. 
> Those are clearly more iconic and may need to be dealt with very
> specifically.
> Strong hand:	|__ S0 __| |__ 1-handed stuff __|
> Weak hand:	|__ S0 ______ held from S0 ________
> Observation
> Two categories emerge. One (A) is when the one-handed stuff qualifies
> S0 like an 
> adjective would do or to name or identify it. The other (B) is when S0
> is held 
> because it is needed after the one-handed stuff, sort of to keep it
> “active”.
> <R> If one hand is fixed between two consecutive segmented signs,
> hands must be 
> interpreted separately and this rule is a candidate.
> <R> If the end posture of S0 is re-established after some strong-hand
> signs, 
> trigger (B).
> Examples: 1. sort of adjective, [LINE] held while [BLUE],
> 2.identification/naming, [PLACE] held while [EUROPE], 3.[CUT] held
> while 
> [MUSEUM], the limit of the interruption is re-used later
> 
> Regards,
> Eva Safar
> 
> -------
> 
> Dr Eva Safar
> Senior Research Associate
> School of Computing Sciences
> University of East Anglia
> Norwich
> NR4 7TJ