Sign Dictionary Orders

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
October 20, 2002

Hello Everyone -
I am just getting back to work - I actually took Sunday morning off - Can you believe?! ;-)

Thank you, Charles, for your comment below. Your idea may possibly already be built into SignBank...In SignBank 8, you can choose the "Search by Symbol" section, and specify listings of signs with specific handshapes, specific movement symbols etc...That isn't exactly what you mean, I know....but it is similar ;-)

To create dictionaries that sort a sign by a handshape, even though that handshape is NOT written, would take some special programming...We would have to build into the SignBank Editor a section that gives the Editor the capability of categorizing each sign by symbols that "are not written"...that is not programmed yet...but it can be...I have placed it on my list for SignBank 2004!

Val ;-)

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>I guess, for me, I would consider all of the spellings correct.  It depends
>upon what "section" of the dictionary you would be looking in.
>
>If one were to start with the "handshape section" then you'd start with
>handshapes.
>
>If one were to start with the "movement section" then one would start with
>movements.
>
>If one were to start with the "contact" section, one would start with the
>contacts.
>
>I feel that ALL of them are equally valid, and a complete dictionary would
>list all four, depending on the section.
>
>Starting at the beginning of the SSS is the handshape dictionary, so you
>start there, go through all of the single handshapes, single hands that
>change shape, then double handshapes.
>
>The next section, movement, you'd start at movement, but then you'd have to
>go back to the handshapes and do them in order of SSS, etc.
>
>For me, a complete dictionary using SSS should list all four variants, as
>each "section" is independent of all the others, but someone may want to
>find any sign using any one of its components.
>
>It's kind of like commutative arithmetic.  2 + 1 + 3 = 6, but so does 1 + 2
>+ 3, and so does 3 + 2 + 1.  All three equations are correct, but one can
>order them by which number comes first.  The SSS does exactly that.  Which
>"section" is first is the choice of the investigator, but if all of us are
>going to use the dictionary, we have to explain our logic to each other.
>
>Charles