Greek Fingerspelling Posted

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
February 28, 2004

Stefan Woehrmann wrote:
> can you explain the "touch between" of the "Index- Middle Unit" o1 -
> 02 -
> 003 - (between what??? ) Just curious -Stefan ;-))

----------------------

Adam Frost wrote:
> I had the same question. What is the contact with and in between in the
> Greek letter theta? I am very interested in this. I was going to ask
> you
> (Val) if you had any infomation on Greek fingerspelling, but you
> mention
> that you were going to post that infomation. That is just great!! The
> reason
> is because in my math class, we use many Greek letters. I have made up
> some
> signs for some of them, but I was wondering how deaf in Greece sign
> them.
> So, if someone could explain theta, I would really appreciate it. :-)

----------------------

Dear SW List, Adam and Stefan -
Thanks for this question. I am no expert on Greek Fingerspelling. So we
need to talk with Deaf people in Greece, and to Themis, who wrote these
symbols with SignWriter DOS...I am sure there will be editing and
changes to typing Greek Fingerspelling over several years, until a
standard is decided upon, by the Greek Deaf Community.

Meanwhile, I can share with you what I know. Themis told me that the
thumb, in the base of the handshape in Theta (see attached ), is
between the ring finger and the baby finger (hope I understood that
correctly)....like the American T handshape, except the thumb is
between the two fingers on the other side.

Why did Themis use an In-Between symbol? He had no choice, because
SignWriter DOS has a limited amount of symbols, and the real handshape
he needed, which can be written without an In-Between symbol, was not
there, in SignWriter DOS, so he used the In-Between symbol instead.
That was an excellent choice for now.

Later, you will see in the IMWA (International Movement Writing
Alphabet), that handshape is included there, without the In-Between
Symbol, so if the Greek Deaf Community wants to use the real symbol, we
will need to create a computer program that can type it!

I can show that symbol later, if you wish...Val ;-)


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