Dictionaries: signs, heads, and facial expressions

[Stephen Slevinski]

Hi list,

With sign language, would it be valid to divide the various signs into 4
categories?

Facial expressions: www.pudl.info/dict/asl/happily.gif
Signs that need facial expressions: www.pudl.info/dict/asl/who.gif
Signs that need heads: www.pudl.info/dict/asl/deaf.gif
Signs that do not need heads: www.pudl.info/dict/asl/sign.gif

When writing, any sign can have a facial expression attached to it, but a
dictionary does not need to have each sign combined with each facial
expression.

This type of dictionary could be used for writing signs directly.  If you
type a sign, you could then ask for the common facial expressions for the
sign.

It could also be used with gloss.  Translating "father" in ASL:
www.pudl.info/dict/asl/father.gif (a sign that needs a head).  But you could
translate "happily-father" : www.pudl.info/dict/asl/dad.gif, which is a
combination of a sign that needs a head and a facial expression.

Just thinking out loud,
-Stephen Slevinski
www.oculog.net