multiple non manuals..problems

Maria Azzopardi maria.azzopardi at UM.EDU.MT
Thu May 20 08:11:13 UTC 2004


Dear Valerie and the Signwriting list,

I'm currently transcibing data using Signwriting for my MA dissertation
on Maltese sign linguistics, and am now encountering several problems on
'how to transcribe'. So here goes:

1) The main one is how to transcribe multiple non-manuals. My main
problem is that many times there is not enough room on the face to write
it all down (and even worse when typing) several non-manuals at once...
Any suggestions?

2) Another problem for me is how to show the difference between
Air-Coming out of the cheeks in one long stretch, and Air-Coming out of
Cheeks in small puffs (or in one small puff). I'm not sure whether this
would be similar in ASL, but in Maltese Sign Language there is a
significant difference in Air-Coming out of the cheeks (say as used in
CAR-classifier speeding off, and Car-classifier bumping up and down). I
know how to transcribe the first one, but not the second...Any ideas?

3) The data I recorded consists of alot of non-manuals. One reoccuring
feature is eye-gaze. If the eyes start at one point, and end at another
point, how can you show this without taking up all the space on the
face?

Thanks and look forward to hearing from any replies,
If the way I explained my problems are not clear, please let me know,
I'll send a few examples..

Grazzi,
Maria



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