[sw-l] ITALY QUESTION...Top View or Front View?

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
April 26, 2005

Barbara Pennacchi from Italy wrote:
> How do we use these different symbols? Is there a consensus on their
> usage? Some rules of usage? Some of us (and even I) tend to think that
> the first symbol should used in those cases we actually can see the
> palm of the hand (thus almost in front of our face), while the other
> should be used when the hand/s are set quite a lot lower than our
> face.

Thank you for your question, Barbara, and do not worry about asking a
question someone else asked before! That is not a problem. This is a
free List that is for ALL technical support questions about
SignWriting...and you have every right to ask your question...It is a
good question.

In SignWriting, most handshapes and movement symbols can be seen from
two viewpoints...the Front View (parallel Wall Plane) and the Top View
(parallel Floor Plane). These two viewpoints, front and overhead, are
very useful at times, and makes the writing system flexible. Sometimes
one viewpoint will be easier to read and write than the other, so
having two choices for many symbols is useful...

And choosing one over the other is not wrong, just as long as it is
accurate, but there is a psychology or a feeling behind some
choices...so the best thing is to write a sign in several different
ways...the same sign...but written from two different viewpoints...and
then show that writing to Deaf people, or native signers, to see which
SignSpelling, they would choose. See my next message for diagrams about
the attached symbols...


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