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

[Barbara Pennacchi]

On 27.04.05 01:41, Valerie Sutton wrote:

> 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...

Wait a minute. If I've understood you correctly, you're citing something
that in your paper version manual hasn't been discussed in depth.

So far, the whole manual explained all signs from the receptive point of
view and, implicitly, from the "front" view. The "top view" is, if I've
understood correctly, a relatively recent addition to SignWriting and
(IMHO) a good one, since it shows easily the finer details of neutral
space usage. However, I was under the impression that "front view" was the
default way of writing and that both symbols were equally correct within
this point of view.

Ok, so the first symbol is to be used in the front view only, whereas a
"overhead view" would require the use of the other symbol for the very
same handshape+orientation? Or am I experiencing some loss of caffeine
somewhere? :)

> 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...

We've had this feeling over and over, so I'm not surprised. However, I
hoped there would already be some kind of consensus/rules, for an easier
readability across different sign languages, like the use of roman script
across different [written] languages, if you get my drift :)

> 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

It's a good suggestion, I'll tell them... it is just that our primary
target (have Deaf native signers capable of transcribing signed texts in
SW, for more accuracy and to introduce them in the field of linguistics
research) what with the fallacies and inadequacies of both the old paper
manual and its translation, then this, then that... well, it seems a bit
fuzzier than before. *groan* :-)

--
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Barbara Pennacchi               barbara.pennacchi (at) istc.cnr.it |
|                 Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche                 |
|         Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione          |
|                  V.le Marx 15, 00137 Roma, Italia                  |
|                      http://www.istc.cnr.it/                       |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+