AW: [sw-l] Which SignSpelling is best?

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
April 29, 2005

Stefan Wöhrmann in Germany wrote:
> I bet that every scribe gets used to his/her written signs - although
> if
> they are not in line with the given rules --

Yes. And once you get used to your own SignSpellings, it is hard in the
beginning, to learn to read another person's writing...but that changes
over time, as there are more and more articles to read in
SignWriting...

> I remember that I had been lucky to ask the Parkhursts for a feedback
> of my
> first documents ... and they pointed out to me that I had lots of
> misspellings because I misunderstood the meanings of the head
> movements -
> and several other symbols ;-((((

I can imagine that must have been frustrating for you, but it was good
to learn that...and isn't it great to have their expertise to turn to?
We are so lucky!


> (It never came to my mind - because I performed the movements the way I
> interpreted my description  --- and my students did as well because I
> misinformed them -- later we changed and fixed as many signs as
> possible -
> smile ) I was astonished that my students accepted this new spelling
> without
> any astonishment.

That is really interesting. it shows that people can be flexible,
especially children....

>
> And as I said nobody is perfect and there will always be typos - and I
> feel
> very happy if any reader asks for additional explanations of my
> spellings
> and wow - if this is because a misspelling I am wondering why my brain
> did
> not warn me before - because after this discussion it became so
> obvious.
> (smile)

Ha! Recently I have become quite tired and there are times when my
brain does not remember basic things like where my keys are! So no
brain is flawless...and spelling in English for me is very tiresome...I
make English spelling mistakes all the time...so I wouldn't be too hard
on yourself...I love your documents on your web site!!

>
> Sometimes there are rule violations in order to allow a better visual
> impression. We discussed these exceptions some years ago. I am still
> studying this aspect.

Yes. That is fascinating, isn't it? That is also why I never created
some of the writing rules that Steve Parkhurst did...I feel some of his
rules limit the visual necessicities of the writing system at
times...not all the time, but sometimes..... and so I would rather
leave the rule flexible, than to force a non-visual spelling on an
exceptional case...but this is such a tiny detail ....and Steve's novel
written in Spanish Sign Language is simply fantastic...and I can read
it!

>
> Sometimes I do not know whether a sign is written "ignoring" spelling
> rules
> intentionally or just by accident.

I see....

>
> Ha - Valerie - what about your spelling of "perfect" in Goldilocks
> Level 3
> page 18, 22, 26 "  This kind of discussion is just for fun - but it is
> fun -
> because L.I.F.E

Ha! You are right. I just looked and I have the left hand with the
fingers on the wrong side!! You are always right, Stefan..grin...

Someday I will fix that when I have nothing else to do - ha!

There is a case where a mis-spelling is read ok anyway...just as in
English, when typing this email, we can make mistakes but we know what
people mean anyway...

And oh guess what!!? I have a wonderful message from Carmen Steiner
from German-Switzerland, in German, asking for feedback on her
beautiful signs from the Swiss-German SignPuddle, so I will be
answering her to the SignWriting List and will include both her German
questions and my English answers...so I am sure you will find all kinds
of mistakes in my German, plus we can have fun analyzing Swiss-German
Sign Language together...I hope to start that analysis as soon as I
finish MUNDO from Brazil!

Val ;-)