[sw-l] Underlining proper names in vertical columns...

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
June 4, 2005

Bill Reese wrote:
> The sign language specific method of indicating the noun and then
> fingerspelling it seems to be the language specific way of
> indicationg the noun but what about sign languages that don't
> support that concept?

Actually Bill, you have brought up a very important point. How do
different signed languages mark a proper name, when they sign? ASL
does the fingerspelling technique you mention above, but that
definitely is not true in other signed languages. Some signed
languages use zero fingerspelling, especially signed languages in the
Far East, that do not use the Roman Alphabet in their spoken language...

However, putting the fingerspelling to the side, and just focusing on
capitalization of a sign, I believe that in ASL at least, I have seen
some Deaf people pause a little after the proper noun is signed, and
that there is more tension at the end of the movement in the proper
name, and it is possible that eyebrows change when signing a proper
name...so that begins to get into the grammar of specific signed
languages, and some may be able to determine a proper name from other
writing, like our Comma symbol (pause), or our tension symbol...and
our eyebrow symbols....

Thanks for all your thoughts!

Val ;-)