[sw-l] Spelling of ASL Wallet (retry #3)

[Charles Butler]

Dear Valerie, et al.

I spelled it "wallets" largely because I couldn't find
it when I first created it.  The dataprogram saved it
originally as Wallet_7_2 and that didn't come up
anywhere.  The only way to save it so I could find was
to save it as a plural.

I understand your desire not to be a dictator, but you
are the inventor, and are still alive, and I mean that
with infinite respect.  A half-note on a scale can
only be written with one marking in Western notation.
No matter how you place it on a staff, it is still a
half note.

If I do a given movement, there should be one
"preferred" spelling that clearly shows that movement
and no other.  I may change perspective from top, to
side, to front, but the movement itself does not
change depending on my orientation--just the
orientation--and that I can write--but the handshape
remains the same, whether I write it once or twice
should be standardized, and particularly if it shows
an internal "movement".

If you are saying that "flexing" for the sign "wallet"
is NOT shown by a wrist flex, then any of the
spellings that show a wrist flex are WRONG, and those
that do not are RIGHT, and not simply variants.

For me, as a researcher, a dictionary should be
showing the standard, not every variation on a theme
or a stripped down version, unless they are showing
entirely different handshapes, and entirely different
movements.

If I'm transcribing a sign in the field, I need to
know that what I write will show one movement, and no
other, one handshape, and no other, and that every
other writer in the field will use the writing system
in the same way.

Else you would not be reading this message in English,
but in some variation of the IPA depending on my
pronunciation, not the written form of English.

If I am trying to type an email message, how am I to
remember, using your gloss form, that the form I want
for this one movement, that we are all agreeing on, is
Wallet_8, or Wallet_9, or Wallet_2.  If there were two
different movements or handshapes involved, I would
understand, but this is one movement, one set of
handshapes, one end result to be shown.

It's not, for me, a matter of "usage" Valerie.  It is
what is consistent to the system, and what is not.  I
am trying to write this message with all due respect
to multiple users, and have shown a variant that
answers some of the very queries that have come
across.

If my variation is WRONG, take it away, if it shows
everything that is required, without losing
information, and follows all the logic of the system
without leaving essential information out, and shows
it clearly, MORE than other variations, upon first
glance, it should be the standard.

We need to learn ONE method, not, as of this count, 8
different spellings for the exact same movement.  We
could discuss every spelling in the dictionary in the
same way, and that would make it completely unwieldly.


Now that you know what the movement actually is,
Valerie, what is your choice?

You are the inventor, and your word is the law.  You
invented it, and we all learn from your example.  Only
you can decide, once all the variants are in front of
you, what the BEST way to write one movement is.

Sincerely,

Charles Butler











--- Valerie Sutton <sutton at signwriting.org> wrote:

> SignWriting List
> June 15, 2005
>
> Great. Right now all that matters is that the
> different choices are
> there, in SignPuddle, and in time we will see which
> spelling people
> use more, so standardized spellings are not
> something that we
> force...we just let people choose what they want and
> in time it
> becomes very obvious which one was chosen most...so
> thanks for adding
> it in SignPuddle. I have a question...why wallets,
> and not wallet? Is
> their a difference between the two signs in ASL?
>
> Val ;-)
>
> On Jun 15, 2005, at 1:15 PM, Charles Butler wrote:
> It's under "wallets" in the Sign Puddle.  How do
> people feel about it?  Should this be a standard
> spelling?
>
>