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

[Charles Butler]

Dear list,

I feel that I was misunderstood.

When I said a half note, I meant the marking of a half
note with a single note, not every variation of
hemidemisemiquavers that add up to a half note.  If I
am feeling agitated, I'm trying to be a researcher
with a tool box and not use the wrong tool to write
with.

If I have a flat hand at position x, and it moves with
movement Y, there should be one, and only one way to
write that specific movement in Sign Writing.  All
others are WRONG or incomplete at best.

One can change point of view, but the handshape does
not change, and if it flexes, it MUST be shown as a
flex, if it moves diagonally, it MUST be shown to move
diagonally.  If it moves directly forward, the arrow
must show that movement as if it were photographically
reproduced, else it's wrong, at least in my opinion.

If one shows less in quick writing, because it's
easier for those who know the system, that's fine, but
a standard spoken language dictionary includes the
International Phonetic Alphabet, based on what actual
sound comes out of a person's mouth, and that is an
agreed upon alphabet for where a vowel is formed,
where a consonant is formed, and how to write that
particular combination of sounds.   If the IMWA is to
parallel that, it must have as strict a set of
guidelines.

I go to a dictionary to get a standardized spelling,
an I'm glad to be a part of a standardizing project,
but in this case, the inventor and her eyes are the
final authority, unless Valerie is going to allow us
to create handshapes willy nilly and movements on the
fly, which really doesn't seem right.

Why else would you put up photographs of a signing
person to ask, "how would you show THAT movement" and
then compare and contrast until ONE and only ONE shows
ALL the movement in context.

You have often put on black and white gloves, Valerie,
to show what one is writing with Sign Writing.  All
right, put on those gloves, and get a photographic
tracer to show EXACTLY what those hands are doing for
Wallet, once the movement itself is agreed upon.

Then the answer is settled. How does one show THAT
movement, and no other, using your methodology, and
you Valerie, are the ONLY person who can determine
that.

I can't read a movement if you keep changing the
rules.  I have at least one friend who learned the
system when it was receptive, and she cannot easily
relearn the system.

I learned this system 25 years ago, and have had to
change perspectives and handshapes at least 5 times.
Can't you settle on one set of rules, that are clear,
and are absolute, for the moment, and let it gel for a
while?

I'm sure that there are plenty of people who will help
you to take photographs, and do tracers, but this is
NOT the 10,000 years of the development of the English
alphabet, this is the 21st century in which we are all
working with a common technology and can actually GET
a final answer within the limits of the writing system
as it currently exists.