[sw-l] carraoca

Ingvild Roald iroald at HOTMAIL.COM
Wed Jun 22 18:45:41 UTC 2005


In the Norwegian SL, the normal sign for 'drive' is like  'drive a car', but
here in Bergen, the local sign is like your "carroça"

Ingvild




>From: "Bill Reese" <wreese01 at TAMPABAY.RR.COM>
>Reply-To: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
>To: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
>Subject: Re: [sw-l] 75 symbols in ASL
>Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 09:48:51 -0400
>
>Charles, your sign
>carroça
>
>When I duplicated this, I automatically made clicking sound movement used
>to get the attention of horses along with the movement of the reins.  Like
>the old westerns' "Giddyup".   Does Libras use facial movements similar to
>Stefan's Mundbildschrift?
>
>Bill
>
>
>Charles Butler wrote:
>
>>
>>   I just added this word to the ASL SignPuddle for "open newspaper".  I
>>pulled it from Goldilocks and the Three Bears as I'm not sure that all the
>>words in Goldilocks have been systematically added to SignPuddle.  Until
>>we have a good translation program from whatever Goldilocks and the other
>>stories are set in, moving all signs over at once will be a challenge.
>>  By the current frequency chart, there are 75 symbols being used in ASL,
>>though with a few, we'd really have to have a strong consensus that in
>>fact they are used by more than single individuals (several are from name
>>signs).  We definitely should feel like Noah Webster.  An additional note.
>>  Working in two signed languages (ASL & Libras), I often look at one
>>language or the other to see if the other language has the same handshape
>>being used, even in different words.  Two handshapes from the seminal work
>>of the SignNet Project in Porto Alegre and Pelotas, Brazil while I was
>>working there with Marianne Stumpf come to mind.
>>  This is the sign for "noiva" (fiancee) in Libras.  The right hand ring
>>finger is held up by the thumb to display an engagement ring.  This is a
>>"single instance" use of this handshape in all the current research in
>>Libras which was discovered by the SignNet Project team in Porto Alegre in
>>the process of translating "SignWriting for Everyday Use" into Brazilian
>>Portuguese with Libras examples which I had the honor to edit.
>>  The second handshape is the "carroça" handshape, which I found by
>>inquiry quite by accident.  In most major cities of Brazil there are still
>>horse-drawn carts and carriages (carroça).  I asked what the sign was for
>>the cart, and this was the sign that was given.
>>  carroça
>>As this handshape had not yet been used in the Libras examples, I was
>>rather pleased that I had been a part of the team when it was folded into
>>the workbook.
>>  I want to make a practice of carrying 3x5 cards to record ASL and Libras
>>examples to ensure that our Puddle Dictionaries are always growing.
>>  Well wishes to all.
>>  Charles Butler
>>
>>
>>Charles Butler <chazzer3332000 at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
>>
>>     Comment on .lojban.
>>
>>     The difficulty I have with lojban, having actually
>>     looked into it as an artificial language construct, is
>>     that it uses punctuation marks as letters, so it
>>     actually looks ugly on the page. When every five
>>     letters or so is a "." being used as a schwa or an "h"
>>     it is really jarring. Far from being something I would
>>     easily use and learn, as some fewer than 1,000 people
>>     are fluent in the language, it fails for me because it
>>     fails aesthetically. Korean, in contrast, created an
>>     alphabet from pictures that come out resembling
>>     Chinese characters from a distance but looking
>>     entirely different as a featural alphabet when
>>     examined. IMVHO, art must be a part of an alphabet,
>>     or it's going to repel rather than attract.
>>
>>     Charles Butler
>>
>>     --- Steve Slevinski wrote:
>>
>>     > Hi Stuart,
>>     >
>>     > I appreciate your opinion and point of view. This is
>>     > one of the great
>>     > features of SignWriting. It is a big tent idea. Val
>>     > has invited us all
>>     > to come in and play around. It is a process of
>>     > discovery. Different
>>     > perspectives help us learn and grow. I only hope
>>     > that I do more good
>>     > than harm.
>>     >
>>     > I understand that linguists need special terms. They
>>     > need to analyze and
>>     > discuss and argue about what is happening in
>>     > language. I didn't mean to
>>     > imply that specialized jargon should be thrown out.
>>     >
>>     > Upon reflection, my email was about talking to
>>     > various audiences that
>>     > need to learn more about sign language in general
>>     > and SignWriting in
>>     > particular.
>>     >
>>     > The primary audience I'm concerned about is native
>>     > signers. We need to
>>     > encourage native signers to learn about SignWriting
>>     > and to ! start
>>     > writing. I'm hoping that I can convince native
>>     > signers to write lengthy
>>     > documents using SignPuddle 2 (when it's ready). If
>>     > they do, SignPuddle
>>     > will prove the superiority of SignWriting for all
>>     > time and it will be
>>     > embraced by Deaf culture. I say that because
>>     > SignPuddle will not tell
>>     > Deaf what sign language is, it will show Deaf how
>>     > sign language is
>>     > written by Deaf writers. The ASL hand-shape alphabet
>>     > has 74 symbols not
>>     > because of my authority, but because that's the
>>     > symbols that writers are
>>     > using. SignPuddle is about reflecting language, not
>>     > dictating language.
>>     >
>>     > The secondary audience (for me anyway) is people
>>     > with deep pockets.
>>     > Philanthropy is very scarce for sign language
>>     > projects. Even more scarce
>>     > for SignWriting projects. Small grants are a problem
>>     > for most projects
>>     > that ! I know of. There's not enough to go around.
>>     >
>>     > For people with deep pockets, you have about 1
>>     > minute to generate
>>     > sufficient interest so that they take the time to
>>     > consider your
>>     > proposition. Realistically, you have about 10
>>     > seconds to get them
>>     > interested enough to listen to the next 50 seconds
>>     > differently.
>>     >
>>     > Neither of these audience is interested in the
>>     > technical jargon of
>>     > programmers or linguists. If you use words they
>>     > don't immediately
>>     > understand, you've lost their interest. I'm sure you
>>     > could create an
>>     > hour long presentation about the value of sign
>>     > language and the
>>     > importance of SignWriting, but if you confuse them
>>     > with jargon and don't
>>     > immediately capture their interest, you will be
>>     > wasting your time and
>>     > theirs.
>>     >
>>     > And I'm still upset about the spoken language bias
>>     > inh! erent in most
>>     > languages. Even the artificial language "Lojban" has
>>     > a bias against
>>     > signed languages. And the funny thing is that Lojban
>>     > was created to
>>     > eliminate cultural bias from language and test a
>>     > variation of the
>>     > Sapir-Worf hypothesis. However, Lojban is still in
>>     > development so I need
>>     > to have a chat with the organizing committee. I'll
>>     > tell you how it goes
>>     > later.
>>     >
>>     > -Steve
>>     >
>>     >
>>     > Stuart Thiessen wrote:
>>     >
>>     > > Hi Steve!
>>     > >
>>     > > I understand what you are trying to express.
>>     > However, like any field
>>     > > of expertise, it contains technical terms to help
>>     > the specialists of
>>     > > the field understand exactly what they mean.
>>     > Computer programmers have
>>     > > their technical jargon, and so do linguists. I
>>     > don't agree that we
>>     > > need to throw out all the technical terms to
>>     > "reduce bias." If one
>>     > > reviews the research being done in sign languages,
>>     > it is easily
>>     > > apparent that there is a lot to learn about our
>>     > ability to learn
>>     > > language through either modality (speech or sign).
>>     > >
>>     > > Also, like any specialists, we need to consider
>>     > our audience and the
>>     > > purpose of our discussion. If we are discussing
>>     > the proper linguistic
>>     > > definition of some aspect of sign languages, we
>>     > should use the proper
>>     > > terms. If we are only have a "lay" discussion of
>>     > the topic, then using
>>     > > "lay" terms is appropriate.
>>     > >
>>     > > In my case, I prefer the technical term "featural"
>>     > to describe what
>>     > > kind of writing system SignWriting is. To me, it
>>     > is the most accurate
>>     > > term available for the writing system. For "lay"
>>     > terms, an alphabet
>>     > &g! t; may be one way to describe it, but it is not
>>     > necessarily the best
>>     > > technical term. If we explain the terms then it
>>     > has meaning. For
>>     > > hearing, once they know that the Korean writing
>>     > system is similiar in
>>     > > approach as SignWriting (because the symbols in
>>     > the Korean system
>>     > > correspond with how the sounds are produced), then
>>     > that helps them to
>>     > > see that SW isn't so strange after all. For ASL
>>     > deaf, I tend to point
>>     > > out some of the non-manual markers we tend to use
>>     > in our
>>     > > conversations. I explain how those can be included
>>     > in our writing ...
>>     > > oh, yeah and by the way, we can write the signs
>>     > clearly too ;) . Most
>>     > > alphabets, syllabaries, abjads, etc. are symbols
>>     > that represent the
>>     > > final product of the articulators. SignWriting
>>     > goes one level deeper
>>     > > and actually! shows the articulators in motion (in
>>     > a manner of
>>     > > speaking). So does Korean as I understand it or at
>>     > least that is the
>>     > > closest analogy we have from spoken languages.
>>     > >
>>     > > I'm less inclined to "throw out the technical
>>     > terms". I think it is
>>     > > better for us to help clarify the terms and
>>     > illustrate where sign
>>     > > languages are similar or different than spoken
>>     > languages. Over time,
>>     > > the bias will disappear. If one studies the
>>     > professional literature on
>>     > > sign languages, then it is next to impossible that
>>     > they can truly
>>     > > retain the bias against sign languages. And if
>>     > they have the bias
>>     > > anyway, changing the wiktionary isn't going to do
>>     > a whole lot to
>>     > > change things in my opinion. Personally, the more
>>     > we use SignWriting
>>     > > to describe sign languages and the linguistic
>>     > properties of sign
>>     > > languages _and_ to develop literature in our sign
>>     > languages, the more
>>     > > people will begin to see the value of both sign
>>     > languages in general
>>     > > and SignWriting as a system to record sign
>>     > languages. When they see
>>     > > our professional discussions of the terms, then
>>     > they will be more
>>     > > inclined to listen because we are pointing out
>>     > clarifications in how
>>     > > they use their terms rather than simply throwing
>>     > out the words because
>>     > > we don't like the meaning they attach to those
>>     > technical terms.
>>     > >
>>     > > But again that's my opinion. ;)
>>     > >
>>     > > Stuart
>>     > >
>>     > > On Jun 21, 2005, at 18:53, Steve Slevinski wrote:
>>     > >
>>     > > Hi all,
>>     > >
>>     > > I love the term IMWA for many reasons. I'm a
>>     > self proclaimed IMWA
>>     > > snob.! The IMWA is a true alphabet even though
>>     > the
>>     === message truncated ===
>>
>>



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