ASL how to write WHAT GOES AROUND...

[Stuart Thiessen]

I have to agree with you, Adam. GIVE and GET will expect an object. 
This probably only works as a signed English equivalent. I spent a 
little time yesterday trying to think of a comparable idiom in ASL, but 
I'm not coming up with one at the moment. There is a biblical 
equivalent: "Whatever a man sows, that is what he reaps", but that is 
not ASL. :)

I will have to keep thinking ...... TBC

Stuart

On May 17, 2006, at 13:55, Valerie Sutton wrote:

> SignWriting List
> May 17, 2006
>
> Adam Frost wrote:
>> And to tell you the truth, ASL grammar "screams" for and object to 
>> give and get in the current translation. Val is right that it would 
>> take more than just a few signs to sign it in ASL. Two or three 
>> hypothetical scenarios would have to be shown to explain what is 
>> being said.
>>
>> Now that it looks like I have contradicted myself in saying that it 
>> would work as a translation and then it won't, I will explain what I 
>> mean. Because English is a majority language, most(!) deaf people 
>> have some basic understanding of it. Therefore, it can be understood 
>> what is meant with the current translation, which is more accurately 
>> called a transliteration.
>
>
> Yes...well explained Adam, and I can't imagine how anyone could argue 
> this...of course it is not a true translation because idiomatic 
> phrases are based on so much more than just the words or signs 
> themselves, but based on culture and the understanding of the world, 
> based on that language's perspectives...very complex!
>
> Meanwhile, I get daily email from very nice people (strangers) who 
> innocently ask for something written in SignWriting which they 
> themselves do not realize is very hard to translate or write! This one 
> was for a tatoo in SignWriting...
>
> You won't believe the next one...see next message...a Deaf man asked 
> for the tombstone of his wife to be written in SignWriting (I think 
> that is what he wants, but I am not sure)...
>
> Val ;-)
>