QUESTION: Can we write left-handed signing?

[Charles Butler]

Bill,

I believe that you are right for works of public dissemination. In terms of 
teaching an individual student to be able to write for themselves, I believe we 
need to teach that they CAN, but that when they go to a dictionary, it is going 
to be listed under the majority spelling. 


We are teaching them HOW to write, not WHAT to write. 

Charles


 



________________________________
From: Bill Reese <wreese01 at TAMPABAY.RR.COM>
To: SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU
Sent: Mon, February 7, 2011 2:33:16 PM
Subject: Re: QUESTION: Can we write left-handed signing?

Val,

While it may be obvious that any one person is free to privately write 
however they want (Leonardo Da Vinci was left-handed and his journals 
were written in mirror writing), for any work that may be published or 
widely distributed, using one way of writing would promote a wider 
understanding of whatever is being written.

Many discussions on the list have been about how much of a written sign 
is necessary to achieve understanding.  This idea of minimal writing 
would seem to apply to establishment of that one way of writing so that 
the issue of either left- or right-handed writing is not so much a 
choice of one over the other, but rather that one way of writing is 
simply all that's necessary.

Bill


On 2/7/2011 1:09 PM, Valerie Sutton wrote:
> SignWriting List
> February 7, 2011
>
> QUESTION:
>
> On Feb 2, 2011:
>> Hello!
>> There is one thing I was wondering about ; I « sign » with my left hand, and 
>>the the writing is made for right handed persons. I haven't read enough to know 
>>if the inversion in writing can pose a problem in the understanding. As a left 
>>handed person I would, for example,automatically inverse the place of the dark 
>>side on the drawing on the hand « flat » : I would put It on the left side 
>>rather than on the right side. I would also, on the drawing of the hand with 
>>finger, put the stick representing the thumb on the right side. It trouble me 
>>much when I »m trynig to learn. Is the inversion accepted?
>> I go on descovering the Sign Writing. I will surely rewrite. Have an nice 
day!
> ---------
>
> ANSWER:
>
> Thank you for this message and your question....
>
> Go right ahead and write left-handed signing - no problem!
>
> It is accepted to write either way.
>
> Writing left-handed signing or right-handed signing - BOTH can be written in 
>SignWriting and there is no problem reading it...
>
> Just as there is no problem in real life...when you look at a left-handed 
>signer or a right-handed signer - we can all understand each other, whether we 
>are signing to each other, or reading it in SignWriting...
>
> In our formal SignWriting documents, we choose to write right-handed signing, 
>because most signers are right handed, so that is our standard way of 
>publishing...but we do have some publications written in left handed signing -
>
> Right now you notice this more, because you are new to SignWriting, but later 
>it will become less important until you get used to reading it either way -
>
> I have more to tell you about left-handed and right-handed signing next 
>message...
>
>
>
> Val ;-)
>
> Valerie Sutton
> SignWriting List moderator
> sutton at signwriting.org
>
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