'A' letteral incorrect in US Dictionary?

[Alan Post]

I see, as I move down the list, that the 'C' letteral does indeed
have two entries:

  http://signbank.org/signpuddle1.6/searchword.php?ui=1&sgn=4&sid=3375,123&search=c&type=exact

In this case I understand them to be acceptable variation of how
that sign is formed.

There is also something else fascinating going on here.  The first
entry, the one from Valerie, has the following ksw code:

  AS16d20M8x10S16d20n9xn10

It seems I can delete the 'AS16d20' from the front of this symbol,
without affecting the ability of this sign to be rendered.  The
second entry has this ksw code:

  M9x10S16d10n8xn10

Which is what gave me the hint that I could do that: that form was
entered this year and has therefor been through fewer translations
than the one above it.  It seems that all of the "original" letteral
entries have this extra (?) A-prefixed code in front.

Is this a (harmless?) translation error?  Is there actual
information stored in those first 7 characters?  Just what exactly
is that?!

-Alan

On Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 11:36:12PM -0600, Alan Post wrote:
> Here is the entry for the A letteral in the US SignPuddle
> dictionary:
> 
>   http://signbank.org/signpuddle1.6/searchword.php?ui=1&sgn=4&sid=5476&search=a&type=exact
> 
> Using the hint Steve provided me, I find the handshape for that
> symbol on this page, showing "thumb side diagonal":
> 
>   http://www.signbank.org/iswa/1f7/1f7_bs.html
> 
> I've been taught that the A letteral is actually this BaseSymbol,
> the "thumb side unit":
> 
>   http://www.signbank.org/iswa/1f8/1f8_bs.html
> 
> I'm *inclined* to think that this is a data-entry error in
> SignPuddle, and a subtly different symbol was entered for the A
> letteral than what it actually is.  (An easy mistake to make without
> the hand shape photos as a reference.)
> 
> But is it that I'm seeing acceptable variation in how the A letteral
> is signed?
> 
> What is the conflict resolution mechanism when this occurs in
> SignPuddle?  Should I enter what I believe to be the A letteral as a
> separate entry?  Should the existing entry be fixed?  Should I ignore
> what the dictionary says and use my own interpretation in my own
> documents?
> 
> Will someone give me some guidance here on either my assumptions
> about this being an error or what, if anything, I should do?
> 
> -Alan
> -- 
> .i ma'a lo bradi cu penmi gi'e du

-- 
.i ma'a lo bradi cu penmi gi'e du