NEW: SignWriting Hand Symbols Manual completed! - Comment

Sun Sep 11 11:54:18 UTC 2011

As I have stated before, the placement of the thumb on more than 30 of the handshapes seems arbitrary and confusing. I look at my hand and it does not match the signwriting shape. 
The thumb is on the wrong side from looking at it. The drawings don't try to put the little finger on the wrong side, why do you do that with the thumb? '
I'm supposed to teach this when my own students will ask the same question. But teacher, if I lay my hand down on the drawing, it doesn't match. Are my students blind? 
And on some of them the index finger which clearly shifts sides of the palm is rigid as if I can't count fingers and look at the edge of my palm and see which side of an icon it ought to be on. 
If I cannot look at my hand, and lay it down on the icon and see which side is up or down, then the system really needs to be looked at again. When this system was created, we did not debate it. We taught "look at your hand" and "write what you see".  That is not here now.
Black and white are palm facings and fingers must be on the side they actually are on, not one shape, without rotation for the same hand. The hand mirrors, why not the icon? I want an answer that makes actual literal sense. Show me how my thumb does not move? 
The C hand in particular makes no sense. The same icon for both the front and the back of the same hand when the thumb clearly moves is truly odd. How can a mirror image NOT be a mirror image?
The rule of "point to the center" when the thumb just isn't there is not what I learned when the system was created, and now ALL of those old drawings, including a lot of what I edited in Brazil are wrong? I don't think so.
It is a triumph to get all of the icons in a graphic volume, but there is clearly something odd going on here. 
Charles Butler

--- On Mon, 9/5/11, Valerie Sutton <sutton at SIGNWRITING.ORG> wrote:

From: Valerie Sutton <sutton at SIGNWRITING.ORG>
Subject: Re: NEW: SignWriting Hand Symbols Manual completed!
To: SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACOLLEGE.EDU
Date: Monday, September 5, 2011, 9:03 AM

SignWriting ListSeptember 5, 2011
On Sep 4, 2011, at 6:33 PM, Alan Post wrote:Yay!  I've been waiting for this.  My order is placed! -Alan
---------
Thank you for our first order for our new book, Alan!
Adam Frost and I worked on this book for several years. The first four chapters were on the web for download in the past year. But the book was not finished until a week ago...
Finally we have photos and symbols of 6 palm facings for all 261 hand symbols of the ISWA 2010 documented in a book...Thanks to Adam's patience with taking photos of his own hands, and then enlarging the symbols. I wrote the instruction sections, but Adam provided the photos of himself for the instruction sections. I did the book layout and design, but without Adam's improved graphics of the enlarged symbols we would not have a book...so this was a true co-authorship....
Thank you, Adam, for your hard work.....I truly enjoyed working with you on this big project...
And Alan...your copy will be in the postal mail tomorrow - smile- -
Val ;-)

----------------------

On Sep 4, 2011, at 3:10 PM, Valerie Sutton wrote:
SignWriting ListSeptember 4, 2011
ANNOUNCING!

SignWriting Hand Symbols Manualby Valerie Sutton and Adam Frost
The 
SignWriting Hand Symbols Manual is a thick 300 page, paperback, spiral 
bound book that devotes a full page to each of the 261 hand symbols of 
the International SignWriting Alphabet  (ISWA 2010), used to write over 
40 sign languages. 

Each page shows one handshape with 6 photos 
showing 6 different palm facings. The corresponding SignWriting symbol 
is placed next to each photo. Additional SignWriting instruction is 
included in the front and the back of the book. 

Useful for beginning and advanced SignWriting students, sign language linguists, teachers and researchers.
Now available for download online:
Go to:SignWriting Lessonshttp://www.signwriting.org/lessons
and available for purchase online:
Go to:SignWriting Shophttp://www.signwriting.org/shophttp://www.suttonshop.com/ecommerce/pages/products_sw_detail.jsp?id=69.0

Val ;-)

Valerie Sutton
SignWriting List moderator
sutton at signwriting.org

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