| Stokoe Notation |
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Information AboutStokoe Notation |
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The Stokoe notation is mostly restricted to linguists and academics. Unlike and is Phonemic , with a reduced set of symbols to match the needs of ASL rather than attempting to capture all possible signs. For example, there is a single symbol for circling movement, regardless of whether the plane of the movement is horizontal or vertical; this is because the orientation of the motion is determined by ASL Phonotactics and need not be indicated in a phonemic system. Stokoe coined the terms ''tab'', ''dez'', and ''sig'', meaning sign Locataion ("''tabula''"), '''H'''andshape ("designator"), and '''M'''otion/'''O'''rientation ("signification"), to indicate different categories of Phoneme s in ASL, somewhat like the distinction between Consonant , Vowel , and Tone in oral languages. A fatal deficiency of the system is that it does not provide for facial '''E'''xpression, as Stokie had not worked out the phonemics of expression in ASL, but this is easy to remedy. (One proposal adds a symbol for Expression in parentheses at the beginning of the word.) Verbal inflection and non-lexical movement is awkward to notate, and more recent analyses such as those by Ted Supalla have contradicted Stokoe's set of motion phonemes. There is also no provision for representing the relationship between signs, which restricts the usefulness of the notation to the lexical level. The Stokoe notation has been extended to other sign languages, including British Sign Language and the Australian Aboriginal Sign Languages . However, each researcher has made idiosyncratic modifications to the system. There are also several proposals for typable ASCII equivalents; one of these is shown below. (For this system, Orientation symbols occur before the ''dez'' rather than being subscripted after it.) ''Tab'' (Location) symbols |- |Π||N||neck |- | {Link without Title} || {Link without Title} ||shoulders, chest, trunk |- | ||7||upper arm |- |√||J||elbow, forearm |- |ɑ||9||inside of wrist |- |ɒ||6||back of wrist |} Given a handshape ''(dez)'' D, ''QD'' would be D signed at the face, ''JD'' the same handshape signed at the elbow, and ''9D'' on the inside of the wrist. ''Dez'' (Handshape) ''Dez'' symbols may also be used as ''tabs''. 'BB' represents a dominant flat hand acting on a passive flat hand; this is disambiguated from both hands acting together by using an overt ''tab'' symbol, such as 'ØBB'. ''Sig'' (Movement and '''O'''rientation) symbols ''Sigs'' are superscripted after the ''dez'' to indicate Movement, as in D# (a ''dez'' D which closes) or subscripted to indicate hand '''O'''rientation, as in D# (a ''dez'' which starts off closed). (These would be D# and #D in the ASCII system.) Multiple movement ''sigs'' are linear when the movements are sequential, as in TD×∨× (a ''dez'' D which touches the ''tab'' T, moves down, and touches again; TDx-v-x in ASCII), but stacked when simultaneous, as in TD×ͮ (a ''dez'' which moves down while in contact with the ''tab''; TDxv in ASCII). A dot placed above the ''sig'' indicates that the motion is sharp, as in TD×̇ (sharp contact by the ''dez'' D; TDx! in ASCII), while a dot placed after the ''sig'' indicates that the motion is repeated, as in TD×· (repeated contact by the ''dez''; TDx" in ASCII). Only some symbols are relevant for Orientation. Orthography A sign is written in the order ''Tab Dez Sig''. See also External links |