Re: How to spell a gesture

--- Muke Tever <hotblack@...> wrote:

> Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:
>
> Probably like this: http://signwriting.org/
>
Interesting, but not at all what I had in mind since
this system uses gobs of hard-to-draw two-dimensional
pictures and symbols.  What I have in mind is a linear
alphabetic script that can, with the appropriate font,
be typed into a computer, word by word, line by line.

Go to that website and look at the symbol for "forum"
and compare that to something like

   ['(-C&C

which might be interpreted as "Tap chest with palm,
change to two claw hands face to face shoulder length
apart."  Much easier to type than the complex
two-dimensional diagram of signwriting.

Or look at "help" in signwriting and compare to

  |'|-['(

which might mean "Palm taps palm, change to right palm
taps chest."

They try to draw a picture of the object or concept.
I'm trying to give instructions for duplicating
(possibly mentally) a manual gesture.

Here's and example of how hands positions and motions
might be classsified prior to encoding them
symbolically:

I. Symbols representing hand shape

   A. Fist
      1. Closed fist
      2. One or more fingers extended
         a. Extended fingers spread
         b. Extended fingers held together
      3. One or more fingers in "claw" position
   B. Open hand
      1. Thumb position
         a. extended
         b. folded against palm
         c. flush with side of hand
         d. touching finger tip(s)
      2. Finger
         a. spread
         b. together
         c. "vulcan" fingers
   C. Claw hand
      1. Thumb position
         a. extended
         b. folded against palm
         c. flush with side of hand
         d. touching finger tip(s)
      2. fingers extended vs fingers together

II. Symbols representing hand orientation

   A. Back of hand to viewer
   B. Back of hand to signer
   C. Heel of hand to viewer
   D. Thumb to viewer
   E. Hand horizontal inward vs horizontal outward
   F. Hand vertical upward vs vertical downward
      1. point to sky
      2. point to earth
   G. Fingers point toward viewer
   H. Fingers point toward signer

III. Symbols representing hand location

   A. Waist level
   B. Belly level
   C. Chest level
   D. Shoulder level
   E. Head level
   F. Just above head
   G. Far above head

IV. Symbols for relationship between two hands

   A. Relative facing directions
      1. palm to palm, (back, knuckle, heel, thumb)
      2. back to palm, (back, knuckle, heel, thumb)
      3. knuckle to palm, (back, knuckle, heel, thumb)
      4. heel to palm, (back, knuckle, heel, thumb)
      5. thumb to palm, (back, knuckle, heel, thumb)
   B. Distance
      1. touching
      2. handspan apart
      3. shoulder spread apart
      4. elbow span apart
      5. stretched far apart
   C. Vertical location (if applicable)
      1. right above left
      2. left above right

V. Symbols for other body parts

   A. Head
      1. Top of head
      2. Forehead
      3. Side of head
      4. Back of head
   B. Face
   C. Eye
   D. Nose
   E. Mouth
   F. Cheek
   G. Chin, front
   H. Chin, under
   I. Neck
      1. throat
      2. side of neck
      3. back of neck
   J. Shoulder
   K. Upper arm
   L. Forearm
   M. Wrist
   N. Chest
   O. Hip
   P. Thigh
      1. Top of thigh
      2. Outside of thigh

VI. Symbols representing motion

   A. Touch body part
      1. touch
      2. tap
      3. glancing tap
      4. twisting touch
   A. Change form (e.g. fist to open hand)
   D. Change orientation (e.g. palm up to palm down)
      1. one hand moves
      2. both hands move
   E. Direction of motion
      1. upward
      2. downward
      3. to the right
      4. to the left
      5. toward viewer
      6. toward signer
      7. over the shoulder
      8. backwards past the hip
      9. clockwise sweep
         i. oriented vertically
         ii. oriented horizontally
      10. counter-clockwise sweep
         i. oriented vertically
         ii. oriented horizontally


--gary

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