SignWriting List
August 22, 2013
But in spoken language, you do not have to switch right side with left side -
In spoken language, just because you don't agree with what is being said, it does not mean that you are hearing a scratchy voice versus a high voice versus a low voice when reading the concepts that you disagree with -
But this is exactly why another research lab wanted to research the amazing SignWriting phenomena of the "ability" to write receptive and expressive -
There is no way in the English alphabet to physically right the high tones or the low tones or the scratching tones or the screaming tones - except for of course some tonal languages perhaps - smile - but that is not English -
So once again, I think the production of sound of an excited sentence does not mean we are writing the exact tone of the original writer - the thinker who is reading it puts those excited tones into it I think - and that for me seems to be expressive -
Well - I think we need a new research grant to research this with MRI equipment!
I only know that Deaf writers who were signing as their first language, who were skilled in SignWriting for 4 years, requested Expressive because they wanted it - smile - and I followed their lead ;-)
Val ;-)
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I take your point Val, though I think that if we include social, emotional, contextual etc signification - as opposed to just reference - the sound of the voice or qualities of signing can add lots of meaning.
I also think that it may be possible to read written spoken language receptively - for example, if a person feels alienated from the type of text (suppose someone reading in a language they understand but don't identify with, or someone reading an authoritative legal text) might project in their head a voice that isn't their own. I sometimes ask students this question, whether they hear their own voice internally when they read, and the answers can vary according to the student's identity in relation to what they are reading.
Does that make sense?
Sent from my iPhone
SignWriting ListAugust 22, 2013
Yes, I agree, thank you, Ingvild, for sharing this - This is a good story to remember...Reading appears to be expressive, whether your read out loud, or hear your own voice in silence while you read, or read without hearing anything…it is still expressive, because you are internalizing the thoughts for meaning, as if they are your own - You are not hearing someone else's voice - because there is no way you could know what the original author sounded like, nor is the sound of someone else's voice the point of the message - How someone else signs something (produces the movements) is not the point either, if you are reading for "meaning" -
Val ;-)
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Ah, that is an interesting way of thinking about expressive/receptive reading for spoken language!
Thanks Ingvild!