Hand Talk: The Native American Sign Language that Predated ASL
Native American Sign Language, or Hand Talk, was created centuries just before American Sign Language came to exist. It features four essential parameters: hand location, hand movement, hand shape, and hand orientation: 1. Hand Location: The pertains to proper placement of a sign in space. The sign’s significance can be modified if positioned elsewhere, for instance in front of one’s face as opposed to in front of the chest. 2. Hand Movement: This one relates to how one's hands move when forming a sign. For instance, in Hand Talk, the signs “afternoon” and “mid-day” are created in a similar manner. The only difference is the fact mid-day is stationary, and afternoon shifts from over the head to the side of one's head in an arching motion. 3. Handshape: Each sign forms a unique shape in the hand, also known as a handshape. The handshapes of signs are necessary factors. For example, the signs for “yes” and “I know” are similar in all aspects apart from the handshape; in “yes...