How are handshapes related to alphabet letters in Thai Fingerspelling?
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2011-02-09
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Journal of Ratchasuda College for Research and Development of Persons with Disabilities
Abstract
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ In a sign language where visual-manual mode is used for communication, the handshapes or\ signs, are mostly iconic.\ The resemblance between a\ handshape and that which it represents is usually obvious.\ However, in Thai fingerspelling, the handshapes for the Thai letters are non-iconic.\ Resemblances between handshapes and orthographic symbols cannot be visualized.\ Moreover, the system groups the letters into many subgroups, each with the same handshape as a basic component of a compound sign.\ For example, ก, ข, ค, ฆ are grouped together and so are ส, ศ, ษ, ซ. Letters in each subgroup are not related graphically except for very few pairs, e.g., น ณ, ผ พ, ฝ ฟ.\ Without resorting to phonetics, the correlation between fingerspelling and the Thai alphabet seems arbitrary.\ This paper studies the correlation between handshapes in fingerspelling and letters in Thai orthography via phonetics. \ The result sheds light on the construct of Thai fingerspelling.
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Journal of Ratchasuda College for Research and Development of Persons with Disabilities; Vol.6 No.1 January-June 2010; 34-45