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Mozart

 

MOZART:

In a message dated 7/23/2007 6:07:21 AM Pacific Daylight Time, donnathorne@charter.net writes:
Hi,
I am Donna Thorne (Cookeville, TN.).

I teach 2-4 year olds music, movement and simple sign language.

I purchased ASL software from the Institute for Disabilities Research and Training Center. It's only pictures and so I check the demonstrations on your website and an ASL browser dictionary to make sure I'm doing it correctly.

Since the kids are so young, we don't usually do fingerspelling.

My question -- what is the sign language for "Mozart"?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
Donna

Donna,
I've taught ASL for well over 20 years and I hold a doctorate in Deaf Education/Deaf Studies.
I do not know of a sign for Mozart.
At the last ASL area group meeting at my college I asked my colleagues, both of whom hold PhDs and who have taught ASL for many years, if they knew of a sign for Mozart. They looked at me as if I were crazy. Heh.
So, I thought, I'll contact Gallaudet University in D.C. and see if their Music Department has an expert who might know such a sign. A few searches of their website turned up no such thing as a "music department." (Not surprising considering it is a "Deaf" university.)
So, I believe it is safe to say that there is no widely established sign for "Mozart."
I did play around with it though and came up with a namesign that feels pretty good on the hand:
Spell an "M" and then change the handshape to a pinkie and draw a "z" in the air with the pinkie.
By golly, I've invented a sign!
As of this moment, you and I are the only ones in the world who know that sign.
Feel special?
I'll have to video that and put it on my website. (Grin) Will it catch on? Or will I become the target of ridicule from my colleagues? Time will tell.
Cordially,
Dr. Bill


In a message dated 8/1/2007 7:54:56 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, blum@findlay.edu writes:

HI Dr. Bill,
Just read your letter.
Congratulations on packing in a lifetime of activity this summer with the family. Kudos to you!
Someone wrote to you and asked about a sign for "Mozart". You came up with a sign she could use with the kids
she teaches. I am NOT a linguist. I am NOT a native signer. I do NOT claim to know what the heck I'm doing ;)
However, I tried your sign for "MOZART" and found it uncomfortable. Reason being, I try hard to teach students
to NOT use their pinkie finger for "Z".  Instead I came up with a 'loan sign' for MOZART... why not try using "MZT" using the index finger for "Z" lends itself to a natural 'ending' of a "T" (grin).  Just my half-cent contribution!
Janice


BillVicars@ wrote:
 Janice,
 Ah yes, we /both/ teach "z" with an index finger, but in the sign  "Mozart" I'm not aiming for a "z" though -- I'm aiming for the sign "art" combined with the movement of a "Z" :)  And I'm sure we both teach "art" using a pinkie finger, right?
 Thanks for your input.
 --Bill


In a message dated 8/1/2007 2:24:14 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, blum@findlay.edu writes:

Ha ha ha, yep we both teach 'art' with a 'pinkie'... Didn't put that into the Mozart sign you had devised :)  nice touch though!  Keep up the fantastic work you're doing.
Janice
 



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