Subject: asl dictionary on cd-rom

my recent query concerning the new american sign language ( asl ) dictionary on cd-rom generated a substantial response , both from this list and from slling - l . i have summarized the main points of these responses below . please bear in mind that i have not seen the products in question . the dictionary reviewed on pbs is the american sign language dictionary on cd-rom by martin sternberg and is distributed by harpercollins . the following is the positive point that recurs in people 's messages : - - it is at the moment the only published asl dictionary that includes motion videos of asl signs , which serves to disambiguate unclarities in printed representations . the following are the negative points that recur in people 's messages : - - the dictionary is based too heavily on english , being essentially an english - to - asl dictionary . this both makes it hard ( at times , impossible ) to get an idea of the internal structure of the asl lexicon , and makes it less useful to native signers . ( there is , however , some categorization into semantic groups . ) there are also more specific problems arising from the failure to make asl distinctions that are not made overtly in english ( e . g . english " lecture " is used as a headword , while the asl equivalent is specifically a verb , not a noun ; classifiers are almost completely omitted ) . - - the dictionary is based on sternberg 's book-form dictionary of the early 1980s , and fails to take account of recent developments in the study of asl . - - there may be technical quality concerns , but since i have n't seen the product i ' m not in a position to judge . it seems to work better on more modern machines , and the mac version seems to work better than the windows version . alternatives : the following other cd-rom asl dictionary projects were drawn to my attention : - - multemedia dictionary of asl ( mm-dasl ) , release planned for summer of 1995 . this dictionary is based generally on the work of william stokoe ( who is involved in the project ) . it allows direct lookup of asl signs , incorporates recent linguistic work on asl , and is assisted by a panel of native asl users . for details , please contact sherman wilcox , university of new mexico ( wilcox @ mail . unm . edu ) . - - asl dictionary on cd-rom developed by dennis cokely at linstok press , 4020 blackburn lane , burtonsville , md 20866 , and alpha and beta tested by ken rust at madonna university , who should be contacted for further details ( rust @ smpt . munet . edu ) . thanks to : jacqueline anderson , nancy frishberg , marian macchi , mark a . mandell , joyce mcdonough , chris miller , karen mistry , becky moreton , cindy neuroth - gimbrone , steve seegmiller , mark seidenberg , barbara sensiba , dan slobin , leslie h . stennes , sherman wilcox , and the authors of the many messages that were forwarded to me from slling - l . - - bernard comrie dept of linguistics gfs-301 tel + 1 213 740 2986 university of southern california fax + 1 213 740 9306 los angeles , ca 90089-1693 , usa e-mail comrie @ bcf . usc . edu
