ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
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welcome to
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THE SECRET HANDSHAKE
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aka
//345/23
by Agma Schwa
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The Secret Handshake (SH) is a language communicated with the tapping of specific fingers in rhythmic patterns.
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It's a minilang with only about 245 possible root words, and has a functioning grammar and means of combining words into larger phrases.
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I created it not to be a primary means of communication, but rather as a way for you and your friends and loved ones to communicate quick snippets of
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information on or under a table while in loud public situations or while in awkward social situations where gossip needs to be performed without detection.
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You "can" communicate complicated ideas using combinations of the 245 root words, but it's not really meant to be used that way.
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The four rhytyms are /X (one quarter note), /X/X (two quarter notes), //X (two eighth notes), //X/X (two eighthnotes and one quarter note).
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The finger combinations are 1 (thumb), 2 (pointer finger), 3 (middle finger), 4 (ring finger), 5 (pinky finger),
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12 (thumb+pointer), 23 (pointer+middle), 24 (pointer+ring), 345 (middle+ring+pinky), 2345 (rapid motion from pointer to pinky), 5432 (rapid motion from pinky to pointer), 0 (knock, only for grammatical purposes)
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Words are distinguished intuitively by the fact that the longest word can only consist of //X/X, but you will likely prefer a pause of at least a quarter note length OR a swipe or laying down of the hand. Either way is fine.
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Words more closely associated with humans and positive emotions often begin with 1 or 2, and inanimate objects or bad emotions often begin with 5 or 5432... but this isn't a rule, just a general trend I tried to follow.
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See "Dictionary" for... you guessed it, the dictionary! Hit Control F to look for your word, or a synonym for your word. I try to include as many synonyms or similar words as possible per definition, but there are a lot of words, so...
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See "Phrases/Compounds" for the short but growing list of phrases, slang, and compound nouns in Secret Handshake. So if you don't find an idea in the dictionary, check this sheet. And if it's not on this sheet,
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there's a link to a Google Form where you can submit your own phrase/compound idea!
https://forms.gle/pJczRPy243NPMx827
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See "Grammar Factory" for an explanation of nearly every grammatical structure to make any sentence in SH. More are still being developed.
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See "Sample Texts" for the sample texts I used in the showcase video, with a gloss explaining the rationale for each clause.
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There is a Memrise Course for Secret Handshake if you're looking for a learning aid!
https://app.memrise.com/course/6205622/the-secret-handshake/
(MEMRISE GOT RID OF CUSTOM COURSES, NOOO)
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I might begin a Shorts series called "Secret Handshake 101" if I ever have time.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-6ZMWfvS-KeuXyf_ZsLq4Q
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