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{{short description|System of writing sign languages}}
{{short description|Writing system for sign languages}}
{{for|the signage profession|Signwriter}}
{{for|the design, manufacture and installation of signs|Signwriter}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2025}}
{{Primary sources|date=September 2025}}
{{infobox writing system
{{infobox writing system
| name     = SignWriting
| name       = SignWriting
| type     = [[Iconicity|Iconic]] [[featural script]]
| type       = [[Iconicity|Iconic]] [[featural script]]
| languages = [[American Sign Language]], [[Danish Sign Language]] and other [[sign language]]s
| languages   = [[American Sign Language]], [[Danish Sign Language]] and other [[sign language]]s
| time     = 1974–present
| time       = 1974–present
| sample   = SignWriting-render.svg
| sample     = SignWriting-render.svg
| imagesize = 64
| imagesize   = 64
| iso15924 = Sgnw
| iso15924   = Sgnw
| unicode   = [https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1D800.pdf U+1D800–U+1DAAF]
| unicode     = [https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1D800.pdf U+1D800–U+1DAAF]
| note     = none
| note       = none
| direction = horizontal (left-to-right) or vertical (top-to-bottom)
| direction   = horizontal (left-to-right) or vertical (top-to-bottom)
| footnotes = <p><span class="infobox-label" style="padding-right:2.4em;">'''Website'''</span> [https://signwriting.org SignWriting.org]</p><p><span class="infobox-label" style="padding-right:3em;">'''Mobile'''</span> [https://m.signwriting.org m.SignWriting.org]</p>
| footnotes   =  
}}
}}
{{contains special characters|SignWriting}}


'''Sutton SignWriting''', or simply '''SignWriting''', is a system of [[written sign language]]s. It is highly [[featural alphabet|featural]] and visually iconic: the shapes of the characters are abstract pictures of the hands, face, and body; and unlike most written words, which follow a primarily linear arrangement, SignWriting is structured two-dimensionally. It was developed in 1974 by [[Valerie Sutton]], a [[dancer]] who had, two years earlier, developed [[DanceWriting]]. Some newer standardized forms are known as the '''International Sign Writing Alphabet''' (ISWA).
'''Sutton SignWriting''', or simply '''SignWriting,''' is a [[writing system]] for [[Sign language|sign languages]]. It can be used to write any sign language, including [[American Sign Language]], [[Brazilian Sign Language]], [[Tunisian Sign Language]], and many others.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Slevinski |first1=Steve |date=October 2025 |title=Formal SignWriting |url=https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting |journal= |language=en |access-date=October 18, 2025 |website=tools.ietf.org}}</ref>
 
SignWriting is the only international writing system for sign languages.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kato |first=Mihoko |date=2008 |title=A Study of Notation and Sign Writing Systems for the Deaf |url=https://www.sciltp.com/journals/ics/articles/2008244008 |journal=Intercultural Communication Studies |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=97–114 |via=Scilight}}</ref> It has been used to publish young adult fiction,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Almeida |first=Rubens Ramos de |title=Telasco e sua turma em: A Lenda Da Manguda - Recontada em libras (linguagem de escrita Sutton Signwriting) |publisher=Viegas Editora |year=2023 |id={{ASIN|6585399145|country=br}} |publication-date=November 9, 2023 |language=Pt-BR}}</ref> translate the Bible,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Romero |first=Nancy |title=ASL GOSPEL: Gospels and Selected Scriptures Written in American Sign Language (ASL) |url=https://www.aslgospel.org |access-date=July 5, 2025 |website=ASL Gospel}}</ref> caption YouTube videos,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brito |first=Ronnie Fagundes de |date=June 6, 2012 |title=Previsão do tempo com SW Signwriting |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvtdzaOVj-I |access-date=July 8, 2025 |website=YouTube}}</ref> and study sign language literacy.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Stumpf |first=Marianne Rossi |title=The learning process of sign language writing through the SignWriting system: sign languages on paper and in the computer |date=2005 |access-date=July 8, 2025 |degree=PhD |publisher=Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul |hdl=10183/5429 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10183/5429}}</ref>
 
The SignWriting system is visually iconic: its symbols depict the hands, face, and body of a signer. Unlike most writing systems, which are written linearly, the symbols of SignWriting are written two-dimensionally, to represent the [[signing space]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Valerie |url=https://archive.org/details/read-and-write-sign-language-with-sign-writing_202212 |title=Read and Write Sign Language with SignWriting |publisher=Valerie Sutton |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-940361-03-4 |edition=2nd |language=English}}</ref>
 
SignWriting was invented in 1974 by [[Valerie Sutton]], a [[ballet]] dancer who eight years earlier had developed a [[dance notation]] named [[DanceWriting|Sutton DanceWriting]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Sutton |first=Valerie |date=January 1999 |title=SignWriting: On the occasion of its 25th anniversary |url=https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.2.2.12sut |journal=Sign Language & Linguistics |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=271–282 |doi=10.1075/sll.2.2.12sut |via=John Benjamins e-Platform|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The current standardized form of SignWriting is known as the '''International Sign Writing Alphabet''' (ISWA).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Slevinski |first=Stephen |date=2012 |title=ISWA 2010 HTML Reference |url=https://signbank.org/iswa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250503115556/https://signbank.org/iswa/l |archive-date=May 3, 2025 |access-date=July 8, 2025 |website=ISWA 2010}}</ref>


== History ==
== History ==


As Sutton was teaching [[DanceWriting]] to the [[Royal Danish Ballet]], [[Lars von der Lieth]], who was doing research on signed language at the [[University of Copenhagen]], thought it would be useful to use a similar notation for the recording of [[sign language]]s.<ref>{{cite news
Sutton originally created SignWriting in [[Denmark]] in the fall of 1974, at the request of professor [[:de:Lars_von_der_Lieth|Lars von der Lieth]] and others on his research team in the Audiology Research Group at the [[University of Copenhagen]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sutton |first=Valerie |date=July 3, 2024 |title=SIGNWRITING HISTORY: Video 2. SignWriting in the 1970s? |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=twdi9C5n-qY?si=SPGVaaIAKGOj6Ffm |access-date=July 16, 2025 |website=YouTube}}</ref>
| access-date = 2024-04-22
 
| url = https://newspapers.com/article/evansville-press-ballet-notation-system/145887642
Sutton was asked to work on a research project, transcribing the gestures made by Danish hearing and [[Deaf culture|Deaf]] people while they speak or sign. The project, part of a dissertation by Jan Enggaard Pedersen, showed that [[Danish Sign Language]] was a rich language, while the gestures of hearing people were unconnected with language.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Pedersen |first=Jan Enggaard |title=Hearing Danes' Gesture-Repertoire |date=1978 |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Copenhagen}}</ref>
| via = [[newspapers.com]]
| date        = 1983-12-09
| newspaper    = Evansville Press
| publisher    = United Press International
| title        = Ballet notation system may help the deaf
}}</ref> Sutton based SignWriting on DanceWriting, and finally expanded the system to the complete repertoire of [[MovementWriting]]. However, only SignWriting and DanceWriting have been widely used.


SignWriting was not the first writing system for sign languages, being preceded by [[Stokoe notation]];<ref>{{cite news
Sutton's experience transcribing Danish sign language inspired her to work with Deaf people worldwide, helping them to write their own sign languages. She named the new writing system “SignWriting”.<ref name=":12" />
| access-date  = 2024-04-22
| url  = https://newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun-new-deaf-signs-touted/145888351
| via = [[newspapers.com]]
| date        = 1983-12-08
| newspaper    = Vancouver Sun
| publisher    = United Press International
| title        = New deaf signs touted
}}</ref> but it is the first to adequately represent facial expressions and shifts in posture, and to accommodate representation of series of signs longer than compound words and short [[phrase]]s. It is the only system in regular use, used for example to publish college newsletters in American Sign Language, and has been used for captioning of [[YouTube]] videos.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}


Sutton notes that SignWriting has been used or investigated in over 40 countries on every inhabited continent.<ref>{{cite web|author=Valerie Sutton |url=http://www.signwriting.org/about/who/ |title=Who Uses SignWriting? |publisher=Signwriting.org |access-date=2012-05-21}}</ref> However, it is not clear how widespread its use is in each country.
SignWriting has since been used to write the sign languages of 40 countries.<ref name=":0" /> However, it is not clear how widespread its use is in each country.


[[file:Escola Estadual de Educação Especial Dr. Reinaldo Fernando Cóser 02.jpg|alt=mural on the side of a school building|thumb|Escola Estadual de Educação Especial Dr. Reinaldo Fernando Cóser]]
Between 1986 and 1994 Sutton worked with a software developer to create ''SignWriter'', a [[word processor]] for SignWriting which runs on [[MS-DOS]] computers. SignWriter included an integrated sign dictionary, and support for multiple languages and countries.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gleaves |first1=Richard |url= |title=Proceedings of the LREC2004 Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: From SignWriting to Image Processing. Information techniques and their implications for teaching, documentation and communication |last2=Sutton |first2=Valerie |publisher=ELRA |year=2004 |isbn=978-2-9517408-1-5 |pages=7–12 |language=English |chapter=SignWriter |chapter-url=https://www.sign-lang.uni-hamburg.de/lrec/pub/04003.html}}</ref>


In Brazil, during the [[FENEIS]] (National Association of the Deaf) annual meeting in 2001, the association voted to accept SignWriting as the preferred method of transcribing [[Lingua Brasileira de Sinais]] (Libras) into a written form. The strong recommendation to the Brazilian government from that association was that SignWriting be taught in all Deaf schools. Currently SignWriting is taught on an academic level at the [[Federal University of Santa Catarina]] as part of its Brazilian Sign Language curriculum. SignWriting is also being used in the recently published Brazilian Sign Language Dictionary containing more than 3,600 signs used by the deaf of São Paulo, published by the [[University of São Paulo]] under the direction of Prof. Fernando Capovilla (EJ669813 – Brazilian Sign Language Lexicography and Technology: Dictionary, Digital Encyclopedia, Chereme-based Sign Retrieval, and Quadriplegic Deaf Communication Systems. Abstracted from Educational Resources Information Center).
In 1996, Antonio Carlos da Rocha Costa, a professor at the [[Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul]] (PUCRS), discovered SignWriter and introduced it to his colleagues, beginning Brazil's institutional use of SignWriting.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Quadros |first=Ronice Müller de |date=1999 |title=Um capítulo da história do SignWriting |url=https://moodle3.ifsc.edu.br/pluginfile.php/162265/mod_resource/content/1/SignWriting%20History.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250721235627/https://moodle3.ifsc.edu.br/pluginfile.php/162265/mod_resource/content/1/SignWriting%20History.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2025 |access-date=June 28, 2025 |website=Instituto Federal Santa Catarina}}</ref>


Some initial studies found that Deaf communities prefer video or writing systems for the dominant language;<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1515/IJSL.2008.036|title = Choosing how to write sign language: A sociolinguistic perspective|journal = International Journal of the Sociology of Language|issue = 192|year = 2008|last1 = Hopkins|first1 = Jason|s2cid = 145429638}}</ref> however, this claim has been disputed by the work of Steve and Dianne Parkhurst in Spain where they found initial resistance, later renewed interest, and finally pride. "If Deaf people learn to read and write in their own signing system, that increases their self-esteem", says Dianne Parkhurst.
In 2001, SignWriting was used in a Brazilian Sign Language dictionary containing more than 9,500 signs, which was published by the [[University of São Paulo]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Dicionário encicopédico ilustrado trilingüe da Língua de Sinais Brasileira: Vol. 1. Sinais de A a L |publisher=Edusp, FAPESP, Fundação Vitae, Feneis, Brasil Telecom |year=2001 |isbn=85-314-0600-5 |editor-last=Capovilla |editor-first=F.C. |editor-last2=Raphael |editor-first2=W. D.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Dicionário encicopédico ilustrado trilingüe da Língua de Sinais Brasileira: Vol. 2. Sinais de M a Z |publisher=Edusp, FAPESP, Fundação Vitae, Feneis, Brasil Telecom |year=2001 |isbn=85-314-0603-X |editor-last=Capovilla |editor-first=F.C. |editor-last2=Raphael |editor-first2=W. D.}}</ref>[[File:Escola Estadual de Educação Especial Dr. Reinaldo Fernando Cóser 02.jpg|alt=mural on the side of a school building|thumb|SignWriting displayed on the wall of a Deaf school in Brazil]]


{{As of|2010}}, SignWriting is widely used at [[International Sign]] forums.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} It is adopted in as many as 40 countries, among which are Brazil, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Tunisia, and the United States.<ref name=vhc>{{cite book|last1=van der Hulst|first1=Harry|last2=Channon|first2=Rachel|contribution=Notation systems|year=2010|title=Sign Languages|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-88370-2|pages=151–172|editor-last=Brentari|editor-first=Diane}}</ref>
In 2005, the Brazilian government issued Federal Decree 5626, which specified that Brazilian Sign Language be taught in universities and public schools, so it could serve as the primary language of instruction for Deaf students.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Quadros |first=Ronice Müller de |title=Linguistic Policies, Linguistic Planning, and Brazilian Sign Language in Brazil |url=https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.2012.0010 |journal=Sign Language Studies |publication-date=2012 |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=543–564 |doi=10.1353/sls.2012.0010 |via=Project Muse|url-access=subscription }}</ref>


SignWriting, as the International Sign Writing Alphabet (ISWA), has been proposed as the manual equivalent to the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]].<ref>Charles Butler, Center for Sutton Movement Writing, 2014</ref> However, some researchers argue that the SignWriting is not a [[phonemic orthography]] and does not have a one-to-one map from phonological forms to written forms.<ref name="vhc"/>{{rp|163}} Although such a claim is disputed, it has been recommended that countries adapt this sign on a language-by-language basis.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Roberto Costa|author2=Madson Barreto|url=http://www.signwriting.org/symposium/presentation0032.html|title=SignWriting Symposium Presentation 32|work=signwriting.org}}</ref> There are two doctoral dissertations that study and promote the application of SignWriting to a specific sign language. Maria Galea wrote about using SignWriting to write [[Maltese Sign Language]].<ref name="GaleaLinguistic">{{cite book|last=Galea|first=Maria|title=SignWriting (SW) of Maltese Sign Language (LSM) and its development into an orthography: Linguistic considerations
SignWriting is used to teach Brazilian Sign Language in 18 Federal Universities and 12 public schools in Brazil.<ref name=":8">{{Cite thesis |last=Barbosa |first=Gabriela Otaviani |title=A arte de escrever em libras |date=2017 |access-date=July 17, 2025 |degree=Master's |publisher=Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina |url=https://repositorio.ufsc.br/xmlui/handle/123456789/177791}}</ref> In Germany, it is taught to deaf adults to improve their ability to read and write spoken German.<ref>{{Cite web |title=delegs – "Learn German with GebärdenScript |url=https://delegs.de |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250712055736/https://www.delegs.de/ |archive-date=12 July 2025 |access-date=July 5, 2025 |website=delegs}}</ref> There is also a German website dedicated to SignWriting.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woehrmann |first=Stefan |title=Hallo, herzlich willkommen bei GebärdenSchrift in Deutschland |url=https://www.gebaerdenschrift.de |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250616083903/http://gebaerdenschrift.de/ |archive-date=16 June 2025 |access-date=July 5, 2025}}</ref>
|year=2014|type=Ph.D. dissertation|publisher=University of Malta|location=Malta|url=https://www.academia.edu/10451785|access-date=4 February 2015}}</ref> Also, Claudia Savina Bianchini wrote her doctoral dissertation on the implementation of SignWriting to write [[Italian Sign Language]].<ref>2012. ''Analyse métalinguistique de l'émergence d'un système d'écriture des Langues des Signes: SignWriting et son application à la Langue des Signes Italienne (LIS).'' Université de Paris VIII – Vincenne Saint-Denis. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257014854 Web access]</ref><ref>Claudia S. Bianchini. 2020. How to Improve Metalinguistic Awareness by Writing a Language Without Writing: Sign Languages and SignWriting. In ''Proc. Intl Conf." Grapholinguistics in the 21st century",'' 1039-1065. Fluxus Editions. [http://www.fluxus-editions.fr/gla5-bian.pdf Web access]</ref>


== Symbols ==
== Symbols ==


In SignWriting, a combination of iconic symbols for [[handshape]]s, [[Orientation (sign language)|orientation]], [[Location (sign language)|body locations]], [[Expression (sign language)|facial expressions]], contacts, and [[Movement (sign language)|movement]]<ref name="ThiessenGrammar" /><ref name="EversonUnicode" /> are used to represent words in [[sign language|signed languages]]. Since SignWriting, as a [[Featural alphabet|featural script]],<ref>That is, SignWriting characters represent the physical parameters of signing (handshape, location, motion, etc.), not the meanings of the signs, in a manner that is analogous to what has traditionally been argued for [[hangul]].</ref> represents the actual physical formation of signs rather than their meaning, no [[phonology|phonemic]] or [[semantics|semantic]] analysis of a language is required to write it.  A person who has learned the system can "feel out" an unfamiliar sign in the same way an English speaking person can "sound out" an unfamiliar word written in the [[Latin alphabet]], without even needing to know what the sign means.
SignWriting represents the positions and movements of your body. Because of this, the SignWriting symbols can be used to write any sign language, or even non-linguistic gestures.<ref name=":3">{{Cite thesis |last=Thiessen |first=Stuart M. |title=A Grammar of SignWriting |date=2011 |access-date=July 31, 2025 |degree=Master's |publisher=University of North Dakota |url=https://commons.und.edu/theses/4458/}}</ref>


The number of symbols is extensive and often provides multiple ways to write a single sign. Just as it took many centuries for English spelling to become standardized, spelling in SignWriting is not yet standardized for any sign language.
[[File:SW_closed_smile.png|frameless|31x31px]]


Words may be written from the point of view of the signer or the viewer. However, almost all publications use the point of view of the signer, and assume the right hand is dominant. Sutton originally designed the script to be written horizontally (left-to-right), like English, and from the point of view of the observer, but later changed it to vertical (top-to-bottom) and from the point of view of the signer, to conform to the wishes of Deaf writers.
SignWriting has 652 symbols, which are grouped into seven symbol classes: hands; movement; dynamics; head and faces; body; punctuation; and detailed location.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024 |title=Sutton SignWriting |url=https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1D800.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250523005738/https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1D800.pdf |archive-date=23 May 2025 |access-date=July 19, 2025 |website=unicode.org}}</ref><ref name=":1" />


=== Orientation ===
[[File:SW ASL hello sign.png|frameless|46x46px]]


All SignWriting shows the perspective of the signer. For some hand shapes the orientation is unambiguous, but the  color of the glyph always indicates hand orientation: Black indicates the back of the hand, white the palm. A hollow outline (white) glyph indicates that the palm faces the signer, and a filled (black) glyph indicates that the palm faces away from the signer. Split shading (half black, half white) indicates side views, with the order of the colors showing which side view is meant. Although in reality the wrist may turn to intermediate positions, only the four orientations are represented in SignWriting, as they are enough to represent signed languages.
SignWriting includes so many symbols because it is designed to work with all sign languages, not just a single language. For instance, SignWriting has 261 hand symbols, but American Sign Language uses only 83 of them.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sutton |first1=Valerie |url=https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs10/sw0935_SignWriting_Hand_Symbols_ISWA2010_Sutton_Frost_2014.pdf |title=SignWriting Hand Symbols |last2=Frost |first2=Adam |publisher=SignWriting Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-914336-86-0 |publication-date=2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sutton |first1=Valerie |url=https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs9/sw0827_American_Sign_Language_Hand_Symbols_Frost_Sutton_2013.pdf |title=American Sign Language Hand Symbols |last2=Frost |first2=Adam |publisher=SignWriting Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-914336-82-2}}</ref>


If an unbroken glyph is used, then the hand is placed in the vertical (wall or face) plane in front of the signer, as occurs when finger spelling. A band erased across the glyph through the knuckles shows that the hand lies in the horizontal plane, parallel to the floor. (If one of the basic hand-shape glyphs is used, such as the simple square or circle, this band breaks it in two; however, if there are lines for fingers extended from the base, then they become detached from the base, but the base itself remains intact.)
SignWriting has ten basic hand symbols, with all the remaining hand symbols being variations on the basic symbols.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Valerie |url=https://archive.org/details/lessons-in-sign-writing |title=Lessons in SignWriting |publisher=SignWriting Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-940361-00-3 |edition=5th}}</ref>


The diagram to the left shows a BA-hand (flat hand) in six orientations. For the three vertical orientations on the left side, the hand is held in front of the signer, fingers pointing upward. All three glyphs can be rotated, like the hands of a clock, to show the fingers pointing at an angle, to the side, or downward. For the three horizontal orientations on the right side of the diagram, the hand is held outward, with the fingers pointing away from the signer, and presumably toward the viewer. They can also be rotated to show the fingers pointing to the side or toward the signer. Although an indefinite number of orientations can be represented this way, in practice only eight are used for each plane—that is, only multiples of 45° are found.
[[File:SW four hand symbols.jpg|frameless|206x206px]]


=== Hand shapes ===
The hand and movement symbols can be modified to show additional information:<ref name=":2" />


[[file:handshape equiv2.png|thumb|Handshapes and their equivalents in SignWriting|class=skin-invert-image]]
* Hand symbols can be filled in to show which direction the palm of the hand is facing.
* Movement symbol arrowheads can be filled in to show which hand is performing the movement.
[[File:SW symbol fills.png|frameless|154x154px]]


There are over a hundred glyphs for hand shapes, but all the ones used in ASL are based on five basic elements:
The SignWriting symbols are described in the standard textbook ''Lessons in SignWriting''.<ref name=":2" />
* A square represents a closed fist, with the knuckles of the flexed fingers bent 90° so that the fingers touch the palm and the thumb lies over the fingers. Unadorned, this square represents the S hand of fingerspelling. Modified as described below, it indicates that at least one of the four fingers touches the palm of the hand.
* A circle represents an "open fist", a hand where the thumb and fingers are flexed so as to touch at their tips. Unadorned, this is the O hand of fingerspelling. Modified, it indicates that at least one finger touches the thumb this way.
* A pentagon (triangle atop a rectangle), as in the illustration used for the Orientation section above, represents a flat hand, where all fingers are straight and in contact. This is similar to the B hand of fingerspelling, though without the thumb crossing over the palm.
* A 'C' shape represents a hand where the thumb and fingers are curved, but not enough to touch. This is used for the C hand of fingerspelling, and can be modified to show that the fingers are spread apart.
* An angled shape, like a fat L, shows that the four fingers are flat (straight and in contact), but bent at 90° from the plane of the palm. It does not occur as a simple shape, but must include an indication of where the thumb is, either out to the side or touching the tips of the fingers.


A line halfway across the square or pentagon shows the thumb across the palm. These are the E, B, and (with spread fingers) 4 hands of fingerspelling.
== Signs ==
In SignWriting a [[Sign language|sign]] is a group of symbols, arranged two-dimensionally to represent the gestures made by a person signing the sign.<ref name=":2" />


These basic shapes are modified with lines jutting from their faces and corners to represent fingers that are not positioned as described above. Straight lines represent straight fingers (these may be at an angle to indicate that they are not in line with the palm; if they point toward or away from the signer, they have a diamond shape at the tip); curved lines for curved (cupped) fingers; hooked lines for hooked fingers; right-angle lines, for fingers bent at only one joint; and crossed lines, for crossed fingers, as shown in the chart at right. The pentagon and C are only modified to show that the fingers are spread rather than in contact; the angle is only modified to show whether the thumb touches the finger tips or juts out to the side. Although there are some generalizations which can be made for the dozens of other glyphs, which are based on the circle and square, the details are somewhat idiosyncratic and each needs to be memorized.
SignWriting has a number of rules for writing the symbols in a sign. These rules ensure that common patterns of gestures get written consistently across signs.<ref name=":2" />
[[File:Sign box.png|thumb|85x85px|Sign box]]
Each written sign exists in a ''sign box'', which is an invisible box just large enough to contain all the symbols in the sign. Just as a word consists of a line of letters, a sign consists of a box of symbols.<ref name=":0" />


[[file:signwriting.png|center|64px|alt=SignWriting for the term "SignWriting"|class=skin-invert-image]]
The size of a sign box is variable, and depends on the size and placement of the symbols in the box. This size can change when symbols are added to, deleted from, or moved within a sign.<ref name=":0" />


For the top sign, the arrows show that the two '1' hands move in vertical circles, and that although they move at the same time (tie bar), the left hand (hollow arrowhead) starts away from the body (thin line) going up while the right hand (solid arrowhead) starts near the body (thick line) going down.
Sign boxes are used by SignWriting software to align the signs that appear in a line of SignWriting text.<ref name=":0" />


With the bottom sign, the right 'X' palm-down hand moves down-side-down relative to the stationary palm-up 'B' hand. This is overly exact: The ASL sign will work with any downward zigzag motion, and the direction and starting point of the circles is irrelevant.
== Writing direction ==
[[File:Jack and Jill.gif|thumb|287x287px|SignWriting text written vertically in columns|class=skin-invert-image]]While SignWriting symbols are written two-dimensionally within each sign, the signs themselves are written in lines, either horizontally across the page in rows, or vertically down the page in columns.<ref name=":0" />


=== Finger movement ===
SignWriting text was originally written only horizontally. But after [[Deaf culture|Deaf]] users reported that it felt more natural to write signs down the page, SignWriting was changed to conventionally write signs vertically.<ref name=":3" />


There are only a few symbols for finger movement. They may be doubled to show that the movement is repeated.
This change yielded two benefits. First, the midline used to align vertically-written signs mimics the center line of the depicted signer's body, making the signs easier to read. Second, writing signs vertically simplifies the representation of body-shifting in sign language.<ref name=":3" />


A solid [[bullet (typography)|bullet]] represents flexing the middle joint of a finger or fingers, and a hollow bullet represents straightening a flexed finger. That is, a 'D' hand with a solid bullet means that it becomes an 'X' hand, while an 'X' hand with a hollow bullet means that it becomes a 'D' hand. If the fingers are already flexed, then a solid bullet shows that they squeeze. For example, a square (closed fist, 'S' hand) with double solid bullets is the sign for 'milk' (iconically squeezing an udder).
== Alphabetical order ==


A downward-pointing chevron represents flexing at the knuckles, while an upward-pointing chevron (^) shows that the knuckles straighten. That is, a 'U' hand with a down chevron becomes an 'N' hand, while and 'N' hand with an up chevron becomes a 'U' hand.
SignWriting defines rules for how to sort signs in [[alphabetical order]]. But because the SignWriting alphabet contains so many symbols, and the symbols are arranged spatially in signs, SignWriting's ordering rules are more complex than those of the Roman alphabet.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Sutton |first=Valerie |url=https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs6/sw0534-SignSpellingGuidelines-2008.pdf |title=SignSpelling Guidelines 2008 |publisher=SignWriting Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-914336-85-3 |publication-date=2008}}</ref>


A zigzag like two chevrons (^^) joined means that the fingers flex repeatedly and in sync. A double-line zigzag means that the fingers wriggle or flutter out of sync.
SignWriting defines two sets of rules for alphabetical ordering: the ''Sign Spelling Sequence'', and the ''Sign Symbol Sequence''.<ref name=":4" />


=== Hand movement ===
The '''Sign Spelling Sequence''' defines a linear order for the individual symbols in a sign. This order is specified manually by the sign author, and it remains with the sign as a non-visible attribute.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Slevinski |first1=Steve |url=https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs5/sw0485-US-SignPuddle15Manual.pdf |title=SignPuddle Reference Manual |last2=Sutton |first2=Valerie |publisher=SignWriting Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-914336-66-2 |publication-date=2007}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Slevinski |first=Steve |date=May 2016 |title=The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting Text |url=https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-slevinski-signwriting-text |access-date=July 8, 2025 |website=tools.ietf.org}}</ref>


Hundreds of arrows of various sorts are used to indicate movement of the hands through space. Movement notation gets quite complex, and because it is more exact than it needs to be for any one sign language, different people may choose to write the same sign in different ways.
The '''Sign Symbol Sequence''' defines a sort order for lists of signs that have already been assigned individual Sign Spelling Sequences. This order is determined by various symbol properties, and the sign sorting is performed automatically by software.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SignBank: How To Look-Up Signs By Sign-Symbol-Sequence in SignWriting Dictionaries |url=https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs2/sw0115-Lookup-Signs.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240701235011/https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs2/sw0115-Lookup-Signs.pdf |archive-date=1 July 2024 |access-date=July 26, 2025 |website=signwriting.org}}</ref><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" />


For movement with the left hand, the Δ-shaped arrowhead is hollow (white); for movement with the right hand, it is solid (black). When both hands move as one, an open (Λ-shaped) arrowhead is used.
== Handwriting ==
SignWriting was invented before personal computers, and for many years was written solely by hand. Various forms of hand-written SignWriting were created, including ''Block Printing'', ''Handwriting'', and ''Cursive''.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Frost |first=Adam |date=2014 |title=Ways to Write Sign Languages by Hand with SignWriting |url=https://www.signwriting.org/symposium/archive/sws0003_Slides_SignWriting_Handwriting_Adam_Frost.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804083829/https://www.signwriting.org/symposium/archive/sws0003_Slides_SignWriting_Handwriting_Adam_Frost.pdf |archive-date=4 Aug 2024 |access-date=August 8, 2025 |website=signwriting.org}}</ref>


As with orientation, movement arrows distinguish two planes: Movement in the vertical plane (up & down) is represented by arrows with double stems, as at the bottom of the diagram at left, while single-stemmed arrows represent movement parallel to the floor (to & fro). In addition, movement in a diagonal plane uses modified double-stemmed arrows: A cross bar on the stem indicates that the motion is away as well up or down, and a solid dot indicates approaching motion. To & fro movement that also goes over or under something uses modified single-stemmed arrows, with the part of the arrow representing near motion thicker than the rest. These are iconic, but conventionalized, and so need to be learned individually.
When handwriting in '''Block Printing''' form, each SignWriting symbol is drawn as it appears in the textbook. Of the various hand-written forms, Block Printing is the easiest to read, and the most difficult to write. This difficulty is why some people consider SignWriting to be a cumbersome writing system.<ref name=":7" />


Straight movements are in one of eight directions for either plane, as in the eight principal directions of a compass. A long straight arrow indicates movement from the elbow, a short arrow with a cross bar behind it indicates motion from the wrist, and a simple short arrow indicates a small movement. (Doubled, in opposite directions, these can show nodding from the wrist.) A secondary curved arrow crossing the main arrow shows that the arm twists while it moves. (Doubled, in opposite directions, these can show shaking of the hand.) Arrows can turn, curve, zigzag, and loop-the-loop.
'''Handwriting''' form is similar to Block Printing, but has been simplified to be more easily written by hand. Once Block Printing has been mastered, the Handwriting form can be learned quickly. Note that this form varies among writers, just as handwriting does in other languages.<ref name=":7" />


=== Shoulder, head, and eye movement ===
'''Cursive''' form further simplifies Handwriting form to make writing even faster, by omitting certain symbols (such as the non-dominant hand) from each written sign.<ref name=":7" />


Arrows on the face at the eyes show the direction of gaze.
Hand-written SignWriting continues to be taught and used, especially in educational settings based on chalkboards and paper.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Shepard-Kegl |first=James |date=2002 |title=Teaching Literacy to Deaf Students in Nicaragua: A Common Sense Two-Step Approach |url=https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs2/sw0162-NI-Teaching-Literacy.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505230711/https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs2/sw0162-NI-Teaching-Literacy.pdf |archive-date=5 May 2024 |access-date=August 8, 2025 |website=Nicaraguan Sign Language Projects, Inc.}}</ref>


=== Contact ===
== Software ==
While SignWriting can be written by hand, it is easier to use with software specifically designed for writing it.<ref name=":6" />


[[file:contact symbols.png|thumb|Contact symbols. From left to right: touch, grasp, strike, brush, rub, enter|class=skin-invert-image]]
''SignPuddle'' and ''SignMaker'' are the standard software applications for using SignWriting. They work as [[Web application|web applications]] which run in a web browser.<ref name=":6" />
[[File:SignMaker app example.jpg|thumb|195x195px|SignMaker application]]
SignPuddle is a document and dictionary editor for SignWriting. SignPuddle documents and dictionaries are stored in the [[Cloud computing|cloud]], and can be shared among SignPuddle users. Documents and dictionaries can be exported from SignPuddle as PDF files. Signs can be exported as graphics files.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SignPuddle |url=https://signbank.org/signpuddle/ |access-date=July 24, 2025 |website=signwriting.org}}</ref>


Six contact glyphs show hand contact with the location of the sign. That is, a handshape glyph located at the side of the face, together with a contact glyph, indicates that the hand touches the side of the face. The choice of the contact glyph indicates the manner of the contact:
SignMaker is an editor for signs and dictionaries. Signs can be exported as graphics files, and dictionaries as text or JavaScript files. The SignMaker application can be downloaded to your computer and used locally without an internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SignMaker |url=https://www.signbank.org/signmaker.html |access-date=July 26, 2025 |website=signwriting.org}}</ref>
* an [[asterisk]] (∗ or *) for simply touching the place;
* a plus sign (+) for grasping the place (usually the other hand);
* a pound/hash sign (#) for striking the place;
* a circle with a dot inside (⊙) for brushing along the place and then leaving it;
* a spiral (꩜ or may be approximated with @) for rubbing the place and not leaving; if there is no additional arrow, this is understood to be in circles; and
* two bars on either side of a contact symbol (|∗|) to indicate the contact happens between elements of the place of contact; usually between fingers, or inside a circular hand shape. (A contact other than the basic asterisk is rarely used between bars.)


=== Location ===
== Unicode ==


If the signing hand is located at the other hand, the symbol for it is one of the hand shapes above. In practice, only a subset of the more simple hand shapes occurs.
{{main|Sutton SignWriting (Unicode block)}}


Additional symbols are used to represent sign locations at the face or body parts other than the hands. A circle shows the head.
[[Unicode]] is a [[character encoding]] standard which was created so all of the world's writing systems could be used in any software application that supports the standard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unicode – The World Standard for Text and Emoji |url=https://home.unicode.org |access-date=July 26, 2025 |website=unicode.org}}</ref>


=== Expression ===
The [https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1D800.pdf SignWriting symbol set] was added to the Unicode standard in 2015. The added symbols conform to the SignWriting ISWA standard.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015 |title=Unicode 8.0.0 |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode8.0.0/ |access-date=July 26, 2025 |website=unicode.org}}</ref><ref name=":1" />


There are symbols to represent facial movements that are used in various sign languages, including eyes, eyebrows, nose movements, cheeks, mouth movements, and breathing changes. The direction of head movement and eyegaze can also be shown.
However, the Unicode support for SignWriting is incomplete, because when the SignWriting symbols were added to Unicode, the Unicode system itself was not also updated to support writing systems that arrange their symbols two-dimensionally, as SignWriting does.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Slevinski |first=Stephen |date=July 2015 |title=Issues with SignWriting in Unicode 8 |url=https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/signwriting-in-unicode-8-issues-2015-by-stephen-e-slevinski-jr/51236854 |access-date=July 26, 2025 |website=slideshare.net}}</ref>


=== Body movement ===
Because of this, SignWriting currently cannot be used in software that supports the Unicode standard, and existing SignWriting software uses an [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting alternative standard] for encoding SignWriting symbols.<ref name=":0" />


Shoulders are shown with a horizontal line. Small arrows can be added to show shoulder and torso movement. Arms and even legs can be added if necessary.
A technical proposal has been submitted to the [[Unicode Consortium]], detailing how to update the Unicode standard to fully support SignWriting.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Slevinski |first=Stephen |date=July 12, 2017 |title=L2/17-220: Design Options for Sutton SignWriting with examples and fonts |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17220-signwriting-design-opt.pdf |access-date=August 11, 2025 |website=unicode.org}}</ref>


=== Prosody ===
== Advantages and disadvantages ==
SignWriting offers several advantages as a [[writing system]]:


There are also symbols that indicate speed of movement, whether movement is simultaneous or alternating, and punctuation.
* It is simple enough to be learned and used by children.<ref name=":9" />
* It is precise enough to be used by linguists as a [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription system]].<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Costa |first=Roberto C. R. |title=Proposta de instrumento de avaliação fonológica da Língua Brasileira de Sinais: FONOLIBRAS. |date=2012 |access-date=August 8, 2025 |degree=Master's |publisher=Universidade Federal da Bahia |url=https://repositorio.ufba.br/handle/ri/17216}}</ref>
* It can be used to write any sign language.<ref name=":0" />


=== Punctuation ===
However, it has a few disadvantages as well:
 
Various punctuation symbols exist that correspond to commas, periods, question and exclamation marks, and other punctuation symbols of other scripts.  These are written between signs, and lines do not break between a sign and its following punctuation symbol.


== Arrangement of symbols ==
* It is harder to write than other writing systems, due to the large number of symbols, and the need to write them spatially. Using software simplifies writing, but entering signs into a computer is still slower than typing in other writing systems.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Iatskiu |first1=C. E. |last2=Garcia |first2=L. S. |last3=Antunes |first3=D. R. |last4=Canteri |first4=R.  |chapter=The Low Use of SignWriting Computational Tools from HCI Perspective  |editor-last=Antona |editor-first=M. |editor2-last=Stephanidis |editor2-first=C. |title=Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Access to Interaction |date=2015 |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |volume=9176 |pages=373–382 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280879315  |via=ResearchGate |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-20681-3_35 |isbn=978-3-319-20680-6 }}</ref>


[[file:Jack and Jill.gif|thumb|320px|An example of SignWriting written in columns, the ASL translation of ''[[Jack and Jill (nursery rhyme)|Jack and Jill]]''|class=skin-invert-image]]
* It requires special software – because SignWriting is written spatially, it cannot be used in ordinary word processors and other applications that normally support multiple languages.<ref name=":10" />


One of the unusual characteristics of SignWriting is its use of two-dimensional layout within an invisible 'sign box'.  The relative positions of the symbols within the box iconically represent the locations of the hands and other parts of the body involved in the sign being represented.  As such, there is no obvious linear relationship between the symbols within each sign box, unlike the sequence of characters within each word in most scripts for spoken languages.  This is also unlike other sign language scripts which arrange symbols linearly as in spoken languages.  However, since in sign languages many phonetic parameters are articulated simultaneously, these other scripts require arbitrary conventions for specifying the order of different parameters of handshape, location, motion, etc.  Although SignWriting does have conventions for how symbols are to be arranged relative to each other within a sign, the two-dimensional layout results in less arbitrariness and more iconicity than other sign language scripts.<ref name="ThiessenGrammar">{{cite book
* Lack of institutional support – Brazil is the only country where SignWriting is taught in public schools and universities as part of the official curriculum.<ref name=":8" />
| last        = Thiessen
| first      = Stuart
| title      = A Grammar of SignWriting
| year        = 2011
| type        = M.A. thesis
| publisher  = University of North Dakota
| location    = Grand Forks ND
| url        = https://arts-sciences.und.edu/academics/summer-institute-of-linguistics/theses/2011-thiessen-stuart-m.html
| access-date = 1 April 2013
}}</ref>


Outside of each sign, however, the script is linear, reflecting the temporal order of signs.  Signs are most commonly now written in vertical columns (although formerly they were written horizontally).  Sign boxes are arranged from top to bottom within the column, interspersed with punctuation symbols, and the columns progress left to right across the page.  Within a column, signs may be written down the center or shifted left or right in 'lanes' to indicate side-to-side shifts of the body.
== Research ==
SignWriting has served as both a tool in language research, and an object of study in educational research.


== Sequencing of signs in dictionaries ==
Here is a partial list of PhD theses on (or using) SignWriting:


Sutton orders signs in ten groups based on which fingers are extended on the dominant hand. These are equivalent to the numerals one through ten in ASL. Each group is then subdivided according to the actual hand shape, and then subdivided again according to the plane the hand is in (vertical, then horizontal), then again according to the basic orientation of the hand (palm, side, back). An ordering system has been proposed using this beginning and examples from both American Sign Language and Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Butler|first=Charles|title=An Ordering System for SignWriting|journal=The SignWriting Journal|date=August 2001|issue=1|url=http://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs1/sw0066-SW-Journal-Butler.pdf |access-date=26 July 2012}}</ref> The current system of ordering for SignWriting is called the Sign Symbol Sequence which is parsed by the creator of each sign as recorded into the on-line dictionary. This system allows for internal ordering by features including handshape, orientation, speed, location, and other clustered features not found in spoken dictionaries.
– Abushaira, Mohamed (2007). "[[doi:10.13140/2.1.4097.8883|The Effect of SignWriting on the Achievement and Acquisition of Vocabulary by Deaf Students at]] [[doi:10.13140/2.1.4097.8883|'Al-Amal School for the Deaf' in the City of Amman-Jordan]]" (PhD thesis). King Abdulaziz University.


== Advantages and disadvantages ==
– Bianchini, Claudia Savina (2012). "[[doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3817.4563|Metalinguistic analysis of the emergence of a sign language writing system: SignWriting and its application in Italian Sign Language (LIS)]]" (PhD thesis). University of Paris VIII – Vincenne Saint-Denis.


Some of the advantages of SignWriting, compared to other writing systems for sign languages, are:
– Borgia, Fabrizio (2015). "[https://theses.fr/2015TOU30030 Computerization of a graphic form of sign languages: application to the SignWriting writing system]" (PhD thesis). Toulouse 3 – Paul Sabatier University.
* Its iconicity makes it easy to learn to read, in particular the iconicity that results from layout in two dimensions instead of just one.
* It has detailed mechanisms for representing facial expression and other non-manuals.
* It has been adapted for use with many different sign languages.
However, it has a few disadvantages as well:
* The sheer size of its symbol set and the fine details which can be written create a challenge in learning how to write. It also means that the written form is largely situational and inventive; different people may write the same sign different ways, and a single person may alternate between transcriptions.
* The two-dimensional spatial layout of SignWriting symbols within each sign, although it is more iconic than a linear layout, comes at a cost.  SignWriting currently requires special software; SignWriting cannot be used as ordinary text within normal word processors or other application software. As a work-around, software (SignMaker and Rand Keyboard) is available on the SignWriting website which allows a sign, once assembled with special SignWriting software, to be copied easily as a graphic image into [[word processor program|word processing]] or [[desktop publishing]] software.


SignPuddle is a plain-text (ASCII) string representation of signs. It can be stored as plain text anywhere and be replaced by signs with special programs such as the SignWriting Icon Server.<ref name=swis>{{cite web |title=SignWriting Icon Server |url=https://swis.wmflabs.org |website=wmflabs |access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref> An [[Request for Comments|RFC]] standard draft for it has been proposed,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Slevinski |first1=Stephen |title=The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting Text |url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-slevinski-signwriting-text |website=tools.ietf.org |date=9 May 2016 |access-date=19 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref> which later evolved into a stricter draft standard known as "Formal Signwriting" (FSW). It can also use Unicode characters instead of ASCII escapes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Slevinski |first1=Stephen |title=Formal SignWriting |url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting |website=tools.ietf.org |access-date=19 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref> There is also an experimental [[TrueType font]] that uses the [[SIL Graphite]] technology to automatically turn these sequences into signs.<ref name=swis/>
– Bózoli, Daniele Miki Fujikawa (2021). "[https://repositorio.ufsc.br/handle/123456789/227006 Bilingual education for the deaf: the use of SignWriting in learning Portuguese as a second language]" (PhD thesis). Universidade Federal Santa Catarina.


== Unicode ==
– Brito, Ronnie Fagundes de (2013). "[https://bdtd.ibict.br/vufind/Record/UFSC_7bdd92665aeea4d57bb94cfdc54aba27 Reference model for developing artifacts to support deaf access to audiovisual media]" (PhD thesis). Universidade Federal Santa Catarina.


{{main|Sutton SignWriting (Unicode block)}}
– Flood, Cecilia Mary (2002). "[https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs5/sw0476-CeciliaFlood-Dissertation2002.pdf How do Deaf and hard-of-hearing students experience learning to write using SignWriting, a way to read and write signs?]” (PhD thesis). University of New Mexico.


SignWriting is the first writing system for sign languages to be included in the [[Unicode|Unicode Standard]]. 672 characters were added in the [[Sutton SignWriting (Unicode block)]] of Unicode version 8.0 released in June 2015.  This set of characters is based on SignWriting's standardized symbol set<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.signbank.org/iswa |title=ISWA 2010 |publisher=Signbank.org |date=2012-01-12 |access-date=2012-05-21}}</ref> and defined character encoding model.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting |title=Formal SignWriting |publisher=IETF |date=2016-12-22|access-date=2017-06-05}}</ref><ref name="EversonUnicode">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2012/12321-n4342-signwriting.pdf|title=Proposal for encoding Sutton SignWriting in the UCS|last1=Everson|first1=Michael|last2=Slevinski|first2=Stephen|last3=Sutton|first3=Valerie|access-date=1 April 2013}}</ref>
– Galea, Maria (2014). "[[doi:10.13140/2.1.3842.5924|SignWriting (SW) of Maltese Sign Language (LSM) and its development into an orthography: Linguistic considerations]]''"''  (PhD thesis). University of Malta.


The Unicode Standard only covers the symbol set.  It does not address layout, the positioning of the symbols in two dimensions.  Historically, software has recorded position using [[Cartesian coordinates|Cartesian (''x''–''y'') coordinates]] for each symbol.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-slevinski-signwriting-text-01#section-1.2| title = The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting Text| date = 9 May 2013| last1 = Jr| first1 = Stephen E. Slevinski}}</ref>  Since Unicode focuses on symbols that make sense in a one-dimensional plain-text context, the number characters required for two-dimensional placement were not included in the Unicode proposal.<ref name="EversonUnicode" />
– Gan, Lu (2011). "[https://core.ac.uk/outputs/340565/?source=2 Real-time immersive human-computer interaction based on tracking and recognition of dynamic hand gestures]" (PhD thesis). University of Central Lancashire.


The Unicode block for Sutton SignWriting is U+1D800&ndash;U+1DAAF:
– Moryossef, Amit (2023). "[https://biu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma9927075697205776&context=L&vid=972BIU_INST:972BIU&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,Moryossef&pfilter=rtype,exact,dissertations&offset=0 Real-time multilingual sign language processing]" (PhD thesis). Bar-Ilan University.


{{Unicode chart Sutton SignWriting}}
– Pinto, Jorge Manuel Ferriera (2015). "[https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/handle/10216/104983 SignWriting as a writing system appropriate to sign languages: a contribution to the development of writing skills of the deaf student?]" (PhD thesis). Universidade do Porto.


Current software records each sign as a [[Formal language|string of characters]] in either ASCII or Unicode.  Older software may use XML or a custom binary format to represent a sign.  Formal SignWriting uses ASCII characters to define the two-dimensional layout within a sign and other simple structures.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting-03#section-2.1.6| title = Formal SignWriting section 2.1.6| date = 20 July 2017| last1 = Jr| first1 = Stephen E. Slevinski}}</ref>  It would be possible to fully define a sign in Unicode with seventeen additional characters.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17220-signwriting-design-opt.pdf|title=L2/17-220: Design Options for Sutton SignWriting with examples and fonts|date=2017-07-12|first=Stephen E. Jr|last=Slevinski}}</ref>  With either character set (Unicode or ASCII), the spelling of a sign produces a word that the can be efficiently processed with regular expressions. These sets are [[isomorphism|isomorphic]].
– Stumpf, Marianne Rossi (2005). "[https://lume.ufrgs.br/handle/10183/5429 The learning process of sign language writing through the SignWriting system: sign languages on paper and in the computer]" (PhD thesis). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.


== Accessibility ==
– Wanderley, Débora Campos (2017). "[https://repositorio.ufsc.br/handle/123456789/194005 Classification of verbs with agreement in Brazilian Sign Language: an analysis based on SignWriting]" (PhD thesis). Universidade Federal Santa Catarina.
{{Copy edit|section|date=April 2024|for=external links}}


Sutton has released the International SignWriting Alphabet 2010<ref>{{cite web |author = Valerie Sutton |url = http://www.movementwriting.org/symbolbank/ |title = Sutton's SymbolBank: International SignWriting Alphabet (ISWA 2010) |publisher = Movementwriting.org |access-date = 2012-05-21 }}</ref> under the [[SIL Open Font License]]. The symbols of the ISWA 2010 are available as individual SVG or as TrueType Fonts.
== Development ==
* [https://github.com/Slevinski/signwriting_2010_fonts SignWriting 2010 Fonts project on GitHub]
The [[SignWriting#Software|SignPuddle]] and [[SignWriting#Software|SignMaker]] applications are built on a set of JavaScript packages which manage SignWriting text, including display, searching, sorting, text flow, and other processing.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Slevinski |first=Steve |title=Sutton SignWriting |url=https://www.sutton-signwriting.io |access-date=August 12, 2025 |website=sutton-signwriting.io}}</ref>


Google has released an open type font called Noto Sans SignWriting<ref>{{cite web |title = Noto Sans SignWriting |url = https://fonts.google.com/noto/specimen/Noto+Sans+SignWriting?query=signwriting |website = [[Google Fonts]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=entry_detail&uid=wb9v9lchat |title = Noto Sans SignWriting |website = ScriptSource }}</ref> that supports the SignWriting in Unicode 8 (uni8) specification with modifying characters and facial diacritics.
To support researchers and software developers who wish to build custom SignWriting applications, these packages are freely available under the [[MIT License|MIT Open Source License]].<ref name=":11" />


SignWriting is enabled on [[incubator:|Wikimedia Incubator]] with [http://www.signwriting.org/symposium/presentation0041.html "The JavaScript-based SignWriting Keyboard for Use on Wikimedia and throughout the Web" by Yair Rand].  Test wikis include the [[incubator:Wp/ase|ASL Wikipedia on Incubator]] and the other [[incubator:Category:Incubator:Test wikis of sign languages|test wikis of sign languages]].
The package ''@sutton-signwriting/core'' provides the following sign-processing commands:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Slevinski |first=Steve |title=@sutton-signwriting/core |url=https://github.com/sutton-signwriting/core |access-date=August 12, 2025 |website=github.com}}</ref>


The Sutton SignWriting SignMaker ([https://github.com/sutton-signwriting/signmaker @sutton-signwriting/signmaker]) is a sign editor that can be [https://sutton-signwriting.github.io/signmaker/ accessed directly], [https://sutton-signwriting.github.io/signmaker/demo.html embedded in an iframe], and [https://github.com/sutton-signwriting/signmaker/archive/refs/heads/main.zip downloaded]. It uses both Formal SignWriting in ASCII (FSW) and SignWriting in Unicode (SWU) character sets, along with the associated style string. See draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting for detailed specification.
* Complex feature-level searches of SignWriting text in documents and dictionaries, to support research in [[corpus linguistics]].
* Tokenizers, to support [[machine learning]] models for SignWriting text, enabling applications such as sign language recognition and translation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moryossef |first=Amit |title=Sign Language Processing |url=https://github.com/sign-language-processing |access-date=August 12, 2025 |website=github.com}}</ref>


For modern web and app development, several packages are available on GitHub and NPM.
The package ''@sutton-signwriting/font-ttf'' includes the SignWriting symbol fonts, which are TrueType fonts distributed under the [[SIL Open Font License]]. Separately, Google distributes ''Noto Sans SignWriting'', an OpenType font containing the Unicode SignWriting symbol set.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Slevinski |first=Steve |title=@sutton-signwriting/font-ttf |url=https://github.com/sutton-signwriting/font-ttf |access-date=August 12, 2025 |website=github.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Noto Sans SignWriting |url=https://fonts.google.com/noto/specimen/Noto+Sans+SignWriting |access-date=August 12, 2025 |website=fonts.google.com}}</ref>
* [https://www.sutton-signwriting.io/core/ @sutton-signwriting/core] - a JavaScript package for node and browsers that supports general processing of the Sutton SignWriting script
* [https://www.sutton-signwriting.io/unicode8 @sutton-signwriting/unicode8] - a JavaScript package for processing SignWriting in Unicode 8 (uni8) characters
* [https://www.sutton-signwriting.io/font-ttf @sutton-signwriting/font-ttf] - a JavaScript package for the web components and browser that generates SVG and PNG images for individual symbols, complete signs, and vertical paragraphs
* [https://www.sutton-signwriting.io/font-db @sutton-signwriting/font-db] - a JavaScript package for node that generates SVG and PNG images for individual symbols, complete signs, and vertical paragraphs
* [https://www.sutton-signwriting.io/sgnw-components @sutton-signwriting/sgnw-components] - a JavaScript package of [[Web Components]] for individual symbols, symbol palettes, complete signs, and vertical paragraphs
* [https://github.com/sutton-signwriting/signmaker @sutton-signwriting/signmaker] - a JavaScript package for sign editing page with URL parameters and iframe messaging
For sign language translation, SignWriting text is a useful abstraction layer between video and the natural language processing of sign language.<ref>{{cite arXiv
  |author1 = Kayo Yin
  |author2 = Amit Moryossef
  |author3 = Julie Hochgesang
  |author4 = Yoav Goldberg
  |author5 = Malihe Alikhani
  |title  = Including Signed Languages in Natural Language Processing
  |year    = 2021
  |class  = cs.CL
  |eprint  = 2105.05222
}}</ref>
The usefulness of SignWriting in natural language processing was validated with a new method of machine translation that has achieved over 30 [[BLEU]].<ref>{{cite arXiv
  |author1 = Zifan Jiang
  |author2 = Amit Moryossef
  |author3 = Mathias Müller
  |author4 = Sarah Ebling
  |title   = Machine Translation between Spoken Languages and Signed Languages Represented in SignWriting
  |year    = 2022
  |class  = cs.CL
  |eprint  = 2210.05404
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
  |author = Zifan Jiang
  |url   = https://www.cl.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:8e88f217-a8f2-47bf-80a2-6d56265652ac/Masterarbeit_Zifan_Jiang.pdf
  |title  = Machine Translation between Spoken Languages and Signed Languages in Written Form
}}</ref>
The conversion of sign language video to SignWriting text is an emerging field with open source options.<ref>{{cite web
  |author = Amit Moryossef
  |url    = https://sign-language-processing.github.io/
  |title  = Sign Language Processing
}}</ref>


Additional machine learning projects are available for handwriting recognition of SignWriting, SignWriting to spoken language, and spoken language to SignWriting.<ref>{{cite web
''Formal SignWriting'' is the [[character encoding]] for SignWriting text, which provides the logical foundation for the JavaScript packages.<ref name=":0" />
  |author = Steve Slevinski
  |url    = https://www.sutton-signwriting.io/#machine-learning
  |title  = Sutton SignWriting Machine Learning
}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==


* [[Sign language#Written forms|Other writing systems for sign languages]], including:
* [[Stokoe notation]]
** [[ASL-phabet]], a minimal script for ASL
* [[Hamburg Notation System]] (HamNoSys)
** [[Hamburg Notation System]] (HamNoSys), a phonetic transcription system for sign languages developed by linguists in Europe
** [[Si5s]], a handwritten script for ASL
** [[Stokoe notation]], a script devised by a pioneer of sign-language linguistics originally for ASL, which has been adapted for other sign languages
* [[International Movement Writing Alphabet]] (IMWA)
* [[International Movement Writing Alphabet]] (IMWA)
* [[ASL-phabet]]
* [[Si5s]]


== References ==
== References ==


<references />
<references />
== Relevant literature ==
* Hoffmann-Dilloway, Erika. 2017. Feeling your own (or someone else's) face: Writing signs from the expressive viewpoint. ''Language & Communication''.


== External links ==
== External links ==


{{Commons category|SignWriting}}
{{Commons category|SignWriting}}
* {{official website|//signwriting.org}} for Sutton SignWriting
{{div col}}
* [http://signbank.org/iswa ISWA 2010 HTML Reference]
* {{official website|https://www.signwriting.org|name=Website}}  
* [http://signpuddle.net/iswa ISWA 2010 Font Reference]
* [https://www.youtube.com/@SignWritingOrg YouTube channel]
* [https://github.com/Slevinski/msw Modern SignWriting Specifications]
* [[iarchive:@signwriting_press|Standard textbooks]]
* [https://github.com/Slevinski/swis SignWriting Image Server]
* [https://www.signwriting.org/symposium/archive/sws0003_Slides_SignWriting_Handwriting_Adam_Frost.pdf Handwriting]
* [https://github.com/notofonts/sign-writing Noto SignWriting]
* [https://signbank.org/iswa/ Alphabet]
* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:SignWriting_MediaWiki_Plugin SignWriting MediaWiki Plugin]
* [https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1D800.pdf Symbol set]
* [http://signpuddle.net/wiki/index.php/SignWriting_Script Handwritten forms of SignWriting]
* [https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode16.0.0/core-spec/chapter-21/#G28865 Unicode]
* [http://signbank.org/signpuddle SignPuddle Online] – Dictionaries and documents
* [https://fonts.google.com/noto/specimen/Noto+Sans+SignWriting?query=signwriting Google font]
* [http://gebaren.ugent.be/ Dictionary of the Flemish Sign Language] (uses SignWriting)
* [https://signbank.org/signpuddle/ Software (document and dictionary editor)]
* [http://cyberjer.com/signbibl/tabdex.htm The King James Bible in SignWriting]
* [https://www.signbank.org/signmaker.html Software (sign and dictionary editor)]
* [https://www.sutton-signwriting.io Development (software tools and resources)]
* [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting Formal SignWriting]
* [https://github.com/sign-language-processing Machine learning]
{{div col end}}


{{list of writing systems}}
{{list of writing systems}}
{{sign language navigation}}
{{sign language writing systems}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Signwriting}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Signwriting}}
[[Category:Sign language notation]]
[[Category:Sign language notation]]
[[Category:Writing systems introduced in 1974]]
[[Category:Writing systems introduced in 1974]]

Latest revision as of 06:46, 19 October 2025

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Sutton SignWriting, or simply SignWriting, is a writing system for sign languages. It can be used to write any sign language, including American Sign Language, Brazilian Sign Language, Tunisian Sign Language, and many others.[1]

SignWriting is the only international writing system for sign languages.[2] It has been used to publish young adult fiction,[3] translate the Bible,[4] caption YouTube videos,[5] and study sign language literacy.[6]

The SignWriting system is visually iconic: its symbols depict the hands, face, and body of a signer. Unlike most writing systems, which are written linearly, the symbols of SignWriting are written two-dimensionally, to represent the signing space.[7]

SignWriting was invented in 1974 by Valerie Sutton, a ballet dancer who eight years earlier had developed a dance notation named Sutton DanceWriting.[8] The current standardized form of SignWriting is known as the International Sign Writing Alphabet (ISWA).[9]

History

Sutton originally created SignWriting in Denmark in the fall of 1974, at the request of professor Lars von der Lieth and others on his research team in the Audiology Research Group at the University of Copenhagen.[10]

Sutton was asked to work on a research project, transcribing the gestures made by Danish hearing and Deaf people while they speak or sign. The project, part of a dissertation by Jan Enggaard Pedersen, showed that Danish Sign Language was a rich language, while the gestures of hearing people were unconnected with language.[11]

Sutton's experience transcribing Danish sign language inspired her to work with Deaf people worldwide, helping them to write their own sign languages. She named the new writing system “SignWriting”.[8]

SignWriting has since been used to write the sign languages of 40 countries.[1] However, it is not clear how widespread its use is in each country.

Between 1986 and 1994 Sutton worked with a software developer to create SignWriter, a word processor for SignWriting which runs on MS-DOS computers. SignWriter included an integrated sign dictionary, and support for multiple languages and countries.[12]

In 1996, Antonio Carlos da Rocha Costa, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), discovered SignWriter and introduced it to his colleagues, beginning Brazil's institutional use of SignWriting.[13]

In 2001, SignWriting was used in a Brazilian Sign Language dictionary containing more than 9,500 signs, which was published by the University of São Paulo.[14][15]

mural on the side of a school building
SignWriting displayed on the wall of a Deaf school in Brazil

In 2005, the Brazilian government issued Federal Decree 5626, which specified that Brazilian Sign Language be taught in universities and public schools, so it could serve as the primary language of instruction for Deaf students.[16]

SignWriting is used to teach Brazilian Sign Language in 18 Federal Universities and 12 public schools in Brazil.[17] In Germany, it is taught to deaf adults to improve their ability to read and write spoken German.[18] There is also a German website dedicated to SignWriting.[19]

Symbols

SignWriting represents the positions and movements of your body. Because of this, the SignWriting symbols can be used to write any sign language, or even non-linguistic gestures.[20]

File:SW closed smile.png

SignWriting has 652 symbols, which are grouped into seven symbol classes: hands; movement; dynamics; head and faces; body; punctuation; and detailed location.[21][9]

File:SW ASL hello sign.png

SignWriting includes so many symbols because it is designed to work with all sign languages, not just a single language. For instance, SignWriting has 261 hand symbols, but American Sign Language uses only 83 of them.[22][23]

SignWriting has ten basic hand symbols, with all the remaining hand symbols being variations on the basic symbols.[24]

File:SW four hand symbols.jpg

The hand and movement symbols can be modified to show additional information:[24]

  • Hand symbols can be filled in to show which direction the palm of the hand is facing.
  • Movement symbol arrowheads can be filled in to show which hand is performing the movement.

File:SW symbol fills.png

The SignWriting symbols are described in the standard textbook Lessons in SignWriting.[24]

Signs

In SignWriting a sign is a group of symbols, arranged two-dimensionally to represent the gestures made by a person signing the sign.[24]

SignWriting has a number of rules for writing the symbols in a sign. These rules ensure that common patterns of gestures get written consistently across signs.[24]

File:Sign box.png
Sign box

Each written sign exists in a sign box, which is an invisible box just large enough to contain all the symbols in the sign. Just as a word consists of a line of letters, a sign consists of a box of symbols.[1]

The size of a sign box is variable, and depends on the size and placement of the symbols in the box. This size can change when symbols are added to, deleted from, or moved within a sign.[1]

Sign boxes are used by SignWriting software to align the signs that appear in a line of SignWriting text.[1]

Writing direction

File:Jack and Jill.gif
SignWriting text written vertically in columns

While SignWriting symbols are written two-dimensionally within each sign, the signs themselves are written in lines, either horizontally across the page in rows, or vertically down the page in columns.[1]

SignWriting text was originally written only horizontally. But after Deaf users reported that it felt more natural to write signs down the page, SignWriting was changed to conventionally write signs vertically.[20]

This change yielded two benefits. First, the midline used to align vertically-written signs mimics the center line of the depicted signer's body, making the signs easier to read. Second, writing signs vertically simplifies the representation of body-shifting in sign language.[20]

Alphabetical order

SignWriting defines rules for how to sort signs in alphabetical order. But because the SignWriting alphabet contains so many symbols, and the symbols are arranged spatially in signs, SignWriting's ordering rules are more complex than those of the Roman alphabet.[25]

SignWriting defines two sets of rules for alphabetical ordering: the Sign Spelling Sequence, and the Sign Symbol Sequence.[25]

The Sign Spelling Sequence defines a linear order for the individual symbols in a sign. This order is specified manually by the sign author, and it remains with the sign as a non-visible attribute.[26][27]

The Sign Symbol Sequence defines a sort order for lists of signs that have already been assigned individual Sign Spelling Sequences. This order is determined by various symbol properties, and the sign sorting is performed automatically by software.[28][26][27]

Handwriting

SignWriting was invented before personal computers, and for many years was written solely by hand. Various forms of hand-written SignWriting were created, including Block Printing, Handwriting, and Cursive.[29]

When handwriting in Block Printing form, each SignWriting symbol is drawn as it appears in the textbook. Of the various hand-written forms, Block Printing is the easiest to read, and the most difficult to write. This difficulty is why some people consider SignWriting to be a cumbersome writing system.[29]

Handwriting form is similar to Block Printing, but has been simplified to be more easily written by hand. Once Block Printing has been mastered, the Handwriting form can be learned quickly. Note that this form varies among writers, just as handwriting does in other languages.[29]

Cursive form further simplifies Handwriting form to make writing even faster, by omitting certain symbols (such as the non-dominant hand) from each written sign.[29]

Hand-written SignWriting continues to be taught and used, especially in educational settings based on chalkboards and paper.[30]

Software

While SignWriting can be written by hand, it is easier to use with software specifically designed for writing it.[27]

SignPuddle and SignMaker are the standard software applications for using SignWriting. They work as web applications which run in a web browser.[27]

File:SignMaker app example.jpg
SignMaker application

SignPuddle is a document and dictionary editor for SignWriting. SignPuddle documents and dictionaries are stored in the cloud, and can be shared among SignPuddle users. Documents and dictionaries can be exported from SignPuddle as PDF files. Signs can be exported as graphics files.[31]

SignMaker is an editor for signs and dictionaries. Signs can be exported as graphics files, and dictionaries as text or JavaScript files. The SignMaker application can be downloaded to your computer and used locally without an internet connection.[32]

Unicode

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Unicode is a character encoding standard which was created so all of the world's writing systems could be used in any software application that supports the standard.[33]

The SignWriting symbol set was added to the Unicode standard in 2015. The added symbols conform to the SignWriting ISWA standard.[34][9]

However, the Unicode support for SignWriting is incomplete, because when the SignWriting symbols were added to Unicode, the Unicode system itself was not also updated to support writing systems that arrange their symbols two-dimensionally, as SignWriting does.[35]

Because of this, SignWriting currently cannot be used in software that supports the Unicode standard, and existing SignWriting software uses an alternative standard for encoding SignWriting symbols.[1]

A technical proposal has been submitted to the Unicode Consortium, detailing how to update the Unicode standard to fully support SignWriting.[36]

Advantages and disadvantages

SignWriting offers several advantages as a writing system:

  • It is simple enough to be learned and used by children.[30]
  • It is precise enough to be used by linguists as a transcription system.[37]
  • It can be used to write any sign language.[1]

However, it has a few disadvantages as well:

  • It is harder to write than other writing systems, due to the large number of symbols, and the need to write them spatially. Using software simplifies writing, but entering signs into a computer is still slower than typing in other writing systems.[38]
  • It requires special software – because SignWriting is written spatially, it cannot be used in ordinary word processors and other applications that normally support multiple languages.[35]
  • Lack of institutional support – Brazil is the only country where SignWriting is taught in public schools and universities as part of the official curriculum.[17]

Research

SignWriting has served as both a tool in language research, and an object of study in educational research.

Here is a partial list of PhD theses on (or using) SignWriting:

– Abushaira, Mohamed (2007). "The Effect of SignWriting on the Achievement and Acquisition of Vocabulary by Deaf Students at 'Al-Amal School for the Deaf' in the City of Amman-Jordan" (PhD thesis). King Abdulaziz University.

– Bianchini, Claudia Savina (2012). "Metalinguistic analysis of the emergence of a sign language writing system: SignWriting and its application in Italian Sign Language (LIS)" (PhD thesis). University of Paris VIII – Vincenne Saint-Denis.

– Borgia, Fabrizio (2015). "Computerization of a graphic form of sign languages: application to the SignWriting writing system" (PhD thesis). Toulouse 3 – Paul Sabatier University.

– Bózoli, Daniele Miki Fujikawa (2021). "Bilingual education for the deaf: the use of SignWriting in learning Portuguese as a second language" (PhD thesis). Universidade Federal Santa Catarina.

– Brito, Ronnie Fagundes de (2013). "Reference model for developing artifacts to support deaf access to audiovisual media" (PhD thesis). Universidade Federal Santa Catarina.

– Flood, Cecilia Mary (2002). "How do Deaf and hard-of-hearing students experience learning to write using SignWriting, a way to read and write signs?” (PhD thesis). University of New Mexico.

– Galea, Maria (2014). "SignWriting (SW) of Maltese Sign Language (LSM) and its development into an orthography: Linguistic considerations" (PhD thesis). University of Malta.

– Gan, Lu (2011). "Real-time immersive human-computer interaction based on tracking and recognition of dynamic hand gestures" (PhD thesis). University of Central Lancashire.

– Moryossef, Amit (2023). "Real-time multilingual sign language processing" (PhD thesis). Bar-Ilan University.

– Pinto, Jorge Manuel Ferriera (2015). "SignWriting as a writing system appropriate to sign languages: a contribution to the development of writing skills of the deaf student?" (PhD thesis). Universidade do Porto.

– Stumpf, Marianne Rossi (2005). "The learning process of sign language writing through the SignWriting system: sign languages on paper and in the computer" (PhD thesis). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

– Wanderley, Débora Campos (2017). "Classification of verbs with agreement in Brazilian Sign Language: an analysis based on SignWriting" (PhD thesis). Universidade Federal Santa Catarina.

Development

The SignPuddle and SignMaker applications are built on a set of JavaScript packages which manage SignWriting text, including display, searching, sorting, text flow, and other processing.[39]

To support researchers and software developers who wish to build custom SignWriting applications, these packages are freely available under the MIT Open Source License.[39]

The package @sutton-signwriting/core provides the following sign-processing commands:[40]

  • Complex feature-level searches of SignWriting text in documents and dictionaries, to support research in corpus linguistics.
  • Tokenizers, to support machine learning models for SignWriting text, enabling applications such as sign language recognition and translation.[41]

The package @sutton-signwriting/font-ttf includes the SignWriting symbol fonts, which are TrueType fonts distributed under the SIL Open Font License. Separately, Google distributes Noto Sans SignWriting, an OpenType font containing the Unicode SignWriting symbol set.[42][43]

Formal SignWriting is the character encoding for SignWriting text, which provides the logical foundation for the JavaScript packages.[1]

See also

References

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  6. ↑ Template:Cite thesis
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Template:Cite thesis
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ a b Template:Cite thesis
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ a b c Template:Cite thesis
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ Template:Cite thesis
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

External links

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Template:List of writing systems

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