UK Handwriting Techniques

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
August 5, 2005

Hello Sandy!
Thank you for your contribution to the article on writing BSL in the  
UK. That was a great write-up, Sandy....

Did you see the new web page:

SignWriting in the UK
http://www.SignWriting.org/uk

I re-designed it this summer, and I also wanted to ask Shane what he  
thinks of it?...Does it meet with both of your approval?

Regarding the handwriting symbols below...Some of them are fine and  
exactly what we have been doing in the past, but a couple of them  
could be mis-read in the broader movement-writing system...I don't  
know if that matters to you...but just a thought...I can make a chart  
to show you shortly...

Thanks for sharing these ideas below...

Val ;-)

-----------------------



Sandy Fleming from the UK wrote:
> You may remember discussions in the past where quite a few people  
> wanted some sort of SignWriting modified for handwriting easier  
> handwriting - or so that the system can be written cursively  
> instead of having to "draw" the signs a bit like you might copy the  
> style of  printed material by "drawing" it instead of writing it.
>
> Some suggestions for handwriting seem to be based on the shorthand  
> system or by losing some of the information in other ways. This  
> isn't the way it's done in oral language writing, where instead of  
> imitating printed matter, letters are written quite differently to  
> suit the pen and the human hand. In the Roman alphabet there are  
> even two different handwriting systems - cursive and carolignian -  
> which are designed to suit different kinds of pens and sensibilities.
>
> So instead of resorting to shorthand or data loss, I've gradually,  
> through usage, figured out some cursive ways of writing SW. See the  
> attachment for how I write various kinds of handshapes and how I do  
> shading. It shows a sample of handshapes, but I have no trouble  
> writing any BSL handshape using similar principles.
>
> There are a few guidleines for writing handshapes cursively:
>
> 1. If the index finger is to be written, start writing at the tip  
> of the index finger.
> 2. For spread hands, start writing at the tip of the baby finger  
> and end the first stroke at the tip of the thumb.
>
> Shading is done using a multiplication cross - it's like, instead  
> of the black and white gloves you have gloves with a cross on the  
> back. I tried a lot of different shapes for the hand shading but  
> this is the only one I've found that works well for all orientations.
>
> Any thoughts, opinions or further ideas?
>
> Sandy
>
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