SWIFT - SignWriting Editor

Tue Sep 3 15:39:38 UTC 2013

SignWriting List
September 3, 2013

Hello Fabrizio!
I am also very honored to "meet" you. Thank you for SWIFT and your ongoing developments.

Welcome you to the SignWriting List. This List includes experts from different professions, all using SignWriting in some way. There are software developers, teachers, sign language students, linguists, researchers, interpreters, and members from the Deaf Community, from 18 countries. All languages are welcome.

I feel particularly touched by the work in Italy, since Elena Pizzuto and I met years ago and her dynamic interest in SignWriting was an encouragement and inspiration for me. At a time when most linguists of the day (over a decade ago) assumed that a writing system for sign languages needed to be abstract and horizontal-linear like western spoken language writing systems, Elena asked the Deaf Community and her co-workers what they wanted (if I understand it correctly) and they chose SignWriting I believe…this was an honor for me, and it encouraged me to continue working…

So let me introduce you to some of the other software being developed...

SignPuddle is developed by Steve Slevinski. Steve and I work together as a partnership, so SignPuddle is a part of our ongoing work. Steve is also developing the software needed to write Wikipedias in SignWriting, called the SignWriting MediaWiki Plugin. Do you know about the SignWriting Wikipedia projects?

ASL Wikipedia Test Project
http://ase.wikipedia.wmflabs.org/wiki/Main_Page

We hope the Symposium in 2014 will at least in part be helping SignWriting users around the world to start their own Wikipedias written in their sign languages - an Italian Sign Language Wikipedia will be awesome - the SW MediaWiki Plugin does use the ISWA 2010, but I can see by your other message, that that will not be a problem for your software and hopefully we can all coordinate.

More of Steve's developments are on www.signpuddle.com and www.signpuddle.net.

SignWriter Studio is under development as well, designed and programmed by Jonathan Duncan:

SignWriter Studio
http://www.signwriterstudio.com/

and Delegs software comes from Hamburg, Germany, and is an Editor that is popular among teachers - it accesses SignPuddle Online dictionaries, to create texts for students -

Delegs
http://www.delegs.com/DelegsPage/

Click on the Delegs International button on the left side of their web page to get an English translation of the German on the site…Some of the developers involved are the inspiring teacher of Deaf children, Stefan Woehrmann and this group of software developers:

Joachim Nitschke <joachim.nitschke at c1-wps.de>

and 

C1 WPS Workplace Solutions           Geschäftsführer:
Gesellschaft für DV-Beratung mbH     Dr. Guido Gryczan
Vogt-Kölln-Straße 30                 Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz Züllighoven
22527 Hamburg                        HRB 73999 - Amtsgericht Hamburg
Telefon: +49 40 51 32 26 82          info at c1-wps.de
Telefax: +49 40 51 32 26 83          http://www.c1-wps.de

By the way, everyone, I remember developers in French-Belgium informed me they are working on a new web site too.

The design of SWIFT reminds me of a Flemish-Belgian web site that has a figure that you click on to find the symbols. Go to:

Flemish Sign Language Dictionary Online
http://gebaren.ugent.be/

To see their figure: http://gebaren.ugent.be/visueelzoeken.php
Click on a part of the figure's body and it takes you to the SignWriting symbols for that part of the body ;-)

This was not the ISWA 2010 in Flanders at that time - it was back before that - maybe IMWA 2004?

That is why we are staying with the ISWA 2010 - to get standardized with one symbol set so at least the programs can communicate with each other - that does not mean that new developments cannot be done, but it is just a bit of a job to coordinate everything -

I started to glance at your MA thesis and the document is so nice - I look forward to reading it!

Val ;-)

---------

On Sep 3, 2013, at 7:41 AM, Fabrizio Borgia <fabrizio.borgia at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> Valerie,
> it is indeed a honor for me to "meet" you! 
> I'm very glad to know there are other IT colleagues at work on the same field I am. 
> I'm working on a SW editor since 2010, SWift is my first achievement, and more goals will be met in the next future.
> I will write a report about my work very soon, in the meantime, I can assure my presence (and I think Claudia's too) at La Jolla, on next summer!
> Kind regards
> 
> 
> 
> 2013/9/3 Valerie Sutton <signwriting at mac.com>
> SignWriting List
> September 3, 2013
> 
> Hello Claudia and Fabrizio!
> This is fabulous news, to have a fourth computer program for SignWriting that is modern and up-to-date and still being developed - THANK YOU to you both for making this possible.
> 
> It is good for SignWriting that it works differently than the other three programs - Each program has its own style and brings a new way of thinking to users. Our SignWriting community is very fortunate to have choices…
> 
> The four programs that use the ISWA 2010 are:
> 
> SignPuddle
> Delegs
> SignWriter Studio
> SWift
> 
> Wow!
> 
> I will read Fabrizio's message next ;-)
> 
> Val ;-)
> 
> PS. Claudia & Fabrizio - I hope we can meet next summer at the SignWriting Symposium 2014, which we hope to present in June or July or August in La Jolla, California?… I will be writing a message to the List about the 2014 plans as soon as I know more…
> 
> 
> -------
> 
> On Sep 3, 2013, at 4:41 AM, Claudia S. Bianchini <chiadu14 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
>> Hi Maria
>> sorry for the late answer but I was on holidays in Peru (wonderfull trip!!!!)
>> 1) the program is online, not available for download but available to use (even if it is not a "full public" version, cause we are still working on it... some features ar not finished yet)... maybe you can write to Fabrizio Borgia (in CC), the software developper, to ask where you can see it by your eyes (I use a "personal" version on a specific website, but is my research working space, so if you add signs you will change my statistics)
>> 2) SWift is very different from SignPuddle... it has the same use, so you can compose signs in SW, but the architecture of the software is brand new and also the organisation of the glyphes of SW (is organised on my classification... see my phd thesis). So it doesn't work with a system of "chineses box" ad SignPuddle, but with a "dicotomic" choosing system... you also have new features as the "ad hoc" glyphes composition (see my thesis)... is hard to explain by mail... you will see when Fabrizio will tell you the website.
>> 3) you can do both, single signs and text
>> hope the answer will satisfy you
>> :-)
>> Claudia
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 2013/8/27 maria galea <signwriting.maria at gmail.com>
>> Hi Claudia, 
>> I have read your paper on SWIFT - however i need to clarify. 1) is the program available for download? 2) what makes it different to SignPuddle? From what I read they seem to be very similar programs. 3) is it for the editing of single signs only or can you produce SW text?
>> thank you very much for your help!
>> maria
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> Claudia S. Bianchini, PhD
>> A.T.E.R. Licence SDL-LSF @ Univ. Poitiers (France)
>> chiadu14 at gmail.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Fabrizio Borgia, M.D.
> 
> Ph.D. Student
> Sapienza - Università di Roma   
> Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier
> 
> O&M SW Engineering Trainee
> SERCO S.p.A.
> 
> fabrizio.borgia at gmail.com
> fabrizio.borgia at uniroma1.it
> fabrizio.borgia at serco.com

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