Fan mail from a linguist on the sidelines

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
July 19, 2003

On Friday, July 18, 2003, at 04:06 AM, Rebecca Larche Moreton wrote:
> I continue to be amazed at how you have been able to adapt what was
> originally a handwritten system, not in its origins intended for
> recording a language at all, into a sophisticated and very beautiful
> script which, I am sure, is going to revolutionize the status of
> signed languages forever!

Hello Everyone, and Rebecca!
Thank you for your kind words...I only hope the SignWriting community
can live up to all you say we have accomplished...SignWriting is really
spreading now and I certainly have little control .... I really like
that...maybe I can even cut back on my personal work load...That would
be nice...and in the long run, that will give SignWriting users more
freedom to let the writing system evolve naturally...

Look at the Brazilian conversations we have had lately...I didn't even
know that Sergio had created a dictionary in the .DIC and .DIN format,
so much is happening without us even realizing it - thank goodness!

You make a good point above, at the difficulty of taking a handwritten
system, and making it fit into the structured world of computers. The
fact that our writing system is so unusual, in comparison to other
written languages in computers, has spawned both criticism and awe...if
nothing more, we have at least given a number of programmers projects
to ponder over!!

Thanks for writing, Rebecca!

Val ;-)


Valerie Sutton
Sutton at SignWriting.org

1. SignWritingSite
http://www.SignWriting.org
Read & Write Sign Languages

2. SignBankSite
http://www.SignBank.org
Sign Language Dictionaries

3. DanceWritingSite
http://www.DanceWriting.org
Read & Write Dance

4. MovementWritingSite
http://www.MovementWriting.org
Read & Write Movement & Gesture

5. Shop Online!
http://www.SuttonShop.com
Proceeds Donated to Deaf Literacy

Deaf Action Committee for SignWriting
Center For Sutton Movement Writing
an educational nonprofit organization
Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA
tel: 858-456-0098....fax: 858-456-0020
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