[sw-l] IMWA version 1.0 completed...

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
August 22, 2004

Bill Reese wrote:
> This is just one of many questions that can be asked when considering 
> the concept of a dictionary written only in sign language.  I know 
> that dictionaries have been written that include signwriting and I 
> seem to remember something written recently totally in signwriting, so 
> I'm hoping that items like this are well on the way to being defined 
> and clarified and that the IMWA (and the signed languages it supports) 
> is comprehensive enough to support that effort.

Smile...The IMWA 1.0 that just got completed includes 195 handshapes. 
Most signed languages only use around 80-100 handshapes at most, so you 
can see there will be a need to go through all the handshapes and 
decide which ones are needed for each signed language...

What will be added in the future IMWA 2.0 someday?

1. DanceWriting symbols
2. MimeWriting symbols
3. more combination movement symbols
4. different sizes of movement symbols
5. any handshapes that I didn't think of!
6. combination facial expressions

Meanwhile, with the current version 1.0 we have plenty to work with 
right now!

And yes, we can have dictionaries that are sorted solely by 
SSS...between two signed languages, or just in one signed language, 
with definitions in that signed language. Adam Frost has been so kind 
as to do some of the ASL definitions for a future dictionary of that 
kind...

Thanks for all your important suggestions, Bill!

Val ;-)
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