Sign Proccessing Software

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
June 17, 2004

Dan Parvaz wrote:
> That would be true if "Sign" and "Word" actually referred to the same
> things in different modalities. But they don't the counterpart to
> "Sign"
> is "Speech" So the counterpart of a signed language is a spoken
> langauge.
> Sign processing then is like speech processing... which has nothing to
> do
> with what SW does. Both signed and spoken languages have words. The ASL
> word for "ASL word" is what we usually gloss as SIGN, which is also
> used
> to mean "sign language." But to yank that into English in the form of
> "sign processing" is to buy into the gloss.
>
> The Navajo word for langauge is "bizaad", which also means "words". So
> "Dine bizaad" = "The Navajo/Dine, their words". But no one would call a
> text processor of Navajo a "langauge" processor or a "bizaad"
> processor.

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Dear SW List...and Dan!
Wow...you can see why I had to start our own SignWriting terminology
that would help us standardize what we are talking about...this gets so
confusing, and from a Deaf perspective...whatever we call it in English
is really irrelevant to the signed languages of the world...I like your
Navajo writing.....it may be important to someone who writes Navajo!

And in our SignWriting terminology, the terms "Sign" and "Word" DO
refer to the same things in different modalities...That is my point. We
created our own terminology that is not based on other terminology in
other professions...We tried to find a simple way to differentiate for
the general public...that wasn't too complex, that's all...smile...

And it is fine if you feel it would be more accurate to say: English
Spoken Language and American Sign Language...that is a good terminology
too...but people in everyday speech dropped the term Spoken Language
and called it English...they didn't abbreviate it to ESL for everyday
speech either...so we all get used to the common understanding...and
sometimes they are not logically the same in all languages...

I predict that there will be a day, when teaching American Sign
Language will automatically include a way to write American Sign
Language too, just as when we learn French, the written form for French
is also included in the lessons. No one calls it French Writing...they
just say written French...and in time, the written form for signed
languages will become so standard...that the term SignWriting will be
dropped, and even though they are using SignWriting, they will call it
the written form for ASL and all the terminology will be meaningless!
Maybe in a decade?

I pray that ASL teachers will start teaching the written form for ASL
in their classes...it is time now. The subjects of SignWriting and Sign
Language should not be separated, but should become one subject...just
two different mediums for the same language...

Val ;-)