[sw-l] QUESTION: Is SignWriting flexible for each country?

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
October 17, 2004

Dear SW List:
I just received the question : Is SignWriting flexible for our country?
And the answer is yes...SignWriting is both international and
country-language-specific...it is both stable and flexible...

Here is how it works:

1. The International Movement Writing Alphabet (the IMWA), lists every
symbol in the entire writing system, for 27 signed languages, and next
month I will be adding the Mime and gesture symbols...plus new symbols
can be added at anytime, when the need arises...

2. SignBank databases, and SignPuddle on the web, are both using the
IMWA at the moment.

3. A person from a new country can receive an invitation to become an
editor for SignWriting dictionaries online (Sign Puddle). They will be
given their own section on the web for their signed languages in their
country. If you want an invitation to become an Editor, please write to
me...smile...

4. Editors can add signs to their web-dictionary with the SignMaker
program that is inside their dictionary-area on the web...

5. SignMaker creates signs in SignWriting in two formats: .png and .bld

The PNG format is a graphics file. The BLD format is not graphics...it
holds information for the symbols that later can lead to sorting by
SSS...

6. The IMWA establishes standard numbers for symbols all over the world.

7. When a new country joins, they begin by using the IMWA, to see what
symbols they need. Then later, when they have decided what symbols they
do not need, we can create a country-language-specific SSS that only
holds the symbols for their specific languages...which is a smaller
symbolset than the IMWA.

8. So this gives both stability and flexibility for users...

9. Once we have established a country-specific symbolset, I then create
a country-specific SignBank with just those symbols in it. Other unique
features can be added to their country-specific SignBank later, as the
need arises...for example if they want to experiment with another
sequence, we can do that just for them....Plus they can establish their
own SignSpellings inside SignBank...

Hope this answer helps!!

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
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 2413 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/sw-l/attachments/20041017/2ce0d938/attachment.bin>