[sw-l] UK: SIGNMatters Magazine...Your assistance in a feature on SignWriting

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
April 19, 2005

Cathy H wrote:
> My name is Cathy Heffernan and I am the editor of SIGNMatters, the
> British Deaf Association's monthly magazine. We are doing a feature on
> SignWriting in the June edition and I'd really appreciate it if some
> of you could take the time to answer some of the below questions. Any
> other comments would be very welcome and if anyone is interested in
> writing something for the feature themselves, just get in touch.
>
> SignWriting - questions
> what it is for....

Dear SignWriting List, and Cathy!
Welcome to the SignWriting List, Cathy, and we are very happy that an
article about SignWriting will be published in a UK monthly magazine.
Thank you for your interest! I know the SIGNMatters magazine is
well-known in the UK....so we feel honored ;-)

If anyone else wants to answer these questions too, or to write about
YOUR use of SignWriting in the UK, please post your messages to the SW
List!

I will now answer your questions one by one in a series of email
messages..I hope this helps...and feel free to ask questions anytime...
  Val ;-)

---------------------

1. What Is SignWriting?
SignWriting is a way to read and write the movements of ANY signed
language, such as BSL, on paper written by hand, or typed by
computer...Signed languages are becoming written languages now, because
of SignWriting....

SignWriting is a writing system which uses visual symbols to represent
the handshapes, movements, and facial expressions of signed languages.
It is an "alphabet" - a list of symbols used to write the movements of
any signed language in the world.

SignWriting makes it possible to have books, newspapers, magazines,
dictionaries, and literature written in signs. It can be used to teach
signs and signed language grammar to beginning signers, or it can be
used to teach other subjects, such as math, history, or English to
skilled signers.

Let us imagine that in the UK, you would like to write down BSL poetry.
SignWriting can write that beautiful Sign Language poetry directly in
the movements of BSL, rather than using English word-glosses, which do
not show how the poetry is signed...

The article that you are writing for SIGNMatters will be written in
English, but it could be written in the movements of BSL too, if you
use SignWriting...We published a bi-lingual newspaper in English and
American Sign Language years ago, and the American Sign Language was
written using SignWriitng symbols....

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