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

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriitng List
April 19, 2005

Cathy H wrote:
> 3. how it was developed?

http://signwriting.org/library/history/hist002.html
http://signwriting.org/library/history/hist003.html
http://signwriting.org/library/history/hist004.html

SignWriitng History
The Early Years: 1966-1974
SignWriting comes from DanceWriting. It stems from a "movement notation
system". It was not invented from a prior knowledge of signs or signed
languages. Nor is it connected to any one signed language, but instead
records them all with the same symbols.

  In other words, you do not have to know what signs mean to write them,
since the system records "body movement". With SignWriting, signers can
not only record their own signed languages, but foreign signed
languages as well.

  Of course, as SignWriting is used by more and more people, certain
"linguistically based" writing conventions are developing. But from the
historic perspective, DanceWriting was the "forerunner" to SignWriting.
Now SignWriting far exceeds DanceWriting in the number of users.

Other dance notation systems have recorded the movements of signed
languages in the past (as experiments), but SignWriting is different,
because it is used by thousands of people, mostly Deaf, all over the
world. SignWriting is becoming the "written form" for signed languages
in 30 countries.

Fall, 1974
SignWriting First Invented In Denmark by Valerie Sutton at the
University of Copenhagen

1981....
Valerie's non-profit organization in the US....hired born-deaf native
ASL signers to work with writing their own native Sign Language....and
and that was the beginning of writing signed languages...., and the
idea spread to Denmark schools first, and then on to 30 signed
languages now...
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