Summary of writing steps for SignWriting

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
October 11, 2005

Stuart, Kathleen and Everyone -
You asked for feedback below, Stuart...smile... I am now getting to  
my feedback (I am a little slow ;-).

This question is an important part of SignSpelling issues. I like  
your term ANCHOR...that is excellent and that is what I mean when I  
say... that every sign has a CENTER...

And there is a difference between the Center of a Sign, and the  
Center of a Sign-Sentence...two different things...and I will discuss  
that too...

I will walk us through step-by-step, the sequence I personally use  
when writing 10 American signs, and 10 Flemish signs...showing you  
the sequence I personally follow.

I just spoke with Kathleen Heylen from Belgium on the  
telephone...great conversation! And we both feel that discussing  
SignSpellings is a good idea...especially if we can find a way to  
make it easy for Deaf children...

So this thread's title is changing to:

LESSONS SignSpelling Guidelines

I look forward to sharing with you!

Val ;-)

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> From: Stuart Thiessen <sw at PASSITONSERVICES.ORG>
> Date: Fri 07 Oct 2005 01:46:24 AM EDT
> Message-id: <51dcb021170e709064304b38d975163c at passitonservices.org>
> I was just looking for a way to describe in basic, simple terms how we
> move from a sign we see to a sign we write. Any feedback on these  
> steps
> as a way to describe this process? It would be much appreciated. I  
> came
> up with these steps. I am not sure about the timing of #6, but I just
> put it there for now. I wanted to think of a way to help people
> visualize the process. This is what I catch myself doing. What about
> you all?
>
> 1. Identify the sign’s “anchor.” This could be neutral space in front
> of the body or it could be some location on the body.
> 2. If hands are involved (we should never assume always), we need to
> identify the handshape(s) and orientation(s) and select the
> corresponding symbol(s), placing the symbol(s) in 2D relationship to
> the anchor.
> 3. If the hand(s) contact the body or each other, we need to select  
> the
> appropriate contact symbol to represent the contact.
> 4. Unless the sign is stationary or only consisting of simple contact,
> we now look to identify the movement of the hand(s) and select the
> appropriate movement symbol(s).
> 5. If the hand(s) change to another handshape(s) during the movement,
> we select those handshape(s) and note their location(s).
> 6. Finally, we note any particular dynamics (fast, slow, tense, etc.)
> and any non-manual markers that are essential to the sign.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Stuart