Writing Dialogues in Signed Languages

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
September 7, 2005

Steve Slevinski wrote:

> It seems we are talking about two related, but different topics:  
> Written dialogues by a writer and transcribed dialogs by an observer.
>


Val writes:
I can see how you might think that, but actually no. I could write a  
dialogue between three people signing around a common reference point  
without seeing it on video, although I would prefer to use video,  
because I am not a native signer and I don't want to hurt the  
languages with my non-Deaf accent...but having said that...we are  
talking about something unique to signed languages that does not  
exist in written English that I know of...namely pointing to a common  
reference point, or referring to that object, within a group of five  
people let's say...and they all point in the direction of the common  
reference point, and since they are standing at different angles to  
that reference point, the arrows change visually because it depends  
on the direction of where the reference point is to their body in the  
conversations...


>
> In movie scripts, there is never any confusion about who is saying  
> what. There is always the character’s name, followed by what they  
> said.
>

Sure. In that kind of a script, using spoken languages. But that does  
not have anything to do with this very unique issue that belongs to  
signed language scripts...whether you write from video or not...it is  
a little like Lanes....there is a special Lane for reference  
points...we can talk more about that when someone gives us a video  
clip that we can transcribe to show people what I mean...then later  
we could program that into SignPuddle Lanes someday....

This is like writing group dances with many people holding on to the  
same prop...



>
> In fictional novels, the speaker is not always identified. The  
> speaker can be assumed by context and convention. Or the speaker  
> can be left ambiguous for dramatic effect. When the speaker is  
> identified, the most often used convention is "he said". This  
> convention is so well used and expected that it often disappears  
> into the background. Some inexperienced writers try to improve the  
> convention "he said" by using different synonyms for "said".  
> However, "he yelled, he slurred, he murmured, he lisped, he  
> whimpered, he ..." is not an improvement because it draws attention  
> to itself, while continuous use of "he said" informs the reader  
> while not drawing attention to itself.
>

Yes. This is true in English. But it has nothing to do with common  
Reference Points in signed languages.


>
>
> Because most sign languages use a topic-comment sentence structure,  
> I think it makes sense to put the character’s name first. The  
> character is the topic and what the person said is the comment. If  
> used consistently, it should blend into the background and become  
> similar to "he said": informative and unobtrusive. I do believe  
> that changing the color of the signers name helps differentiate  
> between who is signing and what they sign. For black and white  
> printing, the name of the signer could be gray rather than color.
>

I love the color markers. I agree that color could be used for PDF  
documents and not everyone has to print it out...and color costs for  
printing are going down anyways...



>
> And while a transcribed dialog would most likely be third person,  
> it is also possible to write in first and second person as well.  
> Sign language writers and readers have a lot of fun work ahead.
>

OK. Well when we see some Signwritten documents with a conversation  
for 5 people or whatever, we can re-visit your points here and try to  
apply them...Many thanks for this...



>
> Using different columns for different characters is an interesting  
> idea. It allows for simultaneous signing between multiple signers.  
> I usually dislike the idea of adding special purpose symbols to the  
> IMWA, however some type of markup is needed to illustrate that two  
> signers are signing at the same time, rather than one after the other.
>
>
> What an interesting time we live in..
>


Yes. We don't have any choice but to write Reference Points in  
conversations in signed languages, Steve...It is a part of the  
language and the symbols for it already exist in the IMWA...it is how  
to apply them in columns that is the point and we will learn through  
experience!!

Val ;-)