SignWriting in Unicode

Thu Jun 1 19:28:39 UTC 2006

SignWriting List
June 1, 2006

Sara Morrissey wrote:
> There was a mention on the list a while ago about SignWriting being  
> coded in
> Unicode (see below for original mailing). I was wondering if anyone  
> knows of
> any further developments on this? I'd be interested to know as I could
> potentially use a Unicode version in the data-oriented SL  
> translation work
> I'm researching and would be interested in comparing it to the  
> annotated
> data I'm currently using.

Hello Sara and SW List members!

First, regarding Unicode...

Thank you for your question. Certainly it is hoped that someday  
SignWriting will be in Unicode.

1. DUBLIN...Unicode expert, Michael Everson, has already focused some  
time on the issue of SW in Unicode...

Everson Typography
http://www.evertype.com/
http://www.signwriting.org/forums/software/unicode/

------

2. USA & UK...Members of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL),  
have focused on this issue over several years...

SIL
http://www.ethnologue.com/

And then Deborah Anderson, from the University of California at  
Berkeley (see below) expressed interest recently...

------

3. FRANCE...A Unicode-related research project has been ongoing for  
several years:

Research by Patrice Dalle and Guylhem Aznar
http://signwriting.org/forums/software/lisbon/lisbon09.html

-----

4. SVG SYMBOLS...SVG or TrueType symbols are needed for Unicode  
development...thanks to Steven Aerts and Bart Braem in Belgium, and  
most recently from Machado in Brazil, we now have most of the symbols  
in SVG...Machado's symbols are very beautiful with a calligraphy  
style to them that is really unique...thank you for developing these  
SVG symbols!

SignWriting Symbols in SVG
http://www.movementwriting.org/symbolbank/IMWA-Downloads.html

------

Second, regarding searching documents written in SignWriting, it is  
not just Unicode that can be the answer. For example, right now, with  
SWML, we can search in SignPuddle for all the signs that use certain  
symbols, or combinations of symbols, or symbol frequency. And in  
SignBank, without SWML, we have also achieved sophisticated searches  
within FileMaker databases simply by specialized programming...so  
perhaps your work, Sara, can go forward anyway, even though Unicode  
is not developed yet...

SWML was originally developed by Dr. Antonio Carlos da Rocha Costa in  
Brazil:

SWML
http://www.signwriting.org/forums/software/swml/swml01.html

and is now used in SignPuddle and SignText for searching and other  
wonderful features...developed by Stephen Slevinski

SignPuddle-SignText
http://www.SignPuddle.org

Want to try a search right now? Give us an example of what you want  
to search and let us discuss how we could facilitate your project  
immediately...

Val ;-)

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

Sara Morrissey wrote:
> There was a mention on the list a while ago about SignWriting being  
> coded in
> Unicode (see below for original mailing). I was wondering if anyone  
> knows of
> any further developments on this? I'd be interested to know as I could
> potentially use a Unicode version in the data-oriented SL  
> translation work
> I'm researching and would be interested in comparing it to the  
> annotated
> data I'm currently using.
>
> Many thanks,
> Namaste,
> Sara
> *
>
> -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
>  Sara Morrissey,
>  PhD researcher,
>  National Centre for Language Technology  (NCLT),
>  School of Computing,
>  Dublin City University,
>  Glasnevin,
>  Dublin 9,
>  Ireland.
>
>  Tel: +353 1 700 6914
>
> -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
> [mailto:owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu]On Behalf Of Valerie  
> Sutton
> Sent: 19 May 2006 16:24
> To: SignWriting List
> Cc: dwanders at berkeley.edu; Deborah Anderson
> Subject: [sw-l] Re: Number of publications with SignWriting?
>
>
> SignWriting List
> May 19, 2006
>
> SW List Members -
> Deborah Anderson asked me to post this message to the SignWriting
> List (see below). This question is in relation to placing SignWriting
> in Unicode. Deborah is attending a meeting of the Unicode Technical
> Committee all this week, and they need to know how many publications,
> (or how many pages in documents), have been written in
> SignWriting?...I told Deborah well over 1000 documents at least, if
> not more, plus the number of pages will be in the multiple  
> thousands...
>
> For example, just the Parkhurst Mystery Novel alone, written in
> Spanish Sign Language from Madrid, is 140 pages of pure
> SignWriting...in a perfect bound book..that is only one of many...
>
> Deborah - You can read about that Novel written in SignWriting on
> this web page:
>
> SignWriting in Spain
> http://www.SignWriting.org/spain
>
> Val ;-)
>
>
>
> On May 18, 2006, at 7:11 AM, Deborah Anderson wrote:
>
>> Dear Madam (or Sir),
>> I am working on a project and need to estimate the number of
>> publications in the world today in SignWriting (books, magazines,
>> articles), as well as those that contain SignWriting (i.e.,
>> introductory books in English or German that teach SignWriting). In
>> doing a search on "WorldCat" via the UC Berkeley library, I only
>> come up with 25 books, which I am sure is probably too low. I see
>> there are two serial publications, The Sign Writer (1989-) and Sign
>> Writer updates (begun?), which ought also to be included in a
>> count.  Do you think the number of books today (as produced in all
>> countries) in SignWriting and with SignWriting might total 400 or
>> so, with magazines perhaps 10?
>>
>> I've looked through your website and thought it best to write to
>> you for any assistance you could provide. I'd be very grateful for
>> any assistance you can provide.
>>
>> With many thanks,
>> Deborah Anderson
>>
>> Deborah Anderson
>> Researcher, Dept. of Linguistics, UC Berkeley
>> Proj. Leader, Script Encoding Initiative
>> http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/sei
>> NOTE NEW Email: dwanders at sonic.net
>> (or dwanders at berkeley.edu)
>
>

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