SignWriting in Unicode

Fri Jun 2 10:28:22 UTC 2006

Thanks Val and Stuart for your (comprehensive as ever) responses!

I was unaware of a SWML and duly look forward to looking into it with a view
to its usability with the kind of translation I'm researching. Thank you for
the update on the developments of SignWriting in Unicode as well, I'll be
checking out the links you sent and hopefully I'll glean some useful
information from them. I'll be in touch as my research progresses :)

Thanks again,
Namaste,
Sara

  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
[mailto:owner-sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu]On Behalf Of Valerie Sutton
  Sent: 01 June 2006 20:29
  To: sw-l at majordomo.valenciacc.edu
  Cc: dwanders at berkeley.edu; Michael Everson; Patrice Dalle;
lrec at externe.net; Albert Bickford; Steven Aerts; Bart Braem; machado
  Subject: [sw-l] SignWriting in Unicode

  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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