The graphemes of SignWriting

[Alan Post]

Stefan,

As I was reading your feedback, I thought many times of vector-based
symbols.  I'm really happy to see you mention them at the bottom of
your message.

I didn't know about these relationships, thank you for sharing them.

-Alan

On Thu, Oct 07, 2010 at 01:14:08PM +0200, Stefan Wöhrmann wrote:
> Hi Steve, 
> 
> I liked to read your text and agree ... 
> 
> What comes to my mind is that for what reason ever Valerie and Richard
> Gleaves probably did some brainstorming regarding the width and height of
> all the symbols of the first symbol set. At that time there had been
> limitations due to the possibilities of the DOS pixel graphic representation
> in the good old SignWriter DOS programm... 
> 
> When I started to learn and to dive into SignWriting I took the chance to
> compare all the different symbols - length of fingers, seize of head circle
> ... 
> 
> So I learned that two fists just match the height of a flathand. The
> flathand can be written into the head circle - the index finger is as long
> as a fist -square ..... 
> 
> I think it would make sense to mention that behind these proportions between
> the single symbols in their visual appearance is a well calculated genius
> idea. Looking at the signs written with SignWriter DOS or SignPuddle the
> whole "pictogram" looks so well balanced. And this is what I never miss to
> point out to new students of GebärdenSchrift - Writing by hand  becomes much
> more easy if you develop a map of these proportions ... 
> 
> Just my idea ... 
> 
> Stefan ;-) 
> 
> PS - did you say that in the near future you would be able to use vector
> based symbols?? for SignPuddle documents? 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: SignWriting List: Read and Write Sign Languages
> [mailto:SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU] Im Auftrag von Steve Slevinski
> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 7. Oktober 2010 12:57
> An: SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACC.EDU
> Betreff: The graphemes of SignWriting
> 
>   Hi List,
> 
> While preparing a document for publication, I wrote an introductory 
> sentence about the graphemes of SignWriting.  Any feedback would be 
> appreciated...
> 
> 1.1.1.  Grapheme
> 
>     The grapheme is the fundamental unit of writing for the SignWriting
>     script.  The graphemes of SignWriting are visually iconic.  Each
>     grapheme has a defined size and shape.  The main writing graphemes of
>     SignWriting represent a visual conception: either hands, movement,
>     dynamics, timing, head, face, or body.  These graphemes are used in
>     clusters.
> 
>     Detailed location graphemes are separate from writing graphemes.
>     Detailed location graphemes are used individually or sequentially.
>     They represent isolated analysis that is written outside the cluster.
> 
>     Punctuation graphemes are used when writing sentences.  They are used
>     individually, outside of a cluster.
> 
>     When written by hand, lines are drawn to form each grapheme.
>     Different styles draw different types of lines: either for personal
>     taste, speed, or quality.
> 
>     When written with computers, the graphemes have two aspects.  The
>     first is the line that defines the shape of the grapheme.  The second
>     aspect is the fill that is used when graphemes overlap.  The official
>     standard size and shape for each grapheme is defined with a 2
>     dimensional pixel map of line and fill.  Vector based refinements
>     have been completed for all hand shapes but still need to be converted.
> 
>     Each grapheme in SignWriting has two centers: absolute and artistic.
>     The absolute center of the grapheme is based on the width and height
>     of the grapheme.  The artistic center of a grapheme is context
>     dependent.  For a hand shape grapheme, the artistic center is the
>     center of the palm.
> 
> 
> Thanks for reading,
> -Steve
> 

-- 
.i ko djuno fi le do sevzi