A couple of questions about SignWriting

Tue Oct 22 19:50:09 UTC 2013

Valerie,
thanks for your precious contributions, and for taking the time to scan the
paper, its looks are awesome, and I'm starting to read it right now, with a
nice smoking cup of tea. I look forward to cite one of the images ("Have
you been to California" is my best candidate) in my Ph.D Thesis Chapter
about SW History.
Let me say that I proudly share your vision about the fact that Vocal
Language Gloss is NOT writing in Sign Language.
I'd finally like to thank Charles Butler for sharing his witness about the
NYC Symposium!

2013/10/22 Valerie Sutton <signwriting at mac.com>

> SignWriting List
> October 22, 2013
>
> Hello Charles!
> Yes, thank you for presenting SignWriting at a dance notation conference
> back in the 1980s - that was great that you could do that, and if you used
> SignWriter for the Apple IIe at that time, then it had to be 1986 or later,
> because that is when the SignWriter Computer Program started - Fun to look
> back, isn't it?
>
> And I am glad you like the SignWriter Computer Program design, Charles. I
> agree. It is a good design. Did you know that you can use SignWriter DOS
> right now on your current computer? Both mac and windows can run SignWriter
> DOS with DOS Box - if you want me to help you get it going on your computer
> I can help you set it up -
>
> Val ;-)
>
> --------
>
> On Oct 22, 2013, at 9:15 AM, Charles Butler <chazzer3332000 at YAHOO.COM>
> wrote:
>
> Hello all.
>
> I remember presenting for Valerie in New York City at a Dance symposium.
> Although I could not project as much as I wished, the old AppleIIe program
> stunned the people. All the rest of the presentations were on labonotation
> in Dance Writing, hers was the only one with a visual component that could
> take a spoken language, change it with a swipe of the mouse to
> fingerspelling (then in English and Danish) and then substitute
> fingerspelling for sign language to show and teach grammar.
>
> It's what I've wanted ever since, that ease of switching back and forth
> between multiple layers of grammar, layout, and speech. SignWriting is
> capable of doing many things to ease the teaching of a sign language to
> those using a spoken language and vice versa.
>
>
> Charles Butler
> chazzer3332000 at yahoo.com
> 240-764-5748
> Clear writing moves business forward.
>
>   ------------------------------
>  *From:* Valerie Sutton <signwriting at MAC.COM>
> *To:* SW-L at LISTSERV.VALENCIACOLLEGE.EDU
> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 22, 2013 11:46 AM
> *Subject:* Re: A couple of questions about SignWriting
>
> SignWriting List
> October 22, 2013
>
> Hello Fabrizio and everyone!
> I am happy to tell you I found the paper, that I presented in Boston in
> 1980, to the Third National Symposium on Sign Language Research and
> Teaching (NSSLRT). It appears the proceedings were published in book form
> in 1982.  But I believe the actual Symposium was in 1980 in Boston, if I am
> not mistaken… I do not have the full book of the proceedings but only the
> pages of my paper from the book...I am scanning it into my computer right
> now, and will post it next message as a PDF - smile - Thank you for
> re-awakening old history, Fabrizio!
>
> It is interesting to see how we wrote back in the beginning of the system
> - it really was readable if you can read receptive stick figures - and
> there were facial expressions from the beginning - lots of them -
>
>  Val ;-)
>
>
> ----------
>
>
> On Oct 15, 2013, at 10:14 AM, Fabrizio Borgia <fabrizio.borgia at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
>
> Dear Valerie,
> Wow! That's far more than I expected! Thanks for the very useful
> documentation!
> I am finishing right now the section about the History of SignWriting, and
> it is an honour to listen, told in first person by you, the stories of the
> events that I'm writing about.
> Thanks again!
>
>
>
> 2013/10/14 Valerie Sutton <signwriting at mac.com>
>
> SignWriting List
> October 14, 2013
>
> On Oct 14, 2013, at 6:07 AM, Fabrizio Borgia <fabrizio.borgia at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
>
> I am writing the "SignWriting" Chapter for my Ph.D Thesis, and I was
> looking for the following paper:
> *
> A Way To Analyze American Sign Language & Any Other Sign Language Without
> Translation Into Any Spoken Language
> *Paper presented by Valerie Sutton to the National Symposium on Sign
> Language Research and Teaching in Boston, Massachusetts.
>
> I do not seem to find it on the SW website, can anyone help?
>
>
> ---------
>
> Hello Fabrizio!
> The paper you mention above was presented in 1980. That is a long time ago
> (smile), before the time of the SignWriter Newspaper (when we really
> started to write more), and SignWriting looked quite different in 1980. We
> all used stick figures. We were starting to experiment writing without
> stick figures, but we had not made the transition yet… The next year, in
> 1981, we started to focus full time on SignWriting… before that time I was
> working as a Faculty member in the Dance Department of the Boston
> Conservatory, where DanceWriting was required for graduating with a dance
> degree…In 1979 I worked as a consultant to the National Technical Institute
> for the Deaf (NTID) on a SignWriting project…and the paper you mention
> above was stimulated by that work at NTID.
>
> I have to find the above paper and scan it for you, Fabrizio - I will do
> that as soon as I can - I would like to read it myself! It has been a long
> time….If I remember correctly, my presentation at the conference was
> packed, with standing room only, and there were many good and also
> controversial questions, questioning me as to why it was necessary to write
> sign language? and why would I think that a dancer had any right to write
> the language? It was a difficult but interesting time - I pointed out to
> everyone through interpreters, that I do not know sign languages, but
> instead we write body movement in general, without making any linguistic
> judgements, and signers who know their language choose to write their
> language using the SignWriting symbols - so my neutrality in not knowing
> any sign language is a good thing, because I am not trying to influence any
> language but just give the world the gift of a tool…
>
> I will never forget that presentation, because I got to know some of the
> best and brightest in the upcoming field of sign language linguistics, and
> quite a number of them use SignWriting now, and the atmosphere is totally
> different today in 2013 - Now there is a feeling of acceptance and just an
> assumption that of course we all write sign language and that is the way it
> should be…. so new ideas take time, and the paper you mention was in the
> beginning of it all ...
>
> Thanks for asking, Fabrizio - I will post it when I find it!
>
> Val ;-)
>
> ________________________________________________
>
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>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Fabrizio Borgia, M.D.
>
> Ph.D. Student
> Sapienza - Università di Roma
> Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier
>
> O&M SW Engineering Intern
> SERCO S.p.A.
>
> fabrizio.borgia at gmail.com
> fabrizio.borgia at uniroma1.it
> fabrizio.borgia at serco.com
>  ________________________________________________
>
> SIGNWRITING LIST INFORMATION
> Valerie Sutton SignWriting List moderator sutton at signwriting.org
> Post Messages to the SignWriting List: sw-l at listserv.valenciacollege.edu
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>
>
> ________________________________________________
>  SIGNWRITING LIST INFORMATION
> Valerie Sutton SignWriting List moderator sutton at signwriting.org
> Post Messages to the SignWriting List: sw-l at listserv.valenciacollege.edu
> SignWriting List Archives & Home Page
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>
>   ________________________________________________
>
> SIGNWRITING LIST INFORMATION
>
> Valerie Sutton SignWriting List moderator sutton at signwriting.org
>
> Post Messages to the SignWriting List: sw-l at listserv.valenciacollege.edu
>
> SignWriting List Archives & Home Page
> http://www.signwriting.org/forums/swlist
>
> Join, Leave or Change How You Receive SW List Messages
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>
>
> ________________________________________________
>
>  SIGNWRITING LIST INFORMATION
>
> Valerie Sutton SignWriting List moderator sutton at signwriting.org
>
> Post Messages to the SignWriting List: sw-l at listserv.valenciacollege.edu
>
> SignWriting List Archives & Home Page
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>
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>

-- 
Fabrizio Borgia, M.D.

Ph.D. Student
Sapienza - Università di Roma
Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier

O&M SW Engineering Intern
SERCO S.p.A.

fabrizio.borgia at gmail.com
fabrizio.borgia at uniroma1.it
fabrizio.borgia at serco.com

________________________________________________

SIGNWRITING LIST INFORMATION

Valerie Sutton
SignWriting List moderator
sutton at signwriting.org

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