[Sw-l] ANNOUNCING! NEW! WHATS THAT SIGN? ASL DICTIONARY

Sat Jul 12 17:00:58 UTC 2025

SignWriting List
July 12, 2025

Hello SW List and Adam!

Thank you Adam, for this detailed explanation. I appreciate your help and now I will prepare my list of questions. 

My first question is “are you already using this in your classes and if the answer is Yes then how do you use it to teach or help ASL students? Can you explain grammatical aspects of ASL like mouth movements?
Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 11, 2025, at 4:03 PM, Adam Frost <icemandeaf at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I’ve tried to make searching as intuitive as possible. Of course, I am open to suggestions for improvements if anyone has ideas. :-)
> 
> I don’t have many written ASL definitions at the moment. I think there are only a couple that I have written, but that has been placed on hold for now. There are some technical aspects that I would like to work out before I start drafting them in ASL definitions. I have been writing many in English, however.
> 
> Having said that, there are currently two ways to search. One is searching with ASL features, and the other is with English translations. The latter is by placing the English word in the textbox “Word to Sign Search” and then clicking on “Search”.
> 
> The search with ASL features is probably what you are asking about, so here is the explanation of how to use it. It might be a little long-winded and technical as I haven’t really worked out how to explain this yet. :-)
> 
> When you first enter the website, there are rows of images that show various handshapes. They are ordered and grouped in the same way that they are in SignWriting. Only those that are in the dictionary will appear, so not every handshape in SignWriting will have an image. Then there is a “Sign to Word Search” queue box that will include your query to narrow your search. The “Search” button will use whatever is in the queue box to make the query of your search. For example, clicking on “Search” when it is empty will result in all of the signs in the dictionary — which can take a long time to load. The “Clear” button will empty the queue box and reset the page to start your search again.
> 
> Clicking on any of these handshapes then be added to the queue for the “Sign to Word Search” and will narrow all signs in the dictionary that start with that handshape.
> 
> In some web browsers, a tooltip will appear with the SignWriting symbol of that handshape, but I haven’t been able to make it so it is universally experienced across all browsers yet as some browsers don’t display tooltips with a custom alphabet.
> 
> At the end of the rows of handshapes, there is another last category “Other” with A, F, and T. “A” means “Any hand” as in any handshape. “F” means “Facial Expressions” which is used for signs that are only using facial expressions rather than handshapes. And “T” means “Temporal escape” which is a way to search signs that have any ASL feature without respect to when it appears or how often it appears in a sign. This is basically searching for SignWriting symbols without worry about the SignSpelling Sequence, for those who know how searching is done with the International SignWriting Alphabet (ISWA).
> 
> It is also possible to click on the Category Titles for a range search of all within that category. This can make your search more broad if you aren’t exactly sure of the handshape within that category.
> 
> Once you have click on something, the rows will change depending on what you clicked. If it were a handshape, there will be a row with a selection for palm facing (or fills) and rotations. These can be used to narrow your search even more. Keep in mind that not all fills and rotations will result in something from your search.
> 
> Then there is a row for the location of your selected handshape. The four are Neutral Space, Head & Neck, Torso, and Arms. You can select any of these to narrow down your search, or you can click on “Location” to include all locations.
> 
> If you want to continue refining your search after selecting a location, you will see the rows of handshapes again. This is for the handshape of the other hand in the sign. (Note this isn’t for a change in handshape as that will come up later if you want to search for that.) This will look very similar to what you saw when you first started except there is a new category at the very end. “No Second Hand” is used if you are searching specifically for a one-handed sign.
> 
> If you selected a handshape for the second hand, you will see the same rows for palm facing, rotations, and locations that you saw for the first handshape. This will stay until you select a location, just like it did earlier.
> 
> After you have selected a location for both hands, selected that there is no second hand, or the facial expressions or temporal escape icons, you will have the rows for any additional features that might be needed for your search. First is the handshapes rows as already seen before. Then there is the location category. After that there are a couple of more categories that will need some explanations. :-)
> 
> “Hand Spacing” is mostly used if you have a two-handed sign that is in neutral space. The first is if the two hands touch each other and the second is if they don’t. This is also used if the hand makes contact or is relative in space with the arm.
> 
> “Hand Touching” is for any type of contact. “Movement” is a generic type of movement without respect to spatial plane. There are three: straight, curved, and circular.
> 
> Then there is a “more” button that will reveal the “Other” category (or “Escape Codes” as it is shown there), the fills and rotations category, and all of the other SignWriting symbols that are used in the dictionary. Most people probably won’t need to have such a detailed search to included much at this point, but it is there for those who are searching for something very specific and know how to find it. :-)
> 
> This dictionary currently has just over 4000 signs, which I am continually adding to and expanding. If you would like, maybe we can try to find a sign in the dictionary together. Is there a specific type you would like to see how it would be found?
> 
> 
> Adam
> 
>> On Jul 11, 2025, at 9:20 AM, Valerie Sutton <sutton at SIGNWRITING.ORG> wrote:
>> 
>> SignWriting List
>> July 11, 2025
>> 
>> Hello SW List members and Adam!
>> 
>> Thank you for this new ASL Database, Adam. I think it is terrific!
>> 
>> https://www.whatsthatsign.com/
>> 
>> I want to find some of the signs that include ASL dfinitions of the sign. Can you teach me how to search and find those signs that have ASL definitions - here on the SW List - so we all can learn together - thank you, Adam!
>> 
>> Val ;-)
>> 
>> ---------
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jul 9, 2025, at 2:36 PM, Valerie Sutton <sutton at SIGNWRITING.ORG> wrote:
>>> 
>>> SignWriting List
>>> July 9, 2025
>>> 
>>> ANNOUNCING!
>>> 
>>> NEW!
>>> 
>>> WHATS THAT SIGN? ASL DICTIONARY in SignWriting is now ready for use. It is a remarkable new database designed by Adam Frost. It includes a dictionary of SignWriting plus videos and linguistic information about each entry, plus definitions of what each sign means, written in ASL in SignWriting and more.
>>> 
>>> I plan to start using the WHATS THAT SIGN? DATABASE and give Adam feedback. I hope you will join me!
>>> 
>>> Go to:
>>> 
>> <WhatsThatSign.png>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Whats That Sign? ASL Dictionary in SignWriting
>>> https://www.whatsthatsign.com/
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Val ;-)
>>> 
>>> Valerie Sutton
>>> sutton at signwriting.org
>>> SignWriting.org
>>> 
>>> Join the SignWriting List:
>>> https://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sw-l
>>> 
>>> Post a message to the SignWriting List:
>>> Sw-l at listserv.linguistlist.org
>>> 
>>> SignWriting List Archives
>>> https://www.signwriting.org/forums/swlist
>>> 
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>>> 
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