[Sw-l] Lessons in SignWriting — Interactive Edition

Mon Jun 29 14:26:00 UTC 2026

Hi Amit,

Thank you for the videos. They are helpful and a useful resource.

I don't think there's a problem in distinguishing the two signs - if one
signs in ISL consistently throughout a conversation, that sign will always
mean "friend". Just don't mix ISL and ASL in the same conversation. :-)

Interestingly, the ISL sign for "friend" is closer to the ASL sign for
"congratulations":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0HCP1b8zJk

Best,

AnnaGrace Greenfield

On Mon, Jun 29, 2026 at 5:28 AM Amit Moryossef <amitmoryossef at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Anna! no particular clarification is needed, but I am happy to share
> the signs -
> 1. ISL "friend" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh3D0nszlD0
> 2. ASL "marriage"
> https://media.signbsl.com/videos/asl/aslsignbank/mp4/MARRY-1625.mp4
>
> Both signs are different to my name sign - my name sign is like ISL
> "friend" but without the movement. and the ASL "marriage" but with a firm
> grasp.
> My name sign is somewhat a combination of "friend" and an audible "clap"
> sound. My ISL teacher gave it to me;
> the "friend" part reflects the meaning of my name, and the "clap"
> part because I am hearing, which helps get my attention quickly.
>
> I hope this helps clarify the story :)
> Amit
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 26, 2026 at 8:11 PM Ms. AnnaGrace <msannagrace20 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Amit,
>> Thank you for all your hard work!
>> I can help clarify the signs for ISL's "friend" and ASL's "husband".
>> First, could you send me videos of the Israeli sign for "friend"?
>> Curious me,
>> Anna :-)
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 26, 2026 at 1:35 AM Amit Moryossef <amitmoryossef at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks! I guess that is one misunderstanding on my part 😅
>>> It is now removed from the book!
>>>
>>> If you find anything else, please let me know
>>>
>>> Amit
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jun 23, 2026 at 8:26 PM Josenilson da Silva Mendes <
>>> jsm88b at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Olá, Amit e colegas da SW List!
>>>>
>>>> Escrevi alguns exemplos para ficar mais claro.
>>>>
>>>> Essa escrita abaixo está incorreta.
>>>> [image: image.png]
>>>> [image: image.png]
>>>>
>>>> Essas escritas abaixo estão corretas.
>>>> [image: image.png]
>>>> O movimento diagonal no plano chão segue a mesma regra.
>>>>
>>>> [image: image.png]
>>>>
>>>> Josenilson Mendes
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Em ter., 23 de jun. de 2026 às 04:58, Amit Moryossef <
>>>> amitmoryossef at gmail.com> escreveu:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi Josenilison,
>>>>>
>>>>> My name sign is:
>>>>> [image: image.png]
>>>>> It was given to me in Israeli sign language, and the meaning is
>>>>> "friend" (my name Amit means friend)
>>>>> In ASL this is closer to "husband", but for me, not yet ;)
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for the feedback - I am not sure what you mean regarding the
>>>>> hands moving separately.
>>>>> I attach a video of what I am seeing:
>>>>> https://supercut.ai/share/rylo/BViSj30xRQ0AB5CjWLFAgt
>>>>> When choosing the right hand, only that hand moves. Choosing "left",
>>>>> only moves left. Choosing "both" moves both.
>>>>> I rotated the person slightly so it looks a bit more correct.
>>>>>
>>>>> All the best,
>>>>> Amit
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Jun 23, 2026 at 12:35 AM Josenilson da Silva Mendes <
>>>>> jsm88b at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Que trabalho maravilhoso, Amit!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Já vou divulgar no nosso grupo de escrita de sinais do Brasil. Com
>>>>>> certeza vai ajudar muito os aprendizes iniciantes.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Gostaria de saber como é seu personal sign in ASL. O meu você pode
>>>>>> ver em minha foto do perfil no Gmail.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Você pediu para apontar correções. Bem, aí nessa imagem da animação
>>>>>> 3d, as mãos estão se movendo separadas e em paralelo, sem sobreposição dos
>>>>>> movimentos. A seta não corresponde à ortografia do sistema. A animação
>>>>>> precisa ser alterada para evitar confundir o aprendiz.
>>>>>> [image: image.png]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Saudações.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Josenilson Mendes
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Em seg., 22 de jun. de 2026 às 11:54, Valerie Sutton <
>>>>>> sutton at signwriting.org> escreveu:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> SignWriting List
>>>>>>> June 22, 2026
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hello Amit!
>>>>>>> Thank you for this wonderful gift. And thank you Adam for all the
>>>>>>> work you have done on this book. And thanks to Lucinda and Kevin as well.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> This is an exciting new development!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Val 😊
>>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Jun 22, 2026, at 4:52 AM, Amit Moryossef <amitmoryossef at gmail.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> When I first started learning SignWriting, I came across the *Lessons
>>>>>>> in SignWriting* book. It is a wonderful resource, but as a
>>>>>>> beginner—and without any background in ASL at the time—I struggled to fully
>>>>>>> understand it.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The book could show me SignWriting, but I wanted to see the pages
>>>>>>> come alive. I wanted to see people signing, understand how the written
>>>>>>> forms corresponded to real movement, and explore the symbols interactively.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Over the past few months, I have been working on a new version of
>>>>>>> the book, which I call the *Interactive Edition*. It aims to remain
>>>>>>> mostly faithful to the original material while adding interactive elements:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    - Hover over most signs to watch Adam sign them.
>>>>>>>    - Hover over handshapes to see the corresponding real hand.
>>>>>>>    - Hover over many other SignWriting symbols to view example
>>>>>>>    videos.
>>>>>>>    - Use the 3D viewer to understand how movement arrows represent
>>>>>>>    motion in three dimensions.
>>>>>>>    - *Practice* reading, and writing, with games sprinkled
>>>>>>>    throughout.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> You can explore it here:
>>>>>>> https://research.sign.mt/lessons-in-signwriting/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I made a walkthrough video explaining it
>>>>>>> https://supercut.ai/share/rylo/7F83XmIEOSlxO5Rw5kdeRH
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I hope you find it a useful extension of the original material. The
>>>>>>> project is open source and available here:
>>>>>>> https://github.com/sign-language-processing/lessons-in-signwriting Contributions,
>>>>>>> corrections, and suggestions are very welcome. The goal is to create a
>>>>>>> resource that clearly presents the full system and is useful to both new
>>>>>>> learners and experienced SignWriting users.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> As always, this work would not have been possible without the
>>>>>>> previous work, and contributions of many people—especially Valerie, Adam,
>>>>>>> Steve, Lucinda, and Kevin.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Best,
>>>>>>> Amit
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>
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