SignWriting
| SignWriting | |
|---|---|
| Script type | Iconic featural script
|
Period | 1974–present |
| Direction | Horizontal (left-to-right) or vertical (top-to-bottom) |
| Languages | American Sign Language, Danish Sign Language and other sign languages |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Sgnw (095), SignWriting |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | SignWriting |
Unicode range | U+1D800–U+1DAAF |
Sutton SignWriting, or simply SignWriting, is a writing system for sign languages. It can be used to write any sign language, including American Sign Language, Brazilian Sign Language, Tunisian Sign Language, and many others.[1]
SignWriting is the only international writing system for sign languages.[2] It has been used to publish young adult fiction,[3] translate the Bible,[4] caption YouTube videos,[5] and study sign language literacy.[6]
The SignWriting system is visually iconic: its symbols depict the hands, face, and body of a signer. Unlike most writing systems, which are written linearly, the symbols of SignWriting are written two-dimensionally, to represent the signing space.[7]
SignWriting was invented in 1974 by Valerie Sutton, a ballet dancer who eight years earlier had developed a dance notation named Sutton DanceWriting.[8] The current standardized form of SignWriting is known as the International Sign Writing Alphabet (ISWA).[9]
- ^ Slevinski, Steve (December 2016). "Formal SignWriting". tools.ietf.org. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ Kato, Mihoko (2008). "A Study of Notation and Sign Writing Systems for the Deaf". Intercultural Communication Studies. 17 (4): 97–114 – via Scilight.
- ^ Almeida, Rubens Ramos de (2023). Telasco e sua turma em: A Lenda Da Manguda - Recontada em libras (linguagem de escrita Sutton Signwriting) (in Brazilian Portuguese). Viegas Editora (published November 9, 2023). ASIN 6585399145.
- ^ Romero, Nancy. "ASL GOSPEL: Gospels and Selected Scriptures Written in American Sign Language (ASL)". ASL Gospel. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ^ Brito, Ronnie Fagundes de (June 6, 2012). "Previsão do tempo com SW Signwriting". YouTube. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
- ^ Stumpf, Marianne Rossi (2005). The learning process of sign language writing through the SignWriting system: sign languages on paper and in the computer (PhD thesis). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. hdl:10183/5429. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
- ^ Sutton, Valerie (2022). Read and Write Sign Language with SignWriting (2nd ed.). Valerie Sutton. ISBN 978-0-940361-03-4.
- ^ Sutton, Valerie (January 1999). "SignWriting: On the occasion of its 25th anniversary". Sign Language & Linguistics. 2 (2): 271–282. doi:10.1075/sll.2.2.12sut – via John Benjamins e-Platform.
- ^ Slevinski, Stephen (2012). "ISWA 2010 HTML Reference". ISWA 2010. Archived from the original on May 3, 2025. Retrieved July 8, 2025.