Internet DRAFT - draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting
draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting
Sutton-Slevinski Collaboration S. Slevinski
Internet-Draft www.sutton-signwriting.io
Intended status: Informational 30 January 2022
Expires: 3 August 2022
Formal SignWriting
draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting-09
Abstract
Sutton SignWriting is the universal and complete solution for written
sign language, ISO 15924 script code "Sgnw". It has been applied by
a wide and deep international community of sign language users.
Sutton SignWriting is an international standard for writing sign
languages by hand or with computers. From education to research,
from entertainment to religion, SignWriting has proven useful because
people are using it to write signed languages.
Formal SignWriting is one particular computerized design for Sutton
SignWriting that envisions a sign as a two part word. Each word is
written as a string of characters that can be recognized and
processed by regular expressions. The design has been optimized for
display, searching, sorting, text flow, and other character
processing.
Where as American Sign Language is a natural language, Formal
SignWriting is a formal language. A formal language uses words and
punctuation to form text. Each word is expressed as a string of
characters. Well-formed words are governed by the structural rules
of the grammar. A formal language is useful in mathematics, computer
science, and linguistics.
This memo defines a conceptual character encoding map for the
Internet community. It is published for reference, examination,
implementation, and evaluation. Distribution of this memo is
unlimited.
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Table of Contents
1. Sutton SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1. Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2. Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2. Formal SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1. Design Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.1. Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.2. Universal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.1.3. Empowering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.1.4. Possible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2. Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2.1. Formal SignWriting in ASCII (FSW) . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2.2. SignWriting in Unicode (SWU) . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3. Building Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3.1. Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3.2. Token Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3.3. Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3.4. Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.4. Two-Part Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4.1. Spatial Signbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4.2. Temporal Prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.5. Styling String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.5.1. Entire Sign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.5.2. Individual Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.5.3. SVG Class Names and ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.6. Query Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
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2.6.1. Major Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.6.2. Common Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.6.3. Searching the Temporal Prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.6.4. Searching the Spatial Signbox . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.6.5. Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3. Technology Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1. Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1.1. Windows, Linux, and Mac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1.2. Mac and iOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1.3. Android . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.2. Fonts and CSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.3. Scalar Vector Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.3.1. Font Based SVG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.3.2. Stand Alone SVG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.4. HTML and CSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.4.1. Centering and Sizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.4.2. Coloring Symbols and Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.4.3. Other Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.4.4. Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.5. JavaScript Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.5.1. @sutton-signwriting/core . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.5.2. @sutton-signwriting/font-ttf . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.5.3. @sutton-signwriting/font-db . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.5.4. @sutton-signwriting/sgnw-components . . . . . . . . . 37
4. Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.1. Formal SignWriting to Query String . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.2. Query String to Regular Expression . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5. Unicode Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.1. Unicode Technical Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.2. SignWriting in Unicode 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
5.2.1. Official Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.2.2. 17 New Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.3. SignWriting in Unicode (SWU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
8. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Appendix A. A brief history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
A.1. SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
A.2. Steve Slevinski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
A.3. Financial Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Appendix B. SignWriting General Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Appendix C. Proposed Null Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
C.1. Sorting without the Null Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
C.2. Sorting with the Null Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
1. Sutton SignWriting
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M548x535S10019452x474S10011476x465S2ea04481x501S2ea48459x509S29b0b514x500S15a0a515x473S1eb20524x489
U+1D803 U+1D936 U+1D929 U+4001A U+1D8D6 U+1D8EC U+40012 U+1D8EE
U+1D8E3 U+4B7C5 U+1D8F3 U+1D907 U+4B809 U+1D8DD U+1D90F U+49A2C
U+1D914 U+1D906 U+421CB U+1D915 U+1D8EB U+45841 U+1D91E U+1D8FB
("𝠃𝤶𝤩𝣖𝣬𝣮𝣣𝣳𝤇𝣝𝤏𝤔𝤆𝤕𝣫𝤞𝣻")
Sutton SignWriting is the universal and complete solution for written
sign language. It has been applied by a wide and deep international
community of sign languages including: American Sign Language,
Arabian Sign Languages, Australian Sign Language, Bolivian Sign
Language, Brazilian Sign Language, British Sign Language, Catalan
Sign Language, Colombian Sign Language, Czech Sign Language, Danish
Sign Language, Dutch Sign Language, Ethiopian Sign Language, Finnish
Sign Language, Flemish Sign Language, French-Belgian Sign Language,
French Sign Language, German Sign Language, Greek Sign Language,
Irish Sign Language, Italian Sign Language, Japanese Sign Language,
Malawi Sign Language, Malaysian Sign Language, Maltese Sign Language,
Mexican Sign Language, Nepalese Sign Language, New Zealand Sign
Language, Nicaraguan Sign Language, Norwegian Sign Language, Peruvian
Sign Language, Philippines Sign Language, Polish Sign Language,
Portuguese Sign Language, Quebec Sign Language, South African Sign
Language, Spanish Sign Language, Swedish Sign Language, Swiss Sign
Language, Taiwanese Sign Language, and Tunisian Sign Language.
Sutton SignWriting is an international standard for writing sign
languages by hand or with computers. From education to research,
from entertainment to religion, SignWriting has proven useful because
people are using it to write signed languages.
1.1. Script
Sign language is vastly different than spoken language. Instead of
the sequential sounds of the voice, there is a 3-dimensional space
with simultaneous action. Sutton SignWriting creates 2-dimensional
writing that is visually iconic and full of featural information.
This is true on the symbol level and on the sign level. A symbol
represents phonemic information and is full of featural information
to better understand the phonemes of the symbols. A sign is a
2-dimensional arrangement of symbols and is full of featural
information to better understand the morphemes of the signs.
Punctuation is represented by a single symbol and separates a series
of signs into structured sentences. Line breaks should not occur
before punctuation.
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When written vertically, SignWriting can use 3 different lanes: left,
middle, and right. The middle lane is the default lane and
punctuation is always used in the middle lane. No matter the lane,
the center of a sign is aligned with the center of the lane. The
left and right lanes are used to represent body weight shifts and are
represented by a horizontal offset from the middle lane. Body weight
shifts are important to the grammar of sign languages, used for two
different grammatical aspects: 1) role shifting during sign language
storytelling, and 2) spatial comparisons of two items under
discussion. One "role" or "item" is placed on the right side of the
body (right lane), and the other on the left side of the body (left
lane), and the weight shifts back and forth between the two, with the
narrator in the middle (middle lane).
1.2. Symbols
The Sutton SignWriting Symbols are the building blocks of Sutton
SignWriting. The symbols are arranged in 2 dimensions to create the
sign images. The symbols are organized with a 16-bit coded character
set and a layered hierarchy. The symbols are defined in the
International SignWriting Alphabet 2010 (ISWA 2010). The ISWA 2010
is a product of the Sutton-Slevinski collaboration.
2. Formal SignWriting
Formal SignWriting is one particular computerized encoding for Sutton
SignWriting. The design is based on character processing with
regular expressions. With Formal SignWriting, each sign is written
as a two-part word of time and space.
Where as American Sign Language is a natural language, Formal
SignWriting is a formal language. A formal language uses words and
punctuation to form text. Each word is expressed as a string of
characters. Well-formed words are governed by the structural rules
of the grammar. A formal language is useful in mathematics, computer
science, and linguistics.
2.1. Design Principles
Formal SignWriting was created using four design principles:
completeness, universality, empowerment, and possibility.
2.1.1. Complete
Sutton SignWriting is a complex script with unique requirements and
processing. Formal SignWriting supports all of the structures
inherent to the script.
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2.1.2. Universal
Sutton SignWriting can be used to write any sign language, natural or
constructed. Formal SignWriting supports all sign languages without
requiring the addition of new characters or updated fonts. Whereas
chinese encoded text is an ever expanding set of ideographs which
require new fonts and possiblly new characters, SignWriting uses a
closed set for characters with completed fonts that do not need to be
updated.
2.1.3. Empowering
Sutton SignWriting is flexible enough to let each writer decide how
they want to write their signs. Formal SignWriting enable the
writers to decide for themselves the spelling of their respective
signs.
2.1.4. Possible
Sutton SignWriting is a practical script that makes it possible to
write sign language. Formal SignWriting is a practical encoding
because it works with existing font technologies across operating
systems.
2.2. Characters
Any sign can be written as a string of characters. Formal
SignWriting has two sets of characters that can be used: Formal
SignWriting in ASCII (FSW) and SignWriting in Unicode (SWU). These
sets are isomorphic with an easy bi-directional conversion between
the two sets.
+=================+==================+====================+
| Description | FSW Characters | SWU Characters |
+=================+==================+====================+
| Sequence Marker | A | U+1D800 |
+-----------------+------------------+--------------------+
| Signbox Markers | B, L, M, R | U+1D801 to U+1D804 |
+-----------------+------------------+--------------------+
| Numbers | 250 to 749 | U+1D80C to U+1D9FF |
+-----------------+------------------+--------------------+
| Symbols | S10000 to S38b07 | U+40001 to U+4F428 |
+-----------------+------------------+--------------------+
Table 1
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2.2.1. Formal SignWriting in ASCII (FSW)
Formal SignWriting in ASCII (FSW) was released in January 2012 and
has been stable since. FSW only uses characters from the ASCII
subset of "ABLMRS0123456789xabcdef".
2.2.2. SignWriting in Unicode (SWU)
SignWriting in Unicode (SWU) was first published in October 2016 and
officially submitted to the Unicode Technical Committee in July 2017.
SWU is not part of the Unicode standard.
SignWriting in Unicode (SWU) is an experimental Unicode design that
is supported by the Sutton SignWriting resources. This alternate
encoding overwrites the Sutton SignWriting block in Unicode and uses
plane 4 for the SignWriting symbols.
2.3. Building Blocks
The mathematical words of Formal SignWriting are plain text strings
of characters from either character set: Formal SignWriting in ASCII
(FSW) or SignWriting in Unicode (SWU).
2.3.1. Regular Expressions
Regular Expressions define string matching criteria. Regular
Expressions offer fast processing and wide support on the various
platforms.
Formal SignWriting is defined with regular expressions. Formal
languages and regular expressions are used to solve fundamental
problems.
Regular Expression Basics
+============+======================+=====================+
| Characters | Description | Example |
+============+======================+=====================+
| * | Match a literal 0 or | ABC* matches AB, |
| | more times | ABC, ABCC, ... |
+------------+----------------------+---------------------+
| + | Match a literal 1 or | ABC+ matches ABC, |
| | more times | ABCC, ABCCC, ... |
+------------+----------------------+---------------------+
| ? | Match a literal 0 or | ABC? matches AB or |
| | 1 times | ABC |
+------------+----------------------+---------------------+
| {#} | Match a literal "#" | AB{2} matches ABB |
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| | times | |
+------------+----------------------+---------------------+
| [ ] | Match any single | [ABC] matches A, B, |
| | literal from a list | or C |
+------------+----------------------+---------------------+
| [ - ] | Match any single | [A-C] matches A, B, |
| | literal in a range | or C |
+------------+----------------------+---------------------+
| ( ) | Creates a group for | A(BC)+ matches ABC, |
| | matching | ABCBC, ABCBCBC, ... |
+------------+----------------------+---------------------+
| ( | ) | Matches one of | (AB|BC|CD) will |
| | several alternatives | match AB, BC, or CD |
+------------+----------------------+---------------------+
| (?: ) | Creates a non- | A(?:BC) will match |
| | capturing group | ABC as one group |
+------------+----------------------+---------------------+
Table 2
2.3.2. Token Patterns
The Formal SignWriting encoding model makes explicit those features
which can be effectively and efficiently processed. The mathematical
names are structured with 11 different tokens. They can be grouped
in 4 layers: the 5 structural makers (A, B, L, M, R), the 3 base
symbol ranges (w, s, P), the 2 modifier indexes (i, o), and the
numbers (n).
The Tokens of Formal SignWriting
+=======+===============================+
| Token | Description |
+=======+===============================+
| A | Sequence Marker |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| B | Signbox Marker |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| L | Left Lane Marker |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| M | Middle Lane Marker |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| R | Right Lane Marker |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| w | Writing BaseSymbols |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| s | Detailed Location BaseSymbols |
+-------+-------------------------------+
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| P | Punctuation BaseSymbols |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| i | Fill Modifiers |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| o | Rotation Modifiers |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| n | Number from 250 to 749 |
+-------+-------------------------------+
Table 3
These tokens are used in patterns to form written sign language.
2.3.3. Symbols
Symbols can be described with 3 tokens: base symbol, fill modifier,
and rotation modifier.
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Symbol Tokens
+=========+========================================================+
| Token | Description |
| Pattern | |
+=========+========================================================+
| w | Writing BaseSymbols. |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| s | Detailed Location BaseSymbols. |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| P | Punctuation BaseSymbols. |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| i | Fill Modifiers. |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| o | Rotation Modifiers. |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| wio | A writing symbol as 3 tokens of writing base, fill |
| | modifier and rotation modifier. Writing symbols can |
| | be used in the spatial signbox or the temporal prefix. |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| [ws]io | A writing symbol or a detailed location symbol as 3 |
| | tokens of base, fill modifier, and rotation modifier. |
| | Writing symbols and detail location symbols can be |
| | used in the temporal prefix. |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| Pio | A punctuation symbol as 3 tokens of punctuation base, |
| | fill modifier, and rotation modifier. Punctuation |
| | symbols divide signs into sentences. |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
Table 4
There are a variety of symbol types that are used for different
purposes.
Symbol Types and Descriptions
+=============+=============================================+
| Type | Description |
+=============+=============================================+
| all symbols | All symbols used in Formal SignWriting. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| writing | Symbols that can be used in the spatial |
| | signbox or the temporal prefix. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| hand | Various handshapes |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| movement | Contact symbols, small finger movements, |
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| | straight arrows, curved arrows and circles. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| dynamic | Dynamic symbols are used to give the |
| | "feeling" or "tempo" to movement. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| head | Symbols for the head and face. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| hcenter | Used to determine the horizontal center of |
| | a sign. Same as the head type. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| vcenter | Use to determine the vertical center of a |
| | sign. Includes the head and trunk types. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| trunk | Symbols for torso movement, shoulders, and |
| | hips. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| limb | Symbols for limbs and fingers. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| location | Detailed location symbols can only be used |
| | in the temporal prefix. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
| punctuation | Punctual symbols are used to divide signs |
| | into sentences. |
+-------------+---------------------------------------------+
Table 5
Symbol types occur in specific ranges depending on the characters
involved.
Symbol Types and Ranges
+=============+=============+==================+
| Type | FSW | SWU |
+=============+=============+==================+
| all symbols | S100 - S38b | U+40001 -U+4F480 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| writing | S100 - S37e | U+40001 -U+4EFA0 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| hand | S100 - 204 | U+40001 -U+461E0 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| movement | S205 - S2f6 | U+461E1 -U+4BCA0 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| dynamic | S2f7 - S2fe | U+4BCA1 -U+4BFA0 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| head | S2ff - S36c | U+4BFA1 -U+4E8E0 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| hcenter | S2ff - S36c | U+4BFA1 -U+4E8E0 |
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+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| vcenter | S2ff - S375 | U+4BFA1 -U+4EC40 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| trunk | S36d - S375 | U+4E8E1 -U+4EC40 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| limb | S376 - S37e | U+4EC41 -U+4EFA0 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| location | S37f - S386 | U+4EFA1 -U+4F2A0 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
| punctuation | S387 - S38b | U+4F2A1 -U+4F480 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+
Table 6
2.3.3.1. FSW Symbols
Symbol keys are 6 characters long. The first character of a symbol
key is always "S". The next 3 characters identify the symbol base.
The last two characters identify the fill and rotation modifiers
respectively.
Symbol Key Definition
+================================+=======================+
| Regular Expression | Description |
+================================+=======================+
| S | Start of symbol key |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| [123][0-9a-f]{2} | Symbol key base |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| [0-5] | Fill modifier |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| [0-9a-f] | Rotation modifier |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f] | Symbol key definition |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
Table 7
2.3.3.2. SWU Symbols
The 37,811 symbols of the International SignWriting Alphabet 2010 are
uniquely identified with Unicode characters in the range U+40001 to
U+4F428.
A simple formula transforms a symbol key into a codepoint. Given a
symbol key as variable "key", in JavaScript the function is defined
as:
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var code = ((parseInt(key.slice(1,4),16) - 256) * 96) +
((parseInt(key.slice(4,5),16))*16) + parseInt(key.slice(5,6),16) +
1;
2.3.4. Numbers
The numbers encode the ruler principle with characters. The ruler
principle is built in automatically for scripts written sequentially
in one dimension. The number characters are needed to specify the
spatial relationship between symbols.
Both FSW and SWU use a restricted range of 500 numbers between 250
and 749.
Cartesian Coordinates can be described with 2 tokens: number and
number. These numbers represent the X and Y coordinates
respectively.
Coordinate Tokens
+================+=============================================+
| Token Patterns | Description |
+================+=============================================+
| n | Number from 250 to 749 |
+----------------+---------------------------------------------+
| nn | Coordinate with X and Y values as 2 numbers |
+----------------+---------------------------------------------+
Table 8
2.3.4.1. FSW Numbers
Formal SignWriting in ASCII has two definitions for a number. The
more general definition simply defines 3 digits together with a
potential range of 1000. A more explicit definition correctly
restricts the numbers to 500 possibilities in the 250 to 749 range.
The general coordinate definition is adequate for processing.
An X,Y coordinate is created by using the letter "x" to join two FSW
numbers.
General 3 digit number definition: [0-9]{3}
General coordinate definition: [0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3}
Explicit number definition from 250 to 749: (2[5-9][0-9]|[3-6][0-9]{
2}|7[0-4][0-9])
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Explicit coordinate definition:
(2[5-9][0-9]|[3-6][0-9]{2}|7[0-4][0-9])x(2[5-9][0-9]|[3-6][0-9]{2}
|7[0-4][0-9])
2.3.4.2. SWU Numbers
SignWriting in Unicode has a single definition for a number. Each
number is uniquely identified with Unicode characters in the range
U+1D80C to U+1D9FF. A coordinate is defined as 2 numbers together.
2.4. Two-Part Word
Formal SignWriting envisions a sign as a two-part word of time and
space. The two-dimensional appearance of a sign is written in the
spatial signbox as an objective arrangement. The one-dimensional
order of a sign is written in the temporal prefix as a subjective
analysis.
2.4.1. Spatial Signbox
The spatial signbox is a two-dimensional cluster of symbols. The
position of each symbol is determined by the writer and defined using
Cartesian Coordinates that represent the top-left of the symbol
image. Formal numbers range from 250 to 749.
2-dimensional space does not have a normative 1-dimensional order.
When symbols overlap, the relative order of the overlapping symbols
is important. Symbols written first appear underneath symbols that
are written later. Otherwise, the exact string order of the spatial
symbols is unpredictable. The spatial signbox is neither formatting
nor style and represents meaning that is beyond the temporal prefix.
Y Axis
| 250
|
|
|
|
|
X Axis |
-----------+------------
250 | 749
|
|
|
|
|
| 749
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The Spatial Signbox can be described with 8 tokens.
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Spatial Signbox Tokens
+=================+==========================================+
| Token Pattern | Description |
+=================+==========================================+
| B | Signbox Marker |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| L | Left Lane Marker |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| M | Middle Lane Marker |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| R | Right Lane Marker |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| w | Writing BaseSymbols |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| i | Fill Modifiers |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| o | Rotation Modifiers |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| n | Number from 250 to 749 |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| wio | A writing symbol as 3 tokens of writing |
| | base, fill modifier and rotation |
| | modifier |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| nn | Coordinate with X and Y values as 2 |
| | numbers |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| wionn | A spatial symbol as 5 tokens, with 3 |
| | tokens for a writing symbol and 2 tokens |
| | for coordinates of top left placement |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| (wionn)* | Zero or more spatial symbols |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| Bnn(wionn)* | A Signbox with a preprocessed maximum |
| | coordinate and a list of spatial symbols |
| | used for horizontal writing |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| [LMR] | A lane marker: either left, middle or |
| | right. |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
| [LMR]nn(wionn)* | A Signbox in either the left, middle, or |
| | right lane with a preprocessed maximum |
| | coordinate and a list of spatial symbols |
| | used for vertical writing |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------+
Table 9
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The spatial signbox is assigned to a lane, has a preprocessed maximum
coordinate and zero or more writing symbols with X and Y coordinates
for each symbol.
2.4.1.1. Bounding Box
The symbols do not have a consistent width or height. The center of
a symbol can be safely assumed to be at half-width and half-height.
A bounding box for a symbol is based on the symbol width and height.
Each symbol has a defined width and height [SWFontSource] in a text
file with 37,811 lines. Alternately, the symbol width and height can
be calculated by analyzing the glyphs in a TTF font file, using
JavaScript or other language.
The bounding box of a sign is a tight box around the symbols. The
bounding box is used to determine the width and height of a sign.
The bounding box of a sign consists of four values: Minimum X,
Minimum Y, Maximum X and Maximum Y. The values of the bounding box
is taken straight from the coordinates in a Formal SignWriting word.
2.4.1.2. Maximum Coordinate
The maximum coordinate for a Signbox is pre-calculated to simplify
layout for width, height, and center. For each symbol, the width of
height of that symbol is added to the coordinate position of that
symbol. These new coordinate values represent the bottom-right
coordinate of each symbol bounding box. The maximum X value is
joined with the maximum Y value to determine the maximum coordinate.
2.4.1.3. Centering a Sign
To simplify layout and improve 2-dimensional searching, every sign
has a normalized center based on symbol type, size, and mathematical
formula. The vertical center is based on the center of the bounding
box around the head symbols. The horizontal center is based on the
center of the bounding box around the head and trunk symbols. If a
sign doesn't contain head or trunk symbols, then the bounding box of
all symbols is used. For the symbol ranges see Table 6
Once the center of a sign has been determined, the symbols are moved
so that the center is coordinate 500,500.
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2.4.2. Temporal Prefix
The temporal prefix is a one-dimensional list of symbols that is
written by an author. The arrangement of the symbols is based on a
particular theory of sorting. The order of the symbols in the
temporal prefix is significant because sorting is possible with a
binary string comparison. The temporal prefix is neither formatting
nor style and represents meaning not found in the spatial signbox.
Signs are written in 2-dimensional space which does not have a
normative 1-dimensional order. Any 1-dimensional order of
2-dimensional space is subjective. Some 1-dimensional orders may be
canonical according to a particular theory, but there are a variety
of theories on setting a 1-dimensional order.
The temporal prefix will use the same symbols that are used in the
spatial signbox, but it does not need to use all of them and it is
not limited to only those symbols. The temporal prefix is a list of
writing symbols and/or detailed location symbols that identify
temporal order and additional analysis. A valid sequence must
contain at least one symbol and can not contain punctuation.
The temporal prefix allows for sorting that is universally supported
through binary string comparison.
There are several theories on the best way to structure a temporal
prefix. The most productive is based on the SignSpelling Sequence
theory of Valerie Sutton. A temporal prefix is structured as a
series of beginning handshapes, followed by transitional movements
and dynamics that lead to the next set of handshapes. This pattern
continues until the end of the sign. The last section of the
temporal prefix should contain symbols of type "head", "trunk", and
"limb".
Detailed location symbols of type "location" can be used in a
temporal prefix, but are rarely (if ever) needed for general writing.
A temporal prefix can be described with 5 tokens.
Temporal Prefix Tokens
+================+===================================+
| Token Patterns | Description |
+================+===================================+
| A | Sequence Marker |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
| w | Writing BaseSymbols |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
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| s | Detailed Location BaseSymbols |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
| i | Fill Modifiers |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
| o | Rotation Modifiers |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
| (A([ws]io)+)? | An optional temporal prefix to be |
| | used as a prefix for a Signbox |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
Table 10
The temporal prefix starts with a sequence marker and includes an
ordered list of writing symbols and detailed locations.
2.5. Styling String
The styling string of Formal SignWriting uses a lite markup to define
a variety of styling options. The styling string is the same for FSW
and SWU. The entire sign can be customized for padding, coloring,
and size. Individual symbols within a sign can be customized for
coloring and size. For SVG output, class names and IDs can be
defined. A styling string can be added to the end of any Formal
SignWriting string to style a particular sign.
Colors can be written as CSS color names or as color hex values.
CSS Color Names: [a-zA-Z]+
Color Hex Values: [0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-9a-fA-F]{3})?
The styling string is divided into 3 sections: one for the entire
sign, one for individual symbols, and one for SVG class names and ID.
The styling string starts with a single dash, after which is the
section about the entire sign. A second dash, if present, marks the
start of the section about the individual symbols. A third dash, if
present, marks the start of the section about the SVG class names and
ID. The order of the styling options is important.
Styling String:
-C?(P[0-9]{2})?(G_([0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-9a-fA-F]{3})?|[a-zA-
Z]+)_)?(D_([0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-9a-fA-F]{3})?|[a-zA-Z]+)(,([0-9a-fA-
F]{3}([0-9a-fA-F]{3})?|[a-zA-
Z]+))?_)?(Z([0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?|x))?(-(D[0-9]{2}_([0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-
9a-fA-F]{3})?|[a-zA-Z]+)(,([0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-9a-fA-F]{3})?|[a-zA-
Z]+))?_)*)?(--?[_a-zA-Z][_a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,100}( -?[_a-zA-Z][_a-zA-
Z0-9-]{0,100})*!([a-zA-Z][_a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,100}!)?)?
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2.5.1. Entire Sign
There are several options for styling an entire sign.
C Colorize
P Padding
G Background
D Detail colors
Z Zoom level
2.5.1.1. Colorize
Colorizing a sign will set the color of each symbol based on its
classification.
Hand 0000CC
Movement CC0000
Dynamic FF0099
Head 006600
Body 000000
Detailed Location 884411
Punctuation FF9900
+================+==================================+
| Styling String | Description |
+================+==================================+
| -C | Colorize the symbols of the sign |
+----------------+----------------------------------+
Table 11
2.5.1.2. Padding
Padding is applied around the entire sign. A two-digit number is
used to set the padding.
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+================+================================+
| Styling String | Description |
+================+================================+
| -P01 | A padding of 1 around the sign |
+----------------+--------------------------------+
Table 12
2.5.1.3. Background
By default, the background of a sign is transparent. The background
color can be set with a CSS color name or with a color hex value.
The color name or value must be surrounded by underscores.
+================+===================================+
| Styling String | Description |
+================+===================================+
| -G_lightblue_ | Background color of light blue. |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
| -G_f00_ | Background color as 3 hex values. |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
| -G_ff0000_ | Background color as 6 hex values. |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
Table 13
2.5.1.4. Detail Colors
By default, each symbol has a line color of black and a fill color of
white. The line color for all of the symbols can be set with a CSS
color name or with a color hex value. The color name or value must
be surrounded by underscores. Setting the fill color is optional.
To set the fill color, put a comma and the fill color after the line
color but before the closing underscore.
+================+================================================+
| Styling String | Description |
+================+================================================+
| -D_red_ | Line color of red. |
+----------------+------------------------------------------------+
| -D_red,yellow_ | Line color of red with a fill color of yellow. |
+----------------+------------------------------------------------+
Table 14
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2.5.1.5. Zoom Level
By default, a sign is set to zoom level 1. The zoom level can be set
with an integer or a decimal number.
Alternatively, the zoom level can be set to lower-case 'x', for
extendable. The SVG created will not specify the width or height, so
that the sign image will fill whatever container it is placed inside.
+================+==========================+
| Styling String | Description |
+================+==========================+
| -Z2 | Zoom level of 2 |
+----------------+--------------------------+
| -Z15.7 | Zoom level of 15.7 |
+----------------+--------------------------+
| -Zx | Zoom level of extendable |
+----------------+--------------------------+
Table 15
2.5.2. Individual Symbols
There is one option for styling individual symbols. Individual
symbols are identified by a two-digit number, which identifies the
order the symbol appears in the Signbox.
D Detail colors
2.5.2.1. Detail Colors
By default, each symbol has a line color of black and a fill color of
white. The line color for an individual symbol can be set with a CSS
color name or with a color hex value. The color name or value must
be surrounded by underscores. Setting the fill color is optional.
To set the fill color, put a comma and the fill color after the line
color but before the closing underscore.
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+======================+====================================+
| Styling String | Description |
+======================+====================================+
| --D01_red_ | First symbol line color of red. |
+----------------------+------------------------------------+
| --D01_red,yellow_ | First symbol line color of red |
| | with a fill color of yellow. |
+----------------------+------------------------------------+
| --D01_red_D02_green_ | First symbol line color of red and |
| | second symbol line color of green. |
+----------------------+------------------------------------+
Table 16
2.5.3. SVG Class Names and ID
When using SVG, there are two additional styling options of class
names and ID.
{class names}! SVG Class Names
{ID}! SVG ID
Both class names and ID use a restricted ASCII subset.
class names -?[_a-zA-Z][_a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,100}( -?[_a-zA-Z][_a-zA-
Z0-9-]{0,100})*
ID [a-zA-Z][_a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,100}
Each SVG can be created with a list of class names separated by
spaces, ending in an exclamation (!) mark. After the class names
exclamation mark, an ID can be written followed by another
exclamation mark.
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+======================+==================================+
| Styling String | Description |
+======================+==================================+
| ---glowing! | A class name of "glowing" |
+----------------------+----------------------------------+
| ---flashing primary! | Two class names of "flashing" |
| | and "primary". |
+----------------------+----------------------------------+
| ---!cursor! | SVG created with an ID of |
| | "cursor" |
+----------------------+----------------------------------+
| ---flashing!cursor! | SVG created with a class name of |
| | "flashing" and an ID of "cursor" |
+----------------------+----------------------------------+
Table 17
2.6. Query Language
The query language of Formal SignWriting allows for precise searching
of signs written in either FSW or SWU. A query string is a concise
representation for a much larger and detailed set of regular
expressions. The regular expressions can be used to quickly and
accurately search large files and databases containing Formal
SignWriting.
A filter and repeat pattern of searching is used as a series of match
criteria. A file, database, or text input is searched using a
sequence of steps. Each step applies a single match criteria.
Matching results are collated and the next search criteria is
applied. The pattern of searching the previous results continues
until all regular expressions have been used.
The query language of Formal SignWriting is different for FSW and
SWU, but allows for the same searching options. Query strings
contain three major sections: prefix, signbox, and styling. The
prefix section and the signbox section mostly use the same elements.
2.6.1. Major Sections
There are three major sections of the query string: the prefix, the
signbox, and the styling string.
Query Language Sections
+=======+================+======================================+
| Token | Name | Description |
+=======+================+======================================+
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| Q | Query marker | The start of a query string |
+-------+----------------+--------------------------------------+
| P | Prefix marker | The searching of the temporal prefix |
+-------+----------------+--------------------------------------+
| X | Signbox marker | The searching of the spatial signbox |
+-------+----------------+--------------------------------------+
| Y | Styling string | Include the styling string in search |
| | marker | results |
+-------+----------------+--------------------------------------+
Table 18
A query string always starts with the query marker (Q), followed by
an optional prefix marker (P), followed by an optional signbox marker
(X), followed by an optional styling string marker.
Full query string definition: QP?X?Y?
2.6.2. Common Elements
There are several common elements used for searching the prefix and
the signbox.
Query Common Elements
+=======+====================+=================================+
| Token | Name | Description |
+=======+====================+=================================+
| B | Symbol base marker | A symbol indicator that doesn't |
| | | specify fill or rotation |
+-------+--------------------+---------------------------------+
| f | Fill modifier | A modifier that specifies a |
| | | symbol fill |
+-------+--------------------+---------------------------------+
| r | Rotation modifier | A modifier that specifies a |
| | | symbol rotation |
+-------+--------------------+---------------------------------+
| S | Symbol marker | A marker that indicates a |
| | | symbol |
+-------+--------------------+---------------------------------+
| R | Range marker | A marker that starts a range |
| | | definition |
+-------+--------------------+---------------------------------+
| I | Item marker | An item can be either a symbol |
| | | or a range definition |
+-------+--------------------+---------------------------------+
| O | Or marker | A marker that connects a series |
| | | of items |
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+-------+--------------------+---------------------------------+
| L | List marker | A marker that indicates a list |
| | | of connected items |
+-------+--------------------+---------------------------------+
Table 19
Common definitions used in the temporal prefix and the spatial
signbox.
Symbol definition: S = Bfr
Range definition: RBB
Item definition: I = (S|RBB)
List definition: L = I(OI)*
2.6.3. Searching the Temporal Prefix
Searching the temporal prefix requires two additional tokens.
Prefix Elements
+=======+=====================+=============================+
| Token | Name | Description |
+=======+=====================+=============================+
| A | Prefix start marker | A marker that indicates the |
| | | start of prefix searching |
+-------+---------------------+-----------------------------+
| T | Prefix end marker | A marker that indications |
| | | the enf of prefix searching |
+-------+---------------------+-----------------------------+
Table 20
Definition of temporal prefix searching.
Prefix searching definition: P = ((AL+)?T)?
2.6.4. Searching the Spatial Signbox
Searching the spatial signbox requires two additional tokens.
Signbox Elements
+=======+===================+======================================+
| Token | Name | Description |
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+=======+===================+======================================+
| C | Coordinate marker | A marker that indicates a coordinate |
+-------+-------------------+--------------------------------------+
| V | Variance marker | A marker that indicates a custom |
| | | variance for location searching |
+-------+-------------------+--------------------------------------+
Table 21
Definition of spatial signbox searching.
Signbox searching definition: X = (LC?)*V?
2.6.5. Regular Expressions
2.6.5.1. FSW Query Regular Expressions
FSW Query Elements
+=====+=========+===================================================+
|Token|Variable | Regular Expression |
+=====+=========+===================================================+
|Q |Q | Q |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|B |base | [123][0-9a-f]{2} |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|f |fill | [0-5u] |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|r |rotation | [0-9a-fu] |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|S |symbol | S${base}${fill}${rotation} |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|R |range | R${base}${base} |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|I |item | (?:${symbol}|${range}) |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|O |or | o |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|L |list | ${item}(?:${or}${item})* |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|A |A | A |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|T |T | T |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|P |prefix | (?:${A}(?:${list})+)?${T} |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|C |coord | (?:[0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})? |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
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|X |signbox | (?:${list}${coord})* |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|V |var | V[0-9]+ |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|Y |style | - |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
|F |full | ${Q}(${prefix})?(${signbox})?(${var})?(${style}?) |
+-----+---------+---------------------------------------------------+
Table 22
2.6.5.2. SWU Query Regular Expressions
SWU Query Elements
+=====+========+==========================================================================================+
|Token|Variable|Regular Expression |
+=====+========+==========================================================================================+
|Q |Q |Q |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|B |base |(?:(?:\uD8C0[\uDC01-\uDFFF])|(?:[\uD8C1-\uD8FC][\uDC00-\uDFFF])|(?:\uD8FD[\uDC00-\uDC80]))|
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|f |fill |f? |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|r |rotation|r? |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|S |symbol |${base}${fill}${rotation} |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|R |range |R${base}${base} |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|I |item |(?:${symbol}|${range}) |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|O |or |o |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|L |list |${item}(?:${or}${item})* |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|A |A |A |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|T |T |T |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|P |prefix |(?:${A}(?:${list})+)?${T} |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|C |coord |(?:(?:\uD836[\uDC0C-\uDDFF]){2})? |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|X |signbox |(?:${list}${coord})* |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|V |var |V[0-9]+ |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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|Y |style |- |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|F |full |${Q}(${prefix})?(${signbox})?(${var})?(${style}?) |
+-----+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Table 23
3. Technology Integration
Formal SignWriting has been specifically designed to integrate with
standard technology on the phone, tablet, and desktop.
3.1. Fonts
The Sutton SignWriting Fonts are available as source SVG and as three
TrueType Font files.
Sutton SignWriting Fonts
Copyright (c) 1974-2017, Center for Sutton Movement Writing, inc
Licensed under the SIL Open Font License v1.1
The Sutton SignWriting TrueType fonts are available for download and
installation.
Installing the fonts using the instructions below is not required,
but it will improve the user experience. If the fonts are not
installed on the system, CSS declarations will install the fonts in
the browser cache.
3.1.1. Windows, Linux, and Mac
Installation is straight forward for Windows, Linux and Mac. Simply
download the TrueType fonts and install as usual.
Sutton SignWriting Line TrueType Font [SWFontLine]
Sutton SignWriting Fill TrueType Font [SWFontFill]
Sutton SignWriting One-D TrueType Font [SWFontOneD]
3.1.2. Mac and iOS
Installation is possible for Mac OS X and iOS with a configuration
profile. The Sutton SignWriting Symbol configuration profile
includes 2 fonts for SVG: SuttonSignWritingLine and
SuttonSignWritingFill. The Sutton SignWriting One configuration
profile includes the font SuttonSignWritingOneD. With the
configuration profile installed, the SignWriting in Unicode (SWU)
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characters can be used throughout the operating system, even as file
and folder names.
Sutton SignWriting Symbol Configuration Profile [SWFontSymbol]
Sutton SignWriting One Configuration Profile [SWFontOne]
3.1.3. Android
Android can not install the fonts directly onto the system. The CSS
declarations below will install the fonts in the browser cache.
3.2. Fonts and CSS
The TrueType Fonts can be used without installing the fonts on any
platform by defining two font-face statements. Simply include the
following CSS in any HTML page to access the fonts. Make sure to
replace the URLs with the fully qualified links for the fonts.
@font-face {
font-family: "SuttonSignWritingLine";
src:
local('SuttonSignWritingLine'),
url('https://.../SuttonSignWritingLine.ttf') format('truetype');
}
@font-face {
font-family: "SuttonSignWritingFill";
src:
local('SuttonSignWritingFill'),
url('https://.../SuttonSignWritingFill.ttf') format('truetype');
}
@font-face {
font-family: "SuttonSignWritingOneD";
src:
local('SuttonSignWritingOneD'),
url('https://.../SuttonSignWritingOneD.ttf') format('truetype');
}
If the fonts are installed, then the system fonts will be used. If
the fonts are not installed when a SignWriting Font page is opened,
the CSS will cause the fonts to be automatically downloaded to the
browser's cache on the first visit. Once the fonts are installed in
the browser cache, they will remain there until the browser cache is
emptied. Any webside that uses this CSS can access the browser
installed font without requesting a new copy. The fonts are 18 MB,
so the first page view make take a few seconds or longer depending on
your download speed and processor.
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3.3. Scalar Vector Graphics
Sutton SignWriting is a 2-dimensional script. The sign images are
composed using Scalar Vector Graphic (SVG).
3.3.1. Font Based SVG
The conversion of Formal SignWriting to Scalar Vector Graphics
requires three parts: header, text, and symbols. Consider the FSW
string
"M518x533S1870a489x515S18701482x490S20500508x496S2e734500x468".
3.3.1.1. SVG Header
The header section contains the SVG definition along with the width,
height, and viewbox. The viewbox is a combination of the minimum X,
minimum Y, width, and height.
Minimum X: 482
Maximum X: 518
Width: 36
Minimum Y: 468
Maximum Y: 533
Height: 65
<svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
width="36" height="65" viewBox="482 468 36 65">
If the width and height properties are not included, then the
resulting SVG will automatically expand in size to fill the
containing element on the screen.
<svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
viewBox="482 468 36 65">
3.3.1.2. SVG Text
The SVG text section is included to make it possible to copy and
paste Formal SignWriting strings. The font-size is set to zero to
make the text invisible.
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<text style="font-size:0%;">
M518x533S1870a489x515S18701482x490S20500508x496S2e734500x468
</text>
3.3.1.3. SVG Symbols
Each symbol in the Signbox is a combination of the symbol key and the
positioning coordinate.
Symbol 1: S1870a 489x515
Symbol 2: S18701 482x490
Symbol 3: S20500 508x496
Symbol 4: S2e734 500x468
Each spatial symbol is written as an SVG group and positioned by the
transformation translate.
<g transform="translate(489,515)">...</g>
<g transform="translate(482,490)">...</g>
<g transform="translate(508,496)">...</g>
<g transform="translate(500,468)">...</g>
Inside of each group, 2 text elements are written. The symbol fill
is written first using the SuttonSignWritingFill font with a plane 16
character. The symbol line is written second using the
SuttonSignWritingLine font with a plane 15 character. See
Section 2.3.3.2 for the formula to convert symbol keys to codepoints.
<text class="sym-fill"
style="font-family:'SuttonSignWritingFill';font-size:30px;fill:white;">
{plane 16 codepoint}
</text>
<text class="sym-line"
style="font-family:'SuttonSignWritingLine';font-size:30px;fill:black;">
{plane 15 codepoint}
</text>
3.3.2. Stand Alone SVG
It is possible to request completed SVG images from SignPuddle 3.
The SVG images created by the SignWriting Server are stand-alone
graphics that do not use the TrueType Fonts. The SVG images use path
elements to define the symbol lines and curves.
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The SVG header and SVG text for the server-side images are the same
as the standard FSW to SVG transformation. See Section 3.3.1
The SVG symbols section is structured differently. Multiple SVG
elements are contained within each sign SVG image. Each sub-SVG
element uses X and Y coordinates to place each symbol. Consider the
FSW string
"M518x533S1870a489x515S18701482x490S20500508x496S2e734500x468".
Symbol 1: S1870a 489x515
Symbol 2: S18701 482x490
Symbol 3: S20500 508x496
Symbol 4: S2e734 500x468
<svg x="489" y="515">...</svg>
<svg x="482" y="490">...</svg>
<svg x="508" y="496">...</svg>
<svg x="500" y="468">...</svg>
Inside of each sub-SVG element is a group (g) element with one or two
path elements. This inside information can only be requested from
the SignWriting Server or some other source of the symbol image data.
<g transform="translate(0.146473559361,17.7697467366) ... ">
<path class="sym-fill" fill="white" d="M700 1493 ... "/>
<path class="sym-line" fill="black" d="M1826 1480 ... "/>
</g>
3.4. HTML and CSS
Basic HTML structures and CSS rules can be used with Formal
SignWriting for customization and layout.
3.4.1. Centering and Sizing
It is possible to center a symbol or sign within a div with a few CSS
rules. The symbol or sign will automatically shrink in size if the
containing div is smaller than the SVG image. Additionally, if the
SVG is created with the zoom level of extendable (styling string
"-Zx"), the symbol or sign will grow in size to fill as much of the
containing div as possible.
<div class="centered">
<svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" ...
</div>
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div.centered {
position: relative;
width: 10%;
height: 10%;
border: 1px solid black;
}
div.centered svg {
position: absolute;
display: block;
top:2.5%;
bottom: 2.5%;
left: 2.5%;
right: 2.5%;
margin: auto;
max-width: 95%;
max-height: 95%;
}
3.4.2. Coloring Symbols and Signs
Individual signs can be colored with CSS rules. The individual
classes of 'sym-line' and 'sym-fill' can be used to isolate each part
of a symbol, both positive and negative spaces, or the classes can be
ignored to create the shadow of a symbol that includes both aspects
of a symbol.
<svg class="primary" ...
<svg class="success" ...
<svg class="info" ...
<svg class="warning" ...
<svg class="danger" ...
<svg class="shadow" ...
<svg class="inverse" ...
svg.primary g text.sym-line { fill: #337ab7 !important; }
svg.success g text.sym-line { fill: #5cb85c !important; }
svg.info g text.sym-line { fill: #5bc0de !important; }
svg.warning g text.sym-line { fill: #f0ad4e !important; }
svg.danger g text.sym-line { fill: #d9534f !important; }
svg.shadow g text { fill: grey !important; }
svg.inverse g text.sym-line { fill: white !important; }
svg.inverse g text.sym-fill { fill: black !important; }
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3.4.3. Other Effects
Other CSS rules can be used for other effect. Please note that
transform property does not effect the document flow and should not
be used for general layout.
svg.shadowed {
text-shadow: -1px -1px 1px #fff, 1px 1px 1px #000;
}
svg.rotate {
transform: rotate(0.5turn);
}
svg.bigger {
transform: scale(2);
}
svg.skewed {
transform: skewX(30deg);
}
3.4.4. Sentences
SignWriting is written vertically using the vertical writing mode of
CSS. To create the center lane and to visually divide the columns of
text, several span elements are used. Each sign is contained in a
div with a width and height that matches the enclosed sign. To
properly align each sign with the center of its lane, the containing
div will either use "margin-right" or "border-left". With "border-
left", the rule must include "solid transparent" after the size.
<div class="signtext">
<span class="outside"><span class="middle"><span class="inside">
<div style="width:42px;height:77px;margin-right:2px;"><svg ...
<div style="width:38px;height:48px;margin-right:2px;"><svg ...
<div style="width:25px;height:9px;border-left:7px solid transparent;">
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div.signtext {
-webkit-writing-mode: vertical-lr;
writing-mode: vertical-lr;
font-size: 0%;
border-left: 1px solid blue;
height: 100%;
}
span.outside { border-left: 1px solid blue; vertical-align: top; }
span.middle { vertical-align: bottom; }
span.inside { border-left: 1px dashed red; }
div.signtext div {
writing-mode: horizontal-tb;
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: middle;
padding: 20px;
box-sizing: content-box;
}
3.5. JavaScript Packages
For modern web and app development, several packages are available on
Github and NPM.
3.5.1. @sutton-signwriting/core
a javascript package for node and browsers that supports general
processing of the Sutton SignWriting script
Source [SSWCoreSrc]
Documentation [SSWCoreDoc]
Distribution [SSWCoreDist]
npm install @sutton-signwriting/core
3.5.2. @sutton-signwriting/font-ttf
a javascript package for the web components and browser that
generates SVG and PNG images for individual symbols and complete
signs
Source [SSWTTFSrc]
Documentation [SSWTTFDoc]
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Distribution [SSWTTFDist]
npm install @sutton-signwriting/font-ttf
3.5.3. @sutton-signwriting/font-db
a javascript package for node that generates SVG and PNG images for
individual symbols and complete signs
Source [SSWFontDBSrc]
Documentation [SSWFontDBDoc]
Distribution [SSWFontDBDist]
npm install @sutton-signwriting/font-db
3.5.4. @sutton-signwriting/sgnw-components
a javascript package of Web Components for use with the SignWriting
script
Source [SSWSgnwSrc]
Documentation [SSWSgnwDoc]
Distribution [SSWSgnwDist]
npm install @sutton-signwriting/sgnw-components
4. Transformations
Formal SignWriting and the surrounding technologies have been created
to facilitate easy transformations between the various forms.
4.1. Formal SignWriting to Query String
Formal SignWriting strings have several natural transformations to
query string. The transformation can use the temporal prefix and/or
the spatial signbox. For each symbol, the query can include the
exact symbol key, or the query can use a general symbol key where the
fill and rotation modifiers are not explicitly defined. Consider the
Formal SignWriting string
"AS14c20S27106M518x529S14c20481x471S27106503x489".
Exact Temporal Prefix Symbols: QAS14c20S27106T
General Temporal Prefix Symbols: QAS14cuuS271uuT
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Exact Spatial Signbox Symbols: QS14c20S27106
General Spatial Signbox Symbols: QS14cuuS271uu
Exact Spatial Signbox Symbols with Location: QS14c20481x471S27106503
x489
General Spatial Signbox Symbols with Location: QS14cuu481x471S271uu5
03x489
4.2. Query String to Regular Expression
The transformation from query string to regular expressions has been
fully implemented in the Sutton SignWriting JavaScript Library and
the SignWriting Server.
The query language to regular expressions generator uses the
following regular expression structures as building blocks.
Temporal Prefix Prefix: (A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)
Signbox Prefix: [BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})
Spatial Symbols: (S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*
The Temporal Prefix Prefix is a structural marker followed by one or
more symbols. For the query string "QT", the prefix is required.
For the general "Q", the prefix is optional so "?" is appended to the
Temporal Prefix Prefix regular expression.
The Signbox Prefix is a combination of structural marker and
preprocessed maximum coordinate. Every constructed regular
expression will include the Signbox Prefix.
The Spatial Symbols is zero or more symbol definitions and associated
coordinates. The Spatial Symbols regular expression is used for
every search. For both "Q" and "QT", it is the only symbol matching
used. When searching for specific symbols and ranges, the general
Spatial Symbols definition will sandwich the specific search
definitions.
Searching for number ranges with regular expressions requires a
unique technique. This technique requires five steps.
Find a number between 122 and 455
1) 10's don't match and the min 1's are not zero ( last number to
9): Match 12[2-9]
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2) Bring up the 10's if hundreds are different: Match 1[3-9][0-9]
3) Bring up the 100's if different: Match [2-3][0-9][0-9]
4) Bring up the 10's: Match 4[0-4][0-9]
5) Bring up the 1's: Match 45[0-5]
Final Match (12[2-9]|1[3-9][0-9]|[2-3][0-9][0-9]|4[0-4][0-9]|45[0-5])
For the styling string regular expression, see Section 2.5.
5. Unicode Considerations
"The plan for encoding Sutton SignWriting in Unicode is for there to
be two separate Unicode proposals. The first is for the symbol set
covered by [the] ISWA 2010... The second is for an encoding that
takes symbols and turns them into signs." -ScriptSource
[UnicodeScript]
5.1. Unicode Technical Committee
In 2011, two documents were submitted: N4015 L2/11-101 [UnicodeN4015]
and N4090 L2/11-217 [UnicodeN4090].
In 2012, one document was submitted: N4342 L2/12-321 [UnicodeN4342].
In 2015, the Sutton SignWriting Block was officially added to the
Unicode standard. A documement was submitted: L2/15-194
[Unicode15194]. In July, Steve Slevinski attended UTC #144. After
the meeting, another document was submitted: L2/15-219
[Unicode15219].
In 2016, one document was submitted: L2/16-225 [Unicode16225]. In
August, Steve Slevinski attended UTC #148.
In 2017, two documents were submitted: L2/17-220 [Unicode17220] and
L2/17-282 [Unicode17282]. In August, Steve Slevinski attended UTC
#152.
Further discussions with the Unicode Technical Committee are
dependent on the support of a voting member.
5.2. SignWriting in Unicode 8
The Sutton SignWriting symbol set based on the ISWA 2010 was encoded
in the Unicode Standard version 8.0.
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This encoding is based on the Unicode proposal from section 5.1 of
draft-slevinski-iswa-2010 [UnicodeProposal], first published in
January 2011.
The first draft officially submitted to the Unicode Technical
Committee was N4015, a compromise with the Unicode committee that
removed two-dimensional layout by dropping five structural markers
and 500 number characters.
The second draft N4090 was under protest because it broke sorting and
introduced variable length symbol names.
The third draft N4342 was rejected by the Center for Sutton Movement
Writing. A new facial diacritic model was forced into the proposal
that was neither defined nor tested.
In 2020, Google released Noto Sans SignWriting [UnicodeGoogle], a
font for Sutton SignWriting that fully implements the official
Unicode 8 design with modifying characters and facial diacritics.
The font can be used to view any symbol of the International
SignWriting Alphabet 2010 (ISWA 2010) as well as create complex
facial expressions with diacritics. General layout of SignWriting is
not part of the Unicode 8 design. Outside of facial expressions,
layout requires a higher level protocol such as SVG.
5.2.1. Official Characters
In 2015, the symbols of Sutton SignWriting (Section 1.2 and
Section 2.3.3) were added to Unicode version 8.
+============================+====================+
| Description | Unicode 8 Range |
+============================+====================+
| Base Characters | U+1D800 to U+1DA8B |
+----------------------------+--------------------+
| Fill Modifiers 2 to 6 | U+1DA9B to U+1DA9F |
+----------------------------+--------------------+
| Rotation Modifiers 2 to 16 | U+1DAA1 to U+1DAAF |
+----------------------------+--------------------+
Table 24
Each symbol key can be rewritten using 1 to 3 Unicode characters of a
base, optional fill, and optional rotation. Given a symbol key as
variable "key", in JavaScript the 3 characters can be derived with
simple formulas. Both Fill Modifier 1 (U+1DA9A) and Rotation
Modifier 1 (U+1DAA0) are inherent characters and should be not be
written in the character string.
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var base = parseInt(key.substr(1,3),16) + parseInt('1D700',16);
var fill = parseInt(key.substr(4,1),16) + parseInt('1DA9A',16);
var rotation = parseInt(key.substr(5,1),16) +
parseInt('1DAA0',16);
The Sutton SignWriting Resources do not support these characters as
defined in the Unicode standard. The presentation Issues with
SignWriting in Unicode 8 [Unicode8Issues] details why this encoding
is incomplete, broken, and fictional. Alternatively, the Sutton
SignWriting Resources support the character sets (Section 2.2) of
Formal SignWriting in ASCII (FSW) and SignWriting in Unicode (SWU).
5.2.2. 17 New Characters
The addition of 17 Unicode characters to the official Unicode
standard can complete the script encoding and cover 2-dimensional
layout.
+=====================+====================+====================+
| Description | Formal SignWriting | Proposed Unicode |
+=====================+====================+====================+
| Fill Modifier 1 | 0 | U+1DA9A |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Rotation Modifier 1 | 0 | U+1DAA0 |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Numbers | 0 to 9 | U+1DAB0 to U+1DAB9 |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Sequence Marker | A | U+1DABA |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Signbox Markers | B | U+1DABB |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Left Lane Markers | L | U+1DABC |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Middle Lane Markers | M | U+1DABD |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Right Lane Markers | R | U+1DABE |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
Table 25
Fill Modifier 1 and Rotation Modifier 1 are included to fix sorting
and simplify processing.
The 10 number characters express the concept of distance, important
for use with 2-dimensional scripts.
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The 5 structural markers define cohesive units of the script.
5.3. SignWriting in Unicode (SWU)
Characters are used to name signs. Fonts are used to view signs.
SignWriting in Unicode (SWU) was first published in October 2016 and
officially submitted to the Unicode Technical Committee in July 2017.
SWU is not part of the Unicode standard. SignWriting in Unicode is
an experimental Unicode design that is supported by the Sutton
SignWriting Resources. This alternate encoding overwrites the Sutton
SignWriting block in Unicode and uses plane 4 for the SignWriting
symbols.
6. IANA Considerations
None.
7. Security Considerations
None.
8. References
[SignSpelling]
Sutton, V.S., "SignSpelling Guidelines",
<https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs6/sw0534-
SignSpellingGuidelines-2008.pdf>.
[SLlegal] "Legal Recognition of Sign Language",
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Legal_recognition_of_sign_languages>.
[SSWCoreDist]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Core Distribution",
<https://unpkg.com/browse/@sutton-signwriting/core/>.
[SSWCoreDoc]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Core Documentation",
<https://sutton-signwriting.github.io/core/>.
[SSWCoreSrc]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Core Source",
<https://github.com/sutton-signwriting/core>.
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[SSWFontDBDist]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Font DB
Distribution",
<https://unpkg.com/browse/@sutton-signwriting/font-db/>.
[SSWFontDBDoc]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Font DB
Documentation",
<https://sutton-signwriting.github.io/font-db/>.
[SSWFontDBSrc]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Font DB Source",
<https://github.com/sutton-signwriting/font-db>.
[SSWSgnwDist]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Web Components
Distribution", <https://unpkg.com/browse/@sutton-
signwriting/sgnw-components/>.
[SSWSgnwDoc]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Web Components
Documentation",
<https://sutton-signwriting.github.io/sgnw-components/>.
[SSWSgnwSrc]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Web Components
Source",
<https://github.com/sutton-signwriting/sgnw-components>.
[SSWTTFDist]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Font TTF
Distribution",
<https://unpkg.com/browse/@sutton-signwriting/font-ttf/>.
[SSWTTFDoc]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Font TTF
Documentation",
<https://sutton-signwriting.github.io/font-ttf/>.
[SSWTTFSrc]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Font TTF Source",
<https://github.com/sutton-signwriting/font-ttf>.
[SteveSlevinski]
Slevinski, S.S., "Steve Slevinski's Homepage",
<https://SteveSlevinski.me>.
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[SW2010] Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Standard of 2010",
<https://steveslevinski.me/#standard2010>.
[SW2012] Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Standard of 2012",
<https://steveslevinski.me/#standard2012>.
[SW2017] Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Standard of 2017",
<https://steveslevinski.me/#standard2017>.
[SWbyHand] Sutton, V.S., "Writing SignWriting by Hand",
<https://www.signwriting.org/lessons/cursive>.
[SWChat] "Sutton SignWriting Chat on Gitter",
<https://gitter.im/sutton-signwriting/community>.
[SWFacebook]
"Sutton SignWriting Facebook Group",
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/SuttonSignWriting/>.
[SWFontFill]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Fill TypeType Font",
<https://unpkg.com/@sutton-signwriting/font-
ttf@1.0.0/font/SuttonSignWritingFill.ttf>.
[SWFontLine]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Line TypeType Font",
<https://unpkg.com/@sutton-signwriting/font-
ttf@1.0.0/font/SuttonSignWritingLine.ttf>.
[SWFontOne]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting One Configuration
Profile", <https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/slevinski/
signwriting_2010_fonts/fonts/
SuttonSignWritingOne.mobileconfig>.
[SWFontOneD]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting One-D TypeType Font",
<https://unpkg.com/@sutton-signwriting/font-
ttf@1.0.0/font/SuttonSignWritingOneD.ttf>.
[SWFontSource]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Font Source",
<https://github.com/Slevinski/signwriting_2010_fonts/tree/
master/source>.
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[SWFontSymbol]
Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Symbol Configuration
Profile", <https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/slevinski/
signwriting_2010_fonts/fonts/
SuttonSignWritingSymbol.mobileconfig>.
[SWio] Slevinski, S.S., "Sutton SignWriting Resources",
<https://www.sutton-signwriting.io>.
[SWList] "SignWriting Email List",
<http://www.signwriting.org/forums/swlist/>.
[SWMobile] Gleaves, R.G., "SignWriting Mobile Site",
<https://m.signwriting.org>.
[SWPatrons]
Slevinski, S.S., "Support SignWriting on Patreon",
<https://patreon.com/signwriting>.
[SWScript] Slevinski, S.S., "SignWriting Script: an ode to writing by
hand", <https://www.signpuddle.net/wiki/index.php/
SignWriting_Script/>.
[SWWeb] Sutton, V.S., "SignWriting Website",
<https://signwriting.org>.
[SWWikipedia]
"SignWriting Wikipedia Page",
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SignWriting>.
[TwoDFont] Slevinski, S.S., "Two-Dimensional Font Prototype",
<https://www.signwriting.org/symposium/
presentation0019.html>.
[TwoDFontProject]
Slevinski, S.S., "Two-Dimensional Font Project",
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/slevinski/
ASL_Wikipedia_2-D_Font_Development_for_SignWriting>.
[Unicode] "The Unicode Standard: A Technical Introduction",
<http://unicode.org/standard/principles.html>.
[Unicode15194]
Slevinski, S.S., "Addressing SignWriting Collation in
DUCET", <https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15194-
signwriting-response.pdf>.
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[Unicode15219]
Anderson, D.A., Slevinski, S.S., and K.W. Whistler,
"SignWriting Design, With Three Examples and Their
Representation", <https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15219-
signwriting-design.pdf>.
[Unicode16225]
Slevinski, S.S., "SignWriting in Unicode Next",
<http://www.unicode.org/cgi-bin/
GetMatchingDocs.pl?L2/16-225>.
[Unicode17220]
Slevinski, S.S., "Design Options for Sutton SignWriting
with examples and fonts", <https://www.unicode.org/L2/
L2017/17220-signwriting-design-opt.pdf>.
[Unicode17282]
Slevinski, S.S., "Design Options for Sutton SignWriting
Auxiliary", <https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2017/17282-
signwriting-design-aux.pdf>.
[Unicode8Issues]
Slevinski, S.S., "Issues with SignWriting in Unicode 8",
<https://www.slideshare.net/StephenSlevinski/sign-writing-
in-unicode-8-issues>.
[UnicodeAnalysis]
Aznar, G.A., "Analysis of the different methods to encode
SignWriting in Unicode",
<https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid
=A5A55FFC4B59332074F2B0670B758D4F?doi=10.1.1.188.7470&rep=
rep1&type=pdf>.
[UnicodeChinese]
Zhang, S.Z., "Chinese Characters Are Futuristic and the
Alphabet Is Old News",
<https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/11/
chinese-computers/504851/>.
[UnicodeGoogle]
Google, G., "Noto Sans SignWriting",
<https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/
page.php?item_id=entry_detail&uid=wb9v9lchat>.
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[UnicodeGraphite]
Hosken, M.H., "New engine feature proposal",
<https://sourceforge.net/p/silgraphite/mailman/
silgraphite-devel/thread/20121120152328.5984b784%40sil-
mh6/#msg30121143>.
[UnicodeIdeas]
Hosken, M.H., "SignWriting Layout Discussion v2",
<https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/render_download.php?
format=file&media_id=..%2Fsites%2Fs%2Fmedia%2Fdatabase%2Fs
sproto%2Fentries%2Fjt%2F4f%2Fjt4fblkvhu_Signwriting_layout
_discuss_v2.pdf&filename=Signwriting_layout_discuss_v2.pdf
>.
[UnicodeN4015]
Everson, M.E., Slevinski, S.S., and V.S. Sutton,
"Preliminary proposal for encoding the SignWriting script
in the SMP of the UCS", <http://www.unicode.org/L2/
L2011/11101-n4015-signwriting.pdf>.
[UnicodeN4090]
Everson, M.E., Slevinski, S.S., and V.S. Sutton, "Revised
proposal for encoding the SignWriting script in the SMP of
the UCS", <https://www.unicode.org/L2/
L2011/11217-n4090-signwriting.pdf>.
[UnicodeN4342]
Everson, M.E., Hosken, M.H., Slevinski, S.S., and V.S.
Sutton, "Proposal for encoding Sutton SignWriting in the
UCS", <https://www.unicode.org/L2/
L2012/12321-n4342-signwriting.pdf>.
[UnicodePragmatic]
Batchelder, N.B., "Pragmatic Unicode, or, How do I stop
the pain?", <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgHbC6udIqc>.
[UnicodeProposal]
Slevinski, S.S., "Encoding the graphemes of the
SignWriting Script with the x-ISWA-2010",
<https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-slevinski-iswa-2010-
00#section-5.1>.
[UnicodeScript]
"Unicode Status (SignWriting)",
<https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/
page.php?item_id=entry_detail&uid=jt4fblkvhu>.
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Appendix A. A brief history
A.1. SignWriting
+=========+========================================================+
| Year(s) | Event(s) |
+=========+========================================================+
| 1966 | Valerie Sutton invented DanceWriting |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 1974 | Valerie Sutton invented SignWriting |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 1974 to | SignWriting is written exclusively by hand |
| 1986 | |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 1981 to | publishing efforts include stencils and wax transfers |
| 1984 | |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 1986 to | SignWriting is successfully computer encoding with |
| 1995 | keyboarding support |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 2002 | advanced sorting of SignWriting dictionaries is |
| | available |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 2004 | a drag-and-drop interface is created for SignWriting |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 2006 | SignWriting received the ISO 15924 script code "Sgnw" |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 2010 | the International SignWriting Alphabet 2020 (ISWA |
| | 2010) is released |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 2012 | the Formal SignWriting in ASCII (FSW) specification is |
| | released |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 2015 | the Sutton SignWriting Block is added to the Unicode |
| | Standard |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 2017 | the SignWriting in Unicode (SWU) specification is |
| | released |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 2020 to | Steve Slevinski assumed full responsibility for |
| present | administering and financially supporting the |
| | SignWriting websites |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| 2020 to | Valerie Sutton continues her personal support for |
| present | SignWriting with plans for a new series of SignWriting |
| | instruction books and a future SignWriting Trust for |
| | the long-term support of SignWriting |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
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| 2021 | SignWriting is expanding into the machine learning |
| | space with a focus on video analysis and translation |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
Table 26
A.2. Steve Slevinski
+=========+=========================================================+
| Year(s) | Event(s) |
+=========+=========================================================+
| 1994 | Steve graduated from Grove City College with a |
| | Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, computer science |
| | applied |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 1994 | Steve was hired by the New York State Education |
| | Department as a Senior Computer Programmer / Analyst |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 1996 | Steve was hired by Danet Inc in telecommunications |
| | for quality assurance and in 1998 he was promoted to |
| | the maintainer of the internal business systems |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 1999 | Steve raised his first son with sign language, who |
| | learned to use several dozen signs before he spoke |
| | his first word |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 2004 | Steve raised his daughter with sign language, but she |
| | only learned a few signs before she started talking |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 2002 | Steve became a friend of the deaf through his wife's |
| | work in Pittsburgh and through connections at the |
| | Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD) |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 2004 to | Steve has been actively working with Valerie Sutton |
| present | on a weekly basis with Valerie sharing her invention |
| | and Steve trying to make it a reality with technology |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 2004 to | Steve was a paid consultant to the Center for Sutton |
| 2019 | Movement Writing non-profit |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 2020 to | Steve was hired by the University of Iowa as a data |
| present | manager for psychiatry research and neuroimaging |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 2020 | Steve continues his work with SignWriting on the |
| forward | weekends and early mornings |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
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Table 27
A.3. Financial Support
+=========+=========================================================+
| Year(s) | Event(s) |
+=========+=========================================================+
| 1974 to | SignWriting was financially supported and promoted |
| 2019 | through the Center for Sutton Movement Writing (CSMW) |
| | non-profit |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 2018 | the Center for Sutton Movement Writing (CSMW) lost a |
| | major funding source |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 2019 | the Center for Sutton Movement Writing closed the non- |
| | profit status of the organization due to excessive |
| | government paperwork and a focus on fundraising rather |
| | than productive work |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 2019 | Steve Slevinski started a Patreon campaign [SWPatrons] |
| | to support current and future work with SignWriting |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 2022 | Added crypto options to support current and future |
| | work with SignWriting |
| | |
| | * Bitcoin: bc1qj0fxphz4qsdt6xd4f3cr4lc96rxyp2ngh0npdp |
| | |
| | * Ethereum: |
| | 0x68733c1Dd7CB5A76d38b0711d937FBb953928357 |
| | |
| | * Dogecoin: DC8K7qWC7WdTrbDSpAJhFtp3kr9owzMF8j |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
Table 28
Appendix B. SignWriting General Interest
The Sutton SignWriting resources are free to use by anyone for any
purpose. Sutton SignWriting supports free culture and the creation
of free culture works.
Sutton SignWriting Resources [SWio]
SignWriting Website [SWWeb]
SignWriting Mobile Site [SWMobile]
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SignWriting Wikipedia Page [SWWikipedia]
SignWriting Email List [SWList]
SignWriting Group on Facebook [SWFacebook]
SignWriting Online Chat [SWChat]
Appendix C. Proposed Null Symbol
For consideration and comment, a new null symbol is proposed. This
new symbol is for use in the temporal prefix and not in the spatial
signbox. The null symbol can be used for one-handed signs so that
they will be sorted before two-handed signs.
+=============+========+=========+
| Type | FSW | SWU |
+=============+========+=========+
| null symbol | S00000 | U+40000 |
+-------------+--------+---------+
Table 29
Sorting uses a binary string comparison. The null symbol will sort
before all other symbols. Following the SignSpelling guidelines
[SignSpelling], the temporal prefix starts with the dominant hand and
is followed by the non-dominant hand. For one-handed signs, the null
symbol can be used in place of the non-dominant hand.
+============+============+=================+
| Sort Order | Symbol Key | Definition |
+============+============+=================+
| 1 | S00000 | Null Symbol |
+------------+------------+-----------------+
| 2 | S10000 | Index |
+------------+------------+-----------------+
| 3 | S10100 | Index on Circle |
+------------+------------+-----------------+
| 4 | S20500 | Touch Single |
+------------+------------+-----------------+
Table 30
C.1. Sorting without the Null Symbol
Without the null symbol, the one-handed signs may be sorted after
two-handed signs. This is suboptimal.
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+============+=================+=========================+
| Sort Order | Temporal Prefix | Description |
+============+=================+=========================+
| 1 | AS10000 | Single hand |
+------------+-----------------+-------------------------+
| 2 | AS10000S10100 | Two hands |
+------------+-----------------+-------------------------+
| 3 | AS10000S20500 | Single hand and contact |
+------------+-----------------+-------------------------+
Table 31
C.2. Sorting with the Null Symbol
With the null symbol, all one-handed signs can be sorted before two-
handed signs. This is ideal.
+============+=====================+=====================+
| Sort Order | Temporal Prefix | Description |
+============+=====================+=====================+
| 1 | AS10000 | Single hand |
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2 | AS10000S00000S20500 | Single hand, null |
| | | symbol, and contact |
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| 3 | AS10000S10100 | Two hands |
+------------+---------------------+---------------------+
Table 32
Author's Address
Steve Slevinski
www.sutton-signwriting.io
Email: slevinski@signwriting.org
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