Internet DRAFT - draft-slevinski-signwriting-text
draft-slevinski-signwriting-text
Sutton-Slevinski Collaboration S. Slevinski
Internet-Draft SignPuddle
Intended status: Informational May 9, 2016
Expires: November 10, 2016
The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting Text
draft-slevinski-signwriting-text-07
Abstract
For concreteness, because the universal character set is not yet
universal, and because an international standard for the internet
community should be documented and stable, this I-D has been released
with the intention of producing an RFC to document the character use
and naming conventions of the SignWriting community on the Internet.
The SignWriting Script 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. The SignWriting
Script has two major families: Block Printing for the reader and
Handwriting for the writer.
Formal SignWriting uses ASCII strings to name logographic signs. The
mathematical names are explained with tokens and regular expression
patterns. Symbol keys reference the symbols of the International
SignWriting Alphabet 2010. Coordinates define X and Y number values
for 2-dimensional placement. Signs are written in a spatial SignBox,
where each symbol is positioned with a 2-dimension coordinate. For
sorting, each sign can have an optional temporal sequence of symbols
that is outside of the SignBox and the visible text. To create
sentences, completed signs are written sequentially, interspersed
with punctuation symbols.
The query language of Formal SignWriting uses a lite markup, similar
to FSW, to define a variety of searching possibilities. The spatial
SignBox can be searched for symbols or ranges of symbols. For each
symbol or range, the search can specify if the symbol only needs to
be found somewhere in the SignBox, or if the symbol needs to be found
near certain coordinates. The temporal sequence can be searched for
starting symbols, written as a sequential list of symbols and ranges
of symbols. When searching the temporal sequence, the search results
will be limited to signs that start with a matching temporal
sequence. Each query string is transformed into one or more regular
expressions. The regular expressions are used to quickly search
large amounts of data.
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The styling string of Formal SignWriting uses a lite markup to define
a variety of styling options. The entire sign can be customized for
padding, coloring, and size. Individual symbols within a sign can be
customized for coloring and size.
SignWriting 2010 is the modern implementation and international
specification of the SignWriting Script for the internet community
that includes TrueType Fonts and a compact JavaScript library.
SignMaker is a standards based editor, utilizing HTML, CSS,
JavaScript, SVG, TrueType Fonts, and PNG images. SignMaker can be
used to create a private dictionary or to view dozens of sign
language dictionaries derived from SignPuddle Online.
For Unicode, there are several encodings possibilities. Formal
SignWriting is UTF-8. The plane 15 encoding is isomorphic with
Formal SignWriting strings, using 3 characters for each symbol, along
with structural marker characters and number characters. The plane
16 encoding is focused on the symbols only, using 1 character for
each symbol. The Unicode 8 specification uses 1 to 3 characters on
plane 1 to name each symbol of the International SignWriting Alphabet
2010.
Three appendices discuss additional topics to the standard. The
first discusses the Modern SignWriting theory and example document,
stable since January 12, 2012. The second discusses the symbol
encoding of the International SignWriting Alphabet 2010. The third
discusses the SignPuddle Standards: licences, infrastructure, and
compatibility.
This memo concretely 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.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-
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Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
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This Internet-Draft will expire on November 10, 2016.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
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include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
described in the Simplified BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. SignWriting Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1. 2-Dimensional Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2. Punctuation and Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3. Block Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4. Handwriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2. Formal SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1. Symbol Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2. Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.3. Spatial SignBox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4. Temporal Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.5. Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3. Query Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.1. Searching the Spatial Signbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2. Searching the Temporal Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.3. Transformation to Regular Expression . . . . . . . . . . 23
4. Styling String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.1. Styling the Entire Sign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1.1. Colorize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1.2. Padding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1.3. Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.1.4. Detail Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.1.5. Zoom Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.2. Styling Individual Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.2.1. Detail Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.2.2. Zoom Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5. SignWriting 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.1. Font Creation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.2. TrueType Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.3. JavaScript Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
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5.4. SignMaker Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
6. Unicode Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
6.1. UTF-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
6.2. Private Use Area Plane 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
6.3. Private Use Area Plane 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.4. Unicode 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
7. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
8. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
9. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Appendix A. Modern SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Appendix B. International SignWriting Alphabet 2010 . . . . . . 35
B.1. Grapheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
B.2. Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
B.3. Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
B.4. Combined Character Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
B.5. Validity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Appendix C. SignPuddle Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
C.1. Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
C.2. Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
C.2.1. SignPuddle Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
C.2.2. SignWriting Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
C.2.3. SignWriting Icon Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
C.2.4. Wikimedia Incubator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
C.3. Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
C.3.1. SignTyp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
C.3.2. SignWriter Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
C.3.3. DELEGS Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
C.3.4. SWift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
C.3.5. JSPad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
1. SignWriting Script
The SignWriting Script is the universal and complete solution for
written sign language. It has been applied to 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, Portugese Sign Language, Quebec Sign Language, South
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African Sign Language, Spanish Sign Language, Swedish Sign Language,
Swiss Sign Language, Taiwanese Sign Language, and Tunisian Sign
Language.
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. The SignWriting Script creates
2-dimensional writing that is visually icon 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.
The SignWriting Script 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.
Initially developed in 1974, the script was written exclusively by
hand for 12 years. Since then the script has spread around the world
and continues to be written on paper and chalkboard.
In 1981, SignWriting Publishing rapidly evolved with Block Printing.
In 1986, computerization of the SignWriting Block Printing began.
The current symbol encoding of the ISWA 2010 has been stable since
the font release on October 20th, 2010. The larger character
encoding model has been stable since the initial release of Modern
SignWriting on January 12th, 2012.
The 2 families of the SignWriting Script are Handwriting for the
writer and Block Printing for the reader. Block Printing uses more
features and Handwriting often uses less. Block printing is used in
education, publishing, and is the basis of the computerized model.
1.1. 2-Dimensional Signs
A sign is a variably-size logographic word. It is a 2-dimensional
combination of symbols inside of a signbox with a tight bounding box
and an explicit center. The size of the signbox varies with the
symbols written inside.
Inside of a 2-dimensional signbox, the symbols are placed in a
freeform, 2-dimensional arrangement. This feature of the script
expresses spatial relation directly.
Writing based on vision uses two viewpoints: receptive and
expressive. The receptive viewpoint is based on the idea of
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receiving an image. For the receptive viewpoint, the right hand of a
signer will be written on the left side of the signbox. When
SignWriting is used for transcription, the receptive view is most
often used. The related writing systems of DanceWriting and
MovementWriting normally use the receptive viewpoint.
The expressive viewpoint is based on the idea of expressing a
concept. For the expressive viewpoint, the right hand of a signer
will be written on the right side of the signbox. When SignWriting
is used for authorship, the expressive view is most often used.
The are two main writing planes: the front wall (Frontal Plane) and
the floor (Transverse Plane). The choice of writing plane can affect
the shape of the symbols, such as the fill pattern for the hand shape
palms or the tail for the movement arrows.
There are two perspectives: front and top. The front perspective is
a straight on view of/from the signer. The top perspective is a top-
down view of the signer. Usually, a sign will be written from a
single perspective.
1.2. Punctuation and Text
Logographic signs are mixed with punctuation to form text.
Punctuation is a single symbol and separates a series of signs into
structured sentences. A punctuation symbol is always used alone and
should not be used in a sign. Line breaks should not occur before
punctuation.
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.
For body weight shifts to one side or the other, the center of the
sign is aligned with a fixed horizontal offset from the middle lane
into either the left or right 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).
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1.3. Block Printing
Valerie Sutton writes, "SignWriting Printing is easy to read. It is
designed for the reader. The Printing can be written by hand as well
as by computer. If I am writing a letter to a friend in ASL, I write
the letter in SignWriting Printing, taking the time to make sure that
my handwritten-symbols are easy and clear to read. I try to write as
clearly as if I were using a computer. Of course it is slower, but
it is worth it, knowing that my friend will be able to read my
letter!"
With Block Printing, a sign is a cluster of several symbols arranged
in 2-dimensions space. Each symbol has a definite appearance and
understanding within an established symbol set. The exact form of
each symbol is structured, standardized, and highly featural.
Each symbol can have two aspects. The first is the line that defines
the positive shape of the symbol. The second aspect is the fill (or
negative space) of the symbol that is sometimes used inside the lines
for palm facing, and inside some arrow heads and tails. Not every
symbol has fill. Fill matters when symbols overlap. The negative
space of the symbol on top will cover part of the symbol underneath.
The Block Printing family is aimed at the needs of the reader and the
publisher. The Block Printing family has been standardized with a
fully developed model.
1.4. Handwriting
Valerie Sutton writes, "SignWriting Handwriting is easier to write by
hand, than the Printing. It is designed for the writer. There are
several variations of Handwriting, and since most of the time, the
writer is only writing for private notes, some writers create their
own shortcuts that work just for them...and that is fine!"
The purpose is not to recreate the iconic symbols of the
International SignWriting Alphabet exactly by hand, but the purpose
is to enable the writer to quickly write notes on paper or
chalkboard. Handwriting often drops features of the SignWriting
Script for efficiency and speed. If too many features are dropped,
the writing may loose it's clarity over time as the writer is
distanced from the writing. This is common for Shorthand.
A popular form of SignWriting is cursive. It can be shared among a
groups of writers or it can be individualized and personal. Cursive
writing is designed to have fluid marks and a natural flow. Cursive
writing may use fewer features than the iconic symbols, but the
various marks should be related to the standardized symbols in
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appearance and meaning. Once developed, this style of writing is
great for taking notes in a class.
Shorthand is a skill of the proficient writer [SHORTHAND]. In 1982,
Sign Language Stenographers could record sign language with
SignWriting Shorthand at normal signing speed [STENOGRAPHY]. To
develop this skill, practice and special training were required.
The marks of SignWriting Shorthand are a personal style of quick and
efficient strokes with a highly developed reception to what signifies
meaning. The marks are personal reminders rather than a fully
developed text. The shorthand in and of itself is often an
incomplete representation of the gestures that were experienced. The
shorthand writing can be thought of as a short-term memory device.
Often shorthand notes must be revised and extended at a later time,
the sooner the better.
2. Formal SignWriting
According to Wikipedia, "In mathematics, computer science, and
linguistics, a formal language is a set of strings of symbols that
may be constrained by rules that are specific to it." [FORMAL]
Formal SignWriting defines a formal language for the signed languages
of the world. Any sign of any sign language can be written as a
string of ASCII characters.
Formal SignWriting is a heuristic model. The first prototypes were
created in 2008. Through trial and error, the model was successively
refactored to reduce the complexity and the computation cost of the
implementations. The model has been optimized for common usage and
processing. The final model has been stable since January 12th,
2012.
The mathematical names of Formal SignWriting are plain text strings
of characters. These names are described with regular expressions.
Formal languages and regular expressions are used to solve
fundamental problems.
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+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| Characters | Description | Example |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| * | Match a literal 0 or | ABC* matches AB, ABC, |
| | more times | ABCC, ... |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| + | Match a literal 1 or | ABC+ matches ABC, ABCC, |
| | more times | ABCCC, ... |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| ? | Match a literal 0 or 1 | ABC? matches AB or ABC |
| | times | |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| {#} | Match a literal "#" | AB{2} matches ABB |
| | times | |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| [ ] | Match any single literal | [ABC] matches A, B, or C |
| | from a list | |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| [ - ] | Match any single literal | [A-C] matches A, B, or C |
| | in a range | |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| ( ) | Creates a group for | A(BC)+ matches ABC, |
| | matching | ABCBC, ABCBCBC, ... |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| ( | ) | Matches one of several | (AB|BC|CD) will match AB, |
| | alternatives | BC, or CD |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
Regular Expression Basics
Table 1
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).
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+-------+-------------------------------+
| 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 |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| P | Punctuation BaseSymbols |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| i | Fill Modifiers |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| o | Rotation Modifiers |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| n | Number from 250 to 749 |
+-------+-------------------------------+
The Tokens of Formal SignWriting
Table 2
These tokens are used in patterns to form written sign language. The
following token patterns fully describe SignWriting Text.
2.1. Symbol Keys
Symbol keys can be described with 3 tokens: base symbol, fill
modifier, and rotation modifier.
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+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| 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 sequence. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| [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 sequence. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| Pio | A punctuation symbol as 3 tokens of punctuation base, |
| | fill modifier, and rotation modifier. Punctuation |
| | symbols divide signs into sentences. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
Symbol Key Tokens
Table 3
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.
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+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| 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 |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
Symbol Key Definition
Table 4
Symbol keys can be divided between several types. Each type has a
starting and ending base value.
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+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| Type | Start | End | Description |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| all symbols | 100 | 38b | All symbol keys occur in this range. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| writing | 100 | 37e | Symbols that can be used in the |
| | | | spatial SignBox or the temporal |
| | | | sequence. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| hand | 100 | 204 | Various handshapes |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| movement | 205 | 2f6 | Contact symbols, small finger |
| | | | movements, straight arrows, curved |
| | | | arrows and circles. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| dynamic | 2f7 | 2fe | Dynamic symbols are used to give the |
| | | | "feeling" or "tempo" to movement. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| head | 2ff | 36c | Symbols for the head and face. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| hcenter | 2ff | 36c | Used to determine the horizontal |
| | | | center of a sign. Same as the head |
| | | | type. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| vcenter | 2ff | 375 | Use to determine the vertical center |
| | | | of a sign. Includes the head and |
| | | | trunk types. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| trunk | 36d | 375 | Symbols for torso movement, |
| | | | shoulders, and hips. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| limb | 376 | 37e | Symbols for limbs and fingers. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| location | 37f | 386 | Details location symbols can only be |
| | | | used in the temporal sequence. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
| punctuation | 387 | 38b | Punctual symbols are used to divide |
| | | | signs into sentences. |
+-------------+-------+-----+---------------------------------------+
Symbol Key Type and Ranges
Table 5
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2.2. Coordinates
Coordinates can be described with 2 tokens: number and number. These
numbers represent the X and Y coordinates respectively.
The number characters 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.
+----------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Token Patterns | Description |
+----------------+---------------------------------------------+
| n | Number from 250 to 749 |
+----------------+---------------------------------------------+
| nn | Coordinate with X and Y values as 2 numbers |
+----------------+---------------------------------------------+
Coordinate Tokens
Table 6
There are 2 definitions for a coordinate. The more general
definition simply defines 3 numbers followed by an "x" followed by 3
more numbers. The more explicit definition correctly restricts the
number range from 250 to 749. The general coordinate definition is
adequate for processing.
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])
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. Spatial SignBox
The visual image of a logographic sign is a 2-dimension arrangement
of symbols inside of a signbox. Each signbox has a defined width,
height, and 2-dimensional center that can be calculated from the
plain text.
Each logographic sign exists on its own 2-dimensional signbox. Each
point on the signbox is identified with an X and a Y coordinate.
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Each signbox has a defined center. Formal numbers range from 250 to
749. Informal number have no limit.
Y Axis
| 250
|
|
|
|
|
X Axis |
-----------+------------
250 | 749
|
|
|
|
|
| 749
Symbols are placed on the signbox with coordinates that represent the
top-left of the symbol image. Symbol images may overlap.
The Spatial SignBox can be described with 8 tokens.
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+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| 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 |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
Spatial SignBox Tokens
Table 7
The Spatial SignBox is assigned to a lane, has a preprocessed maximum
coordinate and zero or more writing symbols with X and Y coordinates.
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Symbol key definition: S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f]
Coordinate definition: [0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3}
SignBox definition: [BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})(S[123][0-9a-
f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*
2-dimensional space does not have a normative 1-dimensional order.
When symbols overlap, the relative order of the overlapping symbols
is important. Otherwise, the exact string order of the spatial
symbols is unpredictable.
2.4. Temporal Sequence
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 sequence describes a 1-dimensional order that is
separate from the spatial SignBox, rather than ordering the
2-dimensional space directly. The temporal sequence is written as an
optional prefix to a spatial SignBox. The temporal sequence 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 sequence 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 sequence allows for sorting that is universally
supported through binary string comparison.
There are several theories on the best way to structure a temporal
sequence. The most productive is based on the SignSpelling Sequence
theory of Valerie Sutton. A temporal sequence is structured as a
series of starting handshapes followed by optional movements,
transitional handshapes, movement, and end handshapes. Only symbols
of type "hand" and "movement" should be used in this first section.
The last section of the temporal sequence should contain symbols of
of type "dynamic", "head", "trunk", and "limb".
Detailed location symbols of type "location" can be used in a
temporal sequence, but are rarely (if ever) needed for general
writing.
A temporal sequence can be described with 5 tokens.
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+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Token | Description |
| Patterns | |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| A | Sequence Marker |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| w | Writing BaseSymbols |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| s | Detailed Location BaseSymbols |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| i | Fill Modifiers |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| o | Rotation Modifiers |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| (A([ws]io)+)? | An optional temporal sequence to be used as a |
| | prefix for a SignBox |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
Temporal Sequence Tokens
Table 8
The temporal prefix starts with a sequence marker and includes an
ordered list of writing symbols and detailed locations.
+---------------------------------------+---------------------------+
| Regular Expression | Description |
+---------------------------------------+---------------------------+
| (A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)? | An optional temporal |
| | sequence as a sequence |
| | marker followed by one or |
| | more symbols. |
+---------------------------------------+---------------------------+
Temporal Sequence Definition
Table 9
2.5. Sentences
General signs are written as a spatial SignBox of symbols in
2-dimensional space. Sortable signs include a temporal sequence as a
1-dimensional prefix to the spatial SignBox.
Signs are mixed with punctuation to form text. Punctuation is a
single symbol and separates a series of signs into structured
sentences. A punctuation symbol is always used alone and should not
be used in a sign. 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.
For body weight shifts to one side or the other, the center of the
sign is aligned with a fixed horizontal offset from the middle lane
into either the left or right 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).
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| Regular Expression | Description |
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| Pionn | a punctuation symbol as |
| | a punctuation base |
| | symbol with a |
| | preprocessed minimum |
| | coordinate |
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| (((A([ws]io)+)?Bnn(wionn)*)|Pionn)+ | a sign text for |
| | horizontal writing as a |
| | string of signboxes |
| | (with optional |
| | prefixes) and |
| | punctuation |
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| (((A([ws]io)+)?[LMR]nn(wionn)*)|Pionn)+ | a sign text for |
| | vertical writing as a |
| | string of signboxes in |
| | lanes (with optional |
| | prefixes) and |
| | punctuation |
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
Sentence Token Patterns
Table 10
Sentences mix signs with punctuation to form text.
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Punctuation definition: S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3}
Formal SignWriting text definition: ((A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-
f])+)?[BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-
f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*|S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})(
(A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-
f])+)?[BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-
f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*| S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*
3. Query Language
The query language is a lite ASCII markup similar to Formal
SignWriting. Any Formal SignWriting string can easily be converted
into several different query string, depending on the search
parameters.
The 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.
There are two main sections of a query string. The first searches
the spatial signbox. The second searches the temporal sequence.
Both sections use the same definition for a symbol or a range. The
symbol search can match an exact symbol, or a set of related symbols.
For the fill and rotation modifiers, the "u" character is a wildcard.
The "u" stands for unknown and will match all values rather than a
specific character. The range search can match a range of base
symbols. The base symbol range consists of 2 values: the starting
base symbol and the ending base symbol. Every symbol between these 2
base symbols will be matched.
Symbol Search: S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-9a-fu]
Range Search: R[123][0-9a-f]{2}t[123][0-9a-f]{2}
The full query string definition allows for the possibility of
searching the temporal sequence and the spatial signbox at the same
time.
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Query String: Q((A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-9a-fu]|R[123][0-9a-
f]{2}t[123][0-9a-f]{2})+)?T)?(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-9a-
fu]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?|R[123][0-9a-f]{2}t[123][0-9a-
f]{2}([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?)*(V[0-9]+)?
3.1. Searching the Spatial Signbox
The spatial signbox is a list of symbols with 2-dimensional
placement. The query "Q" will find all signs regardless of the
symbols used or their placement.
It is possible to specify one or more symbols (or ranges of symbols)
that must be included in the signbox to indicate a match. The order
of the symbols is not important. Each symbol (or range) can include
an optional coordinate. The coordinate is a restriction on the
match, such that a symbol must be used within a certain variance of
the coordinate to qualify as a match.
The variance is a number value, 0 or greater with a default value of
20. A variance of 0 will only find symbols used at an exact
coordinate. A variance of 5 will match the symbols used at a
coordinate, plus or minus 5 for both X and Y numbers.
Symbol Search with Optional Coordinate: S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-
9a-fu]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?
Range Search with Optional Coordinate: R[123][0-9a-f]{2}t[123][0-9a-
f]{2}([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?
Variance: (V[0-9]+)?
Spatial Signbox Search Query: Q(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-9a-
fu]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?|R[123][0-9a-f]{2}t[123][0-9a-
f]{2}([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?)*(V[0-9]+)?
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+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Query | Description |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Q | All signs |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| QS100uu | Signs with the index handshape in the spatial |
| | order |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| QS100uu480x480 | Signs with the index handshape in the spatial |
| | order used near coordinate (480,480) |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| QS100uu480x480V0 | Signs with the index handshape in the spatial |
| | order used at the exact coordinate (480,480) |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| QS100uuR2fft36c | Signs with the index handshape and a symbol |
| | from the head & face range |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
Spatial Signbox Query Examples
Table 11
3.2. Searching the Temporal Sequence
The temporal sequence is a list of symbol keys. The query "QT" will
find all signs that include a temporal sequence.
It is possible to specify the start of the temporal sequence by
identifying a series of symbols and/or ranges. The query will start
with an "QA" and end with a "T", such as "QA...T". Between the "QA"
and "T", a series of symbol searches and/or range searches will
specify the desired start of the temporal sequence. The order of the
symbols and ranges is important.
Temporal Sequence Search Query: Q((A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-9a-
fu]|R[123][0-9a-f]{2}t[123][0-9a-f]{2})+)?T)?
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+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Query | Description |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| QT | All signs that include the temporal |
| | sequence |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| QAS100uuT | Signs with a temporal sequence that |
| | starts with the index handshape |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| QAS100uuR100t204S20500T | Signs with a temporal sequence that |
| | starts with the index handshape, |
| | followed by any handshape, followed by |
| | the single contact |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
Temporal Sequence Query Examples
Table 12
3.3. Transformation to Regular Expression
The conversion from query string to regular expressions has been
fully implemented in the SignWriting 2010 JavaScript Library, the
SignWriting Server, and the SignWriting Icon Server.
The query language to regular expressions generator uses the
following regular expression structures as building blocks.
Temporal Sequence 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 Sequence 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 Sequence 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
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Spatial Symbols definition will sandwich the specific search
definitions.
Searching for number ranges with regular expressions requires a
unique technique. This technique was described to the LinkedIn
Regular Expression Experts at the end of 2011 [DIGIT_SEARCH].
Searching for number ranges in hexadecimal with regular expressions
is slightly more complicated but uses the same solution.
4. Styling String
The styling string of Formal SignWriting uses a lite markup to define
a variety of styling options. The entire sign can be customized for
padding, coloring, and size. Individual symbols within a sign can be
customized for coloring and size.
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 2 sections: one for the entire
sign and one for individual symbols. 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.
Sign section only: -(sign)
Symbol section only: --(symbols)
Both sections: -(sign)-(symbols)
The full styling string definition allows for the possibility of
styling the entire sign and individual symbols at the same time. The
order of the styling options is important.
Query 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]+))?_)*(Z[0-9]{2},[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?(,[0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?)*)?
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4.1. Styling the Entire Sign
There are several options for styling an entire sign.
C Colorize
P Padding
G Background
D Detail colors
Z Zoom level
4.1.1. 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 13
4.1.2. 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 14
4.1.3. 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 15
4.1.4. 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 16
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4.1.5. 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 17
4.2. Styling Individual Symbols
There are two options 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
Z Zoom level
4.2.1. 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 18
4.2.2. Zoom Level
By default, each symbol is set to zoom level 1. The zoom level of
individual symbols can be set with an integer or a decimal number.
Additionally, an offset coordinate can be specified with an
individual symbol's zoom level. The offset coordinate of 500x500 is
considered no offset for either the x or y value.
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Styling String | Description |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| -Z03,2 | Third symbol zoom level of 2 |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| -Z04,15.7 | Fourth symbol zoom level of 15.7 |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| -Z04,1.5,480x500 | Fourth symbol zoom level of 1.5 with a -20 |
| | offset applied to the X value of the symbol's |
| | placement coordinate. |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
Table 19
5. SignWriting 2010
SignWriting 2010 is the modern implementation and international
specification of the SignWriting script for the internet community
that includes TrueType Fonts and a compact JavaScript library.
5.1. Font Creation Tools
The SignWriting 2010 Tools [SW10_TOOLS] is a collection of text files
and python scripts used to build TrueType fonts using FontForge. The
source SVG are available in the SignWriting 2010 Fonts project.
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5.2. TrueType Fonts
The SignWriting 2010 Fonts [SW10_FONTS] are available for download in
SVG format and TrueType fonts. The TrueType fonts can be installed
on Windows, Linux, Mac, and iOS. Font installation for Android is
not currently supported because the fonts can not be installed due to
OS limitations.
Rather than installing the fonts, it is possible to use a font-face
statement in CSS to conditionally load the fonts when needed.
@font-face {
font-family: "SignWriting 2010";
src:
local('SignWriting 2010'),
local('SignWriting_2010'),
url('https://cdn.rawgit.com/Slevinski/signwriting_2010_fonts/\
master/fonts/SignWriting%202010.ttf') format('truetype');
}
@font-face {
font-family: "SignWriting 2010 Filling";
src:
local('SignWriting 2010 Filling'),
local('SignWriting_2010_Filling'),
url('https://cdn.rawgit.com/Slevinski/signwriting_2010_fonts/\
master/fonts/SignWriting%202010%20Filling.ttf') format('truetype');
}
The fonts have been tailored for the SignWriting 2010 JavaScript
library.
5.3. JavaScript Library
The SignWriting 2010 JavaScript Library [SW10_JS] provides support
for SignWriting images and queries. It leverages the TrueType fonts
without any additional requirements. The SignWriting 2010 JavaScript
library is contained in a single file and can be included in any HTML
page or JavaScript environment. The library includes a guide, API
documentation, and a testing suite.
5.4. SignMaker Editor
SignMaker [SIGNMAKER] is a standards based editor, utilizing HTML,
CSS, JavaScript, SVG, TrueType Fonts, and PNG images.
SignMaker is browser based without the need for a server connection.
It can be used online or it can be downloaded [SM_DOWNLOAD] and run
directly from the user's computer.
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The primary online website on SignBank [SM_SIGNBANK] can be used to
create a private dictionary in the browser's LocalStorage or view
dozens of sign language dictionaries from around the world.
The secondary online website on GitHub.io [SM_GITHUB] can be used to
create a private dictionary in the browser's LocalStorage.
6. Unicode Integration
SignWriting Text is integrated with Unicode in a varieties of ways.
The TrueType fonts of SignWriting 2010 are compatible with each of
the varieties.
6.1. UTF-8
Formal SignWriting is based on ASCII, so it can be supported anywhere
ASCII is supported. ASCII is a subset of UTF-8, with a one-to-one
character correspondence. Anywhere UTF-8 is supported, the size of
the Formal SignWriting strings is equal to the ASCII encoding of 8
bits per character. With UTF-32, the size of the string is 4 times
that of the ASCII encoding, requiring 32 bits for each character.
The Formal SignWriting strings have an equivalent encoding on plane
15 of the Private Use Area.
6.2. Private Use Area Plane 15
The x-Character-SignWriting coded character set is isomorphic with
Formal SignWriting strings. Instead of ASCII characters, x-
Character-SignWriting uses code points on Plane 15 of Unicode.
Symbols are defined using 3 characters. Structural markers are
defined using 1 character each. Number characters are defined using
1 character each.
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+--------------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| Description | Formal SignWriting | x-Character-SignWriting |
+--------------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| Sequence Marker | A | U+FD800 |
+--------------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| SignBox Markers | B, L, M, R | U+FD801 to U+FD804 |
+--------------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| Fill Modifiers | 0 to 5 | U+FD810 to U+FD815 |
+--------------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| Rotation Modifiers | 0 to 9 and a to f | U+FD820 to U+FD82F |
+--------------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| Symbol Base | S100 to S38b | U+FD830 to U+FDABB |
+--------------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| Numbers | 250 to 749 | U+FDE06 to U+FDFF9 |
+--------------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
x-Character-SignWriting Definition
Table 20
6.3. Private Use Area Plane 16
The x-ISWA-2010 is a 16-bit coded character set that has a unique
codepoint for each symbol of the ISWA 2010. The coded character set
can be mapped to plane 16 by adding value U+100000 to any codepoint.
A simple formula transforms a symbol key into a codepoint. Given a
symbol key as variable "key", in JavaScript the function is defined
as:
var code = ((parseInt(key.slice(1,4),16) - 256) * 96) +
((parseInt(key.slice(4,5),16))*16) + parseInt(key.slice(5,6),16) +
1;
6.4. Unicode 8
The symbols of the International SignWriting Alphabet 2010 have been
approved for Unicode 8 [UNICODE8]. Every symbol of the ISWA 2010 can
be described with 1 to 3 characters.
Due to the variable size of the symbol description, both sorting and
searching have been compromised. These issues, and others, have been
reported to the Unicode Consortium. During UTC #144 [UTC_144],
SignWriting was discussed at length, but the issues are unresolved
[UNICODE8_ISSUES].
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A special design document [SW_DESIGN] was prepared for UTC #144
action item 144-A33 that shows three SignWriting examples and
describes the three different representations for each example.
7. IANA Considerations
This section provides guidance to the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA) regarding registration of values related to the code
spaces of the Center for Sutton Movement Writing, in accordance with
[RFC2978]. protocol, in accordance with BCP 26, [RFC2434].
See IANA: http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2978.txt
Conforms with RFC 2040.
There are two name spaces for the Center for Sutton Movement Writing
that require definition and extension: x-ISWA-2010 and x-Character-
SignWriting
SignWriting Text is an international standard with several coded
character sets. These sets may require additional hand and mouth
shapes.
The following terms are used here with the meanings defined in BCP
26: "name space", "assigned value", "registration".
The following policies are used here with the meanings defined in BCP
26: "Private Use", "First Come First Served", "Expert Review",
"Specification Required", "IETF Consensus", "Standards Action".
8. Security Considerations
None.
9. References
[CODING_SYSTEM]
Butler, C. and R. Channon, "Transcription systems as input
to coding systems: SignWriting & SignTyp",
<http://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs7/
sw0623_TISLR_2010_SignWriting_SignTyp_Poster.pdf>.
[DELEGS] "DELEGS Editor", <http://www.delegs.com/DelegsPage>.
[DIGIT_SEARCH]
Slevinski, S., "3 Digit Number Searching",
<https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/1066587-85595980>.
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[FEATURES]
Hulst, H. and R. Channon, "Why dynamic features?",
<http://www.purdue.edu/tislr10/pdfs/
van%20der%20Hulst%20Channon.pdf>.
[FORMAL] "Formal Language on Wikipedia",
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_language>.
[ISWA_FONT]
Slevinski, S., "International SignWriting Alphabet 2010
Font Reference", <http://signpuddle.net/iswa>.
[ISWA_REF]
Slevinski, S., "International SignWriting Alphabet 2010
HTML Reference", <http://signbank.org/iswa>.
[JSPAD] "JSPad", <http://www.mat.info.gifu-u.ac.jp/jspad/>.
[MSW] Slevinski, S., "Modern SignWriting",
<https://github.com/Slevinski/msw>.
[NOTATION]
Hulst, H. and R. Channon, "Notation Systems",
<http://homepage.uconn.edu/~hdv02001/
Articles-pdfs/131%20-%20Notation%20Systems.pdf>.
[SHORTHAND]
Sutton, V., "SignWriting Shorthand",
<http://www.signwriting.org/lessons/cursive/shorthand>.
[SIGNMAKER]
Slevinski, S., "SignMaker Editor",
<https://github.com/Slevinski/signmaker>.
[SM_DOWNLOAD]
Slevinski, S., "SignMaker Download Link",
<https://github.com/Slevinski/signmaker/archive/gh-
pages.zip>.
[SM_GITHUB]
"SignMaker on GitHub.io",
<http://slevinski.github.io/signmaker>.
[SM_SIGNBANK]
"SignMaker on SignBank",
<http://signbank.org/signmaker.html>.
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[SP_ONLINE]
"SignPuddle Online", <http://signpuddle.org>.
[SPML] "SignPuddle Markup Language Source Files",
<http://signbank.org/signpuddle2.0/data/spml>.
[STENOGRAPHY]
Sutton, V., "Sign Language Stenography",
<http://www.signwriting.org/lessons/cursive/byhand5.html>.
[STUDIO] "SignWriter Studio", <http://signwriterstudio.com>.
[SW10_FONTS]
Slevinski, S., "SignWriting 2010 Fonts",
<https://github.com/Slevinski/signwriting_2010_fonts>.
[SW10_JS] Slevinski, S., "SignWriting 2010 JavaScript Library",
<https://github.com/Slevinski/sw10js>.
[SW10_TOOLS]
Slevinski, S., "SignWriting 2010 Tools",
<https://github.com/Slevinski/signwriting_2010_tools>.
[SW_DESIGN]
Slevinski, S., Anderson, D., and K. Whistler, "SignWriting
Design, With Three Examples and Their Representation",
<http://www.unicode.org/L2/
L2015/15219-signwriting-design.pdf>.
[SWIFT] "SignWriting improved fast transcriber",
<http://www.researchgate.net/publication/230720646_SWift_a
_SignWriting_improved_fast_transcriber>.
[SWIS] Slevinski, S., "SignWriting Icon Server source",
<https://github.com/Slevinski/swis>.
[SWIS_LABS]
"SignWriting Icon Server on Wikimedia Labs",
<http://swis.wmflabs.org>.
[SWSERVER]
Slevinski, S., "SignWriting Server source",
<https://github.com/Slevinski/swserver>.
[SWSERVER_LABS]
"SignWriting Server on Wikimedia Labs",
<https://swserver.wmflabs.org>.
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[SWSERVER_SIGNPUDDLE]
"SignWriting Server on SignPuddle.net",
<https://signpuddle.net>.
[UNICODE8]
"Unicode 8", <http://unicode.org/versions/Unicode8.0.0/>.
[UNICODE8_ISSUES]
Slevinski, S., "Issues with SignWriting in Unicode 8",
<http://www.slideshare.net/StephenSlevinski/
sign-writing-in-unicode-8-issues>.
[UTC_144] "Minutes of UTC Meeting 144",
<http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15187.htm>.
Appendix A. Modern SignWriting
This Internet Draft is in complete agreement with the theory and
example workbook released on January 12th, 2012 called Modern
SignWriting [MSW]. Modern SignWriting has example text and
concretely defines the processes available. It fully documented the
text encoding with regular expressions.
The Formal SignWriting strings are exactly the same as they appear in
the Modern SignWriting document. The query language is nearly the
same, with a compatible improvement for searching the temporal
sequence.
Appendix B. International SignWriting Alphabet 2010
The International SignWriting Alphabet 2010 [ISWA_REF] is a
collection of visually iconic symbols that exists in a layered
hierarchy (Appendix B.3). The ISWA 2010 is a product of the
collaboration between SignWriting inventor, Valerie Sutton, and
SignWriting encoder Stephen E Slevinski Jr. Special thanks to Adam
Frost's excellent work on the SVG refinement and more.
The ISWA 2010 fonts [ISWA_FONT] have been stable since their initial
release on October 20th, 2010.
Valerie Sutton
o hand crafted and organized 30K plus individual glyphs
o created a 2 dimension PNG of 3 colors for each
o named each individual glyph with 6 degrees of significance
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o font name: ISWA 2010 Sutton
Steve Slevinski
o counted and numbered the glyphs
o created mathematical names
o analyzed PNGs for line and fill
o refactored glyphs - font name: ISWA 2010 PNG Standard
o extended glyphs - font names: ISWA 2010 PNG Inverse, Shadow,
Colorized
o traced glyphs - font names: ISWA 2010 SVG Line Trace, Shaddow
Trace, Smooth, and Angular
o refactored and extended Adam's SVG work - font name: ISWA 2010 SVG
Refinement
Adam Frost
o manually traced each and every glyph that could not be
automatically rotated
o font name: ISWA 2010 SVG Refinement
o physically performed and photographed every hand shape
o font name: ISWA 2010 Hand Photo
o consulted with Valerie in places of ambiguity
B.1. Grapheme
The grapheme is the fundamental unit of writing for the SignWriting
script. Many graphemes of SignWriting are visually iconic. The main
writing graphemes of SignWriting represent a visual conception:
either hands, movement, dynamics, timing, head, face, trunk, or limb.
The body concept is a combination of trunk and limb. The specific
size and shape of each grapheme is designed to balance and complement
other graphemes.
The writing graphemes are extensive and specifically organized for
written sign language and sign gestures. The writing graphemes do
not include the specific graphemes of DanceWriting or the general
graphemes of MovementWriting.
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The writing graphemes are used in clusters. A cluster is a spatial
grouping of graphemes written as a single unit. The graphemes can
overlap and obscure graphemes underneath. A cluster can represents a
sign of a sign language or a visual performance of a sign gesture.
Detailed location graphemes are separate from the main writing
graphemes. Detailed location graphemes are used individually or
sequentially. They represent isolated analysis that is written
outside the cluster.
Punctuation graphemes are used when writing sentences. They are used
individually, between clusters.
When written by hand, lines are drawn to form each grapheme.
Different styles draw different types of lines: either for personal
taste, speed, or quality. The main types of handwriting are formal,
cursive, and shorthand. Formal handwriting, equivalent to block
printing, includes defined lines for all grapheme features, specific
palm facings for hand shapes, and detailed arrow heads and tails.
Cursive handwriting is more fluid and less detailed. Handwriting for
personal use can omit palm facings, generalize arrows, and other
liberties of personal consumption. Shorthand is a further reduction
of detail, written for speed. Shorthand is a memory aid to a written
record and should be rewritten soon after the notes were taken.
Understanding the ratios of size and shape for the graphemes improves
hand writing. SignWriting was an exclusively handwritten script for
7 years before publishing formalized the Block Printing model.
B.2. Symbol
There are 37,811 symbols, each with a unique ID. A symbol ID is a
sequence of six formatted numbers of increasing detail. The first
dashed number defines the category (11). The first two dashed
numbers define the group (11-22). The first four dashed numbers
define a base (11-22-333-44). The fifth number represents the fill
(55). The sixth number represents the rotation (66). A symbol ID is
a combination of base ID with a valid fill and a valid rotation. A
symbol ID has the format "nn-nn-nnn-nn-nn-nn", where each "n" is a
digit from 0 to 9.
The fill modifier can best be understood through the palm facing of
the hand graphemes. The palm facing is based on planes. The
SignWriting script uses two planes: the Front Wall (Frontal Plane)
and the Floor (Transverse Plane). There are 6 palm facings. The
first three palm facings are parallel with the Front Wall. The
second three palm facings are parallel with the Floor. The reader
can view the signer from different viewpoints (expressive or
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receptive) and can view the hands from different perspectives (front
or top), but no matter what the viewpoint or perspective, the first
three Fills represent the palm facing parallel to the Front Wall and
the second three Fills represent the palm facing parallel to the
Floor.
+------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+
| Fill | Indicator | Meaning |
+------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+
| 01 | grapheme with white palm | reader sees palm of hand |
| | | parallel Front Wall |
+------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+
| 02 | grapheme with half black | reader sees side of hand |
| | palm | parallel Front Wall |
+------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+
| 03 | grapheme with black palm | reader sees back of hand |
| | | parallel Front Wall |
+------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+
| 04 | grapheme with white palm and | reader sees palm of hand |
| | broken line | parallel Floor |
+------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+
| 05 | grapheme with half black | reader sees side of hand |
| | palm and broken line | parallel Floor |
+------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+
| 06 | grapheme with black palm and | reader sees palm of hand |
| | broken line | parallel Floor |
+------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+
Table 21
The fill modifier is redefined for the movement arrows of category 2.
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+------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Fill | Indicator | Meaning |
+------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| 01 | a grapheme with a | movement of the right hand |
| | black arrow head | |
+------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| 02 | a grapheme with a | movement of the left hand |
| | white arrow head | |
+------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| 03 | a grapheme with a | spatial overlapping of movement |
| | thin, unconnected | arrows for the left and right hands |
| | arrow head | when they move as a unit |
+------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
| 04 | Irregular arrow | building blocks for complex movement |
| | stems | |
+------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+
Table 22
The rest of the other bases use a fill modifier for grouping and
visual organization that is meaningful only for a particular base
symbol or small set.
The rotation modifier can best be understood through the hand
symbols. The first 8 rotations progress 45 degrees counter
clockwise. The last 8 rotations are a mirror of the first 8 and
progress 45 degrees clockwise. Zero (0) degrees is understood to
point to the top of the grapheme.
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+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| Rotation | Direction | Degrees from top |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 01 | Counter Clockwise | 0 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 02 | Counter Clockwise | 45 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 03 | Counter Clockwise | 90 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 04 | Counter Clockwise | 135 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 05 | Counter Clockwise | 180 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 06 | Counter Clockwise | 225 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 07 | Counter Clockwise | 270 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 08 | Counter Clockwise | 315 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 09 | Clockwise | 0 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 10 | Clockwise | 45 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 11 | Clockwise | 90 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 12 | Clockwise | 135 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 13 | Clockwise | 180 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 14 | Clockwise | 225 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 15 | Clockwise | 270 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
| 16 | Clockwise | 315 |
+----------+-------------------+------------------+
Table 23
B.3. Hierarchy
The symbols of the ISWA 2010 are placed in a layered hierarchy for
organization and access. There are 4 levels to the ISWA 2010
hierarchy: category, group, base, and symbol.
There are 7 categories. The first number of the symbol ID identifies
the category. The first 5 categories contain writing symbols for use
in clusters: 1) Hands, 2) Movement, 3) Dynamics & Timing, 4) Head &
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Face, and 5) Body. The Body category can be broken into 2
subcategories: 5.1) Trunk and 5.2) Limb.
The 6th category is Detailed Location that contains symbols used
alone or in sequence, always outside the cluster. The 7th category
is Punctuation that contains symbols used between clusters for text.
+-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+
| Cat | Purpose | Name | Description |
+-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+
| 1 | Writing | Hands | Handshapes from over 40 Sign |
| | | | Languages are placed in 10 |
| | | | groups based on the numbers |
| | | | 1-10 in American Sign Language. |
+-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+
| 2 | Writing | Movement | Contact symbols, small finger |
| | | | movements, straight arrows, |
| | | | curved arrows and circles are |
| | | | placed into 10 groups based on |
| | | | planes: The Front Wall Plane |
| | | | includes movement that is |
| | | | "parallel to the front wall" |
| | | | and the Floor Plane includes |
| | | | movement that is "parallel to |
| | | | the floor". |
+-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+
| 3 | Writing | Dynamics & | Dynamics Symbols are used to |
| | | Timing | give the "feeling" or "tempo" |
| | | | to movement. They provide |
| | | | emphasis on a movement or |
| | | | expression, and combined with |
| | | | Punctuation Symbols become the |
| | | | equivalent to Exclamation |
| | | | Points. The Tension Symbol, |
| | | | combined with Contact Symbols, |
| | | | provides the feeling of |
| | | | "pressure", and combined with |
| | | | facial expressions can place |
| | | | emphasis or added feeling to an |
| | | | expression. Timing symbols are |
| | | | used to show alternating or |
| | | | simultaneous movement. |
+-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+
| 4 | Writing | Head & Face | Starting with the head and then |
| | | | from the top of the face and |
| | | | moving down. |
+-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+
| 5 | Writing | Body | Torso movement, shoulders, |
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| | | | hips, and the limbs are used in |
| | | | Sign Languages as a part of |
| | | | grammar, especially when |
| | | | describing conversations |
| | | | between people, called Role |
| | | | Shifting, or making spatial |
| | | | comparisons between items on |
| | | | the left and items on the |
| | | | right. |
+-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+
| 6 | Detailed | Detailed | Detailed Location symbols used |
| | Location | Location | are used alone or in sequence |
| | | | outside of the cluster. They |
| | | | may be useful for sorting large |
| | | | dictionaries, refining |
| | | | animation, simplifying |
| | | | translation between scripts and |
| | | | notation systems, and for |
| | | | detailed analysis of location |
| | | | sometimes needed in linguistic |
| | | | research. |
+-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+
| 7 | Punctuation | Punctuation | Punctuation symbols are used |
| | | | when writing complete sentences |
| | | | or documents in SignWriting. |
+-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+
The 7 Categories of the ISWA 2010
Table 24
There are 30 groups. The first 2 dashed numbers in the symbol ID
identify the group. The 30 groups can be divided into 3 sets of 10.
The first ten are hands, category 1. The second ten are movements,
category 2. The third ten are categories 3 thru 7. In order, 1
group for the Dynamics & Timing category, 1 for Head, 4 for Face, 1
for Trunk, 1 for Limb, 1 for Detailed Location, and 1 for
Punctuation.
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+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| First Set | Second Set | Third Set |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 01-01 Index | 02-01 Contact | 03-01 Dynamics & |
| | | Timing |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 01-02 Index | 02-02 Finger Movement | 04-01 Head |
| Middle | | |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 01-03 Index | 02-03 Straight Wall | 04-02 Brow Eyes |
| Middle Thumb | Plane | Eyegaze |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 01-04 Four | 02-04 Straight | 04-03 Cheeks Ears |
| Fingers | Diagonal Plane | Nose Breath |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 01-05 Five | 02-05 Straight Floor | 04-04 Mouth Lips |
| Fingers | Plane | |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 01-06 Baby Finger | 02-06 Curves Parallel | 04-05 Tongue Teeth |
| | Wall Plane | Chin Neck |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 01-07 Ring Finger | 02-07 Curves Hit Wall | 05-01 Trunk |
| | Plane | |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 01-08 Middle | 02-08 Curves Hit Floor | 05-02 Limbs |
| Finger | Plane | |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 01-09 Index Thumb | 02-09 Curves Parallel | 06-01 Detailed |
| | Floor Plane | Location |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
| 01-10 Thumb | 02-10 Circles | 07-01 Punctuation |
+-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+
The 30 groups with symbol ID segment.
Table 25
There are 652 bases. The first 4 dashed numbers of a symbol ID
identify the base. The 652 bases are divided between the 30 groups.
For each group, there are less than 60 bases. The bases are often
displayed in columns of 10.
Each base can have up to 96 symbols. All 6 dashed numbers of the
symbol ID are required to identify a symbol. Each symbol is a
combination of a base, fill, and rotation. The fill is identified by
the 5th number of the symbol ID with possible values from 01 to 06.
The rotation is identified by the 6th number of the symbol ID with
possible values from 01 to 16.
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B.4. Combined Character Sequence
Each symbol of the ISWA 2010 can be expressed with a combination of 3
characters. The first character represents the base of the symbol.
The next character represents the fill of the symbol. The last
character represents the rotation of the symbol.
The combined character sequence is used in Formal SignWriting and the
x-Character-SignWriting coded character set.
B.5. Validity
Although there are 6 possible fills and 16 possible rotations, not
every combination of base, fill, and rotation is valid. Each base
has a set of valid fills and a set of valid rotation. These validity
sets contain one or more values from the defined range.
For each value, the inclusion in the validity set can be expressed
with a value of "0" or "1". For fill values, lining up the digit
from left to right, will result in a string 6 digits long. The value
of the 6 digit number is 2 ^ (value -1).
+------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
| Fill Value | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Binary | Power of 2 |
+------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
| 1 | X | | | | | | 100000 | 1 |
+------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
| 2 | | X | | | | | 010000 | 2 |
+------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
| 3 | | | X | | | | 001000 | 4 |
+------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
| 4 | | | | X | | | 000100 | 8 |
+------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
| 5 | | | | | X | | 000010 | 16 |
+------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
| 6 | | | | | | X | 000001 | 32 |
+------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
Table 26
The value of any fill validity set is equal to the sum of the power
of 2 for each fill value in the set. The empty set is invalid and
has a sum of zero (0). The full set of all possible fills has a sum
of 63.
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+---------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
| Fill Set | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Binary | Power of 2 |
+---------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
| {} | | | | | | | 000000 | 0 |
+---------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
| {1,2,3,4,5,6} | X | X | X | X | X | X | 111111 | 63 |
+---------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+
Table 27
Each base has a defined validity set for fills.
The rotation validity sets have a larger range than the fills. The
possible rotation values range from 1 to 16. The power of 2 numbers
are 16-bit.
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+-------+--------+------------+
| Value | Binary | Power of 2 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 1 | 2^0 | 1 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 2 | 2^1 | 2 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 3 | 2^2 | 4 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 4 | 2^3 | 8 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 5 | 2^4 | 16 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 6 | 2^5 | 32 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 7 | 2^6 | 64 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 8 | 2^7 | 128 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 9 | 2^8 | 256 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 10 | 2^9 | 512 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 11 | 2^10 | 1024 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 12 | 2^11 | 2048 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 13 | 2^12 | 4096 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 14 | 2^13 | 8192 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 15 | 2^14 | 16384 |
+-------+--------+------------+
| 16 | 2^15 | 32768 |
+-------+--------+------------+
Table 28
The value of a rotation validity set is the summation of the power of
2 numbers. The minimum summation is 1. The largest possible
summation is 65,535 where all 16 rotations are valid.
Each base has a defined validity set for rotations.
Interestingly enough, there are only 12 possible validity sets in the
ISWA 2010.
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+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| Sum | Binary | Set |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 1 | 100000 | {1} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 2 | 010000 | {2} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 3 | 110000 | {1, 2} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 7 | 111000 | {1, 2, 3} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 15 | 111100 | {1, 2, 3, 4} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 31 | 111110 | {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 63 | 111111 | {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 187 | 11011101 | {1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 255 | 11111111 | {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 511 | 1111111110000000 | {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 48059 | 1101110111011101 | {1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, |
| | | 16} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
| 65535 | 1111111111111111 | {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, |
| | | 12, 13, 14, 15, 16} |
+-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+
Table 29
Appendix C. SignPuddle Standard
The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting text has been stable since
January 12th, 2012.
C.1. Licenses
The font software is available under SIL's Open Font License.
The reference material is licensed under Creative Commons
attribution, share alike (by-sa).
The previous generation of open source projects are licensed under
the GPL 2 for MediaWiki and GPL 3 for the general software on Github.
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The current generation of open source projects on GitHub are licensed
under the MIT License.
C.2. Infrastructure
C.2.1. SignPuddle Online
SignPuddle Online [SP_ONLINE] is the current home of the
international community of online writers of the SignWriting Script.
Online tools make it possible to create SignWriting dictionaries and
documents directly on the web. Each collection is freely available
as a small XML file [SPML]. Dozens of sign languages from around the
world are represented. Each language can have several collections of
SignWriting.
C.2.2. SignWriting Server
The SignWriting Server is the next generation SignWriting server code
for SVG images and JSON data. The SVG creation is stable and fully
supports the styling string.
The API is documented with API Blueprint and contains a concise guide
and extensive examples. The API is still in the initial stages of
development, but it will provide user authenticated access to read
and edit SignPuddle Online data in the near future.
The SignWriting Server is available on SignPuddle.net
[SWSERVER_SIGNPUDDLE] for all SignWriting projects.
A mirror server is available on Wikimedia Labs [SWSERVER_LABS] for
Wikimedia projects.
Additional SignWriting Servers can be created directly from the
GitHub source [SWSERVER].
C.2.3. SignWriting Icon Server
The SignWriting Icon Server is the previous generation SignWriting
server code for SVG, PNG, and other image formats. The image
creation is stable and fully implemented. The API is a proof of
concept with only an initial level of support.
The main server is available on Wikimedia Labs [SWIS_LABS] for all
SignWriting projects.
Each SignWriting Icon Server provides the SignWriting Thin Viewer as
a site script and as a bookmark.
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Additional SignWriting Icon Servers can be created directly from the
GitHub source [SWIS].
C.2.4. Wikimedia Incubator
The SignWriting Script has been enabled on Wikimedia Incubator using
the SignWriting Gadget.
C.3. Compatibility
SignTyp, SignWriter Studio, the DELEGS Editor, SWift, and more.
C.3.1. SignTyp
This standard is being integrated with the SignTyp linguistic coding
system developed by Rachel Channon through an NSF grant.
Notation Systems by Harry van der Hulst and Rachel Channon.
[NOTATION]
Why dynamic features? by Harry van der Hulst and Rachel Channon.
[FEATURES]
Transcription systems as input to coding systems: SignWriting &
SignTyp by Charles Butler and Rachel Channon. [CODING_SYSTEM]
C.3.2. SignWriter Studio
SignWriter Studio [STUDIO] is a Windows-only compatible application
by Jonathan Duncan. It has an alternate symbol selection technique.
According to Valerie Sutton, it illustrates a unique insight into the
hand shapes of the ISWA.
Jonathan Duncan writes:
SignWriter Studio has 4 ways to get the basic symbol base, and 3
ways to modify the selected base.
1) Select the base symbol from a complete list of base symbols
organized in a tree view 2) Search for a hand symbol in hand
search section by hand feature. 3) Select a symbol already
present in the signbox. 4) Select a symbol from a Favorites
section.
Then one of three chooser to define the fill and rotation will
become available. 1)The hand chooser. 2)The arrow chooser.
3)The general chooser.
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The Hand chooser is to quickly find the symbol for a certain,
hand, plain(wall or floor), palm facing and rotation. The Hand
Chooser also extends add a fourth palm facing to logically show
all possible symbols in their most common uses. This chooser
resembles the instruction manual explaining the use of hand
shapes.
The Arrow Chooser is to quickly find arrows for a certain hand,
plain(wall or floor) and rotation.This chooser resembles the
instruction manual explaining the use of arrows.
The General Chooser is for symbols for which the two previous
chooser do not work well and gives a grouped list of symbols for
the base group.
C.3.3. DELEGS Online
The DELEGS Editor [DELEGS] from the University of Hamburg and C1 WPS
GmbH in Germany is designed for Deaf Education. It is a tool for
writing translation texts between spoken and signed languages.
Spoken language text is used to display horizontal SignWriting Text
from left to right. The spoken language can appear beneath the sign
or it can be hidden.
C.3.4. SWift
SWift is a SignWriting improved fast transcriber [SWIFT] from Claudia
Savina Bianchini, Fabrizio Borgia, and Maria De Marsico. SWift is
under active development. The design "guides and simplifies the
editing process".
SWift uses an alternate symbol hierarchy than the ISWA 2010. A
conversion library is planned in the future to support Formal
SignWriting strings.
C.3.5. JSPad
JSPad [JSPAD] is Windows and Mac OS X software for editing the words
and sentences of sign language, created by the Matsumoto Laboratory
of Gifu University in Japan.
Author's Address
Stephen E Slevinski Jr
SignPuddle
Email: slevin@signpuddle.net
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