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| SignWriting | |
|---|---|
| Script type | |
Period | 1974–present |
| Direction | Horizontal (left-to-right) or vertical (top-to-bottom) |
| Languages | American Sign Language, Danish Sign Language and other sign languages |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Sgnw (095), SignWriting |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | SignWriting |
| U+1D800–U+1DAAF | |
Website SignWriting.org Mobile m.SignWriting.org | |
Sutton SignWriting, or simply SignWriting, is a writing system for sign languages. It can be used to write any sign language, including American Sign Language, Brazilian Sign Language, Tunisian Sign Language, and many others.[1]
SignWriting is the only international writing system for sign languages.[2] It has been used to publish young adult fiction,[3] translate the Bible,[4] caption YouTube videos,[5] and study sign language literacy.[6]
The SignWriting system is visually iconic: its symbols depict the hands, face, and body of a signer. And unlike most writing systems, which are written linearly, the symbols of SignWriting are written two-dimensionally, to represent the signing space.[7]
SignWriting was invented in 1974 by Valerie Sutton, a ballet dancer who eight years earlier had developed a dance notation named Sutton DanceWriting.[8] The current standardized form of SignWriting is known as the International Sign Writing Alphabet (ISWA).[9]
Sutton originally created SignWriting in Denmark in the fall of 1974, at the request of professor Lars von der Lieth and others on his research team in the Audiology Research Group at the University of Copenhagen.[10]
Sutton was asked to work on a research project, transcribing the gestures made by Danish hearing and Deaf people while they speak or sign. The project, part of a dissertation by Jan Enggaard Pedersen, showed that Danish Sign Language was a rich language, while the gestures of hearing people were unconnected with language.[11]
Sutton's experience transcribing Danish sign language inspired her to work with Deaf people worldwide, helping them to write their own sign languages. She named the new writing system “SignWriting”.[12]
SignWriting has since been used to write the sign languages of 40 countries.[1] However, it is not clear how widespread its use is in each country.
Between 1986 and 1994 Sutton worked with a software developer to create SignWriter, a word processor for SignWriting which runs on MS-DOS computers. SignWriter included an integrated sign dictionary, and support for multiple languages and countries.[13]
In 1996, Antonio Carlos da Rocha Costa, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), discovered SignWriter and introduced it to his colleagues, beginning Brazil's institutional use of SignWriting.[14]
In 2001, SignWriting was used in a Brazilian Sign Language dictionary containing more than 9,500 signs, which was published by the University of São Paulo.[15][16]

In 2005, the Brazilian government issued Federal Decree 5626, which specified that Brazilian Sign Language be taught in universities and public schools, so it could serve as the primary language of instruction for Deaf students.[17]
SignWriting is used to teach Brazilian Sign Language in 18 Federal Universities and 12 public schools in Brazil.[18] In Germany, it is taught to deaf adults to improve their ability to read and write spoken German.[19] There is also a German website dedicated to SignWriting.[20]
SignWriting represents the positions and movements of your body. Because of this, the SignWriting symbols can be used to write any sign language, or even non-linguistic gestures.[21]
SignWriting has 652 symbols, which are grouped into seven symbol classes: hands; movement; dynamics; head and faces; body; punctuation; and detailed location.[22][9]
SignWriting includes so many symbols because it is designed to work with all sign languages, not just a single language. For instance, SignWriting has 261 hand symbols, but American Sign Language uses only 83 of them.[23][24]
SignWriting has ten basic hand symbols, with all the remaining hand symbols being variations on the basic symbols.[25]
The hand and movement symbols can be modified to show additional information:[25]
For more information on the SignWriting symbols, see the standard SignWriting textbooks.
In SignWriting a sign is a group of symbols, arranged two-dimensionally to represent the gestures made by a person signing the sign.[25]
SignWriting has a number of rules for writing the symbols in a sign. These rules ensure that common patterns of gestures get written consistently across signs.[25]

Each written sign exists in a sign box, which is an invisible box just large enough to contain all the symbols in the sign. Just as a word consists of a line of letters, a sign consists of a box of symbols.[1]
The size of a sign box is variable, and depends on the size and placement of the symbols in the box. This size can change when symbols are added to, deleted from, or moved within a sign.[1]
Sign boxes are used by SignWriting software to align the signs that appear in a line of SignWriting text.[1]

While SignWriting symbols are written two-dimensionally within each sign, the signs themselves are written in lines, either horizontally across the page in rows, or vertically down the page in columns.[1]
SignWriting text was originally written only horizontally. But after Deaf users reported that it felt more natural to write signs down the page, SignWriting was changed to conventionally write signs vertically.[21]
This change yielded two benefits. First, the midline used to align vertically-written signs mimics the center line of the depicted signer's body, making the signs easier to read. Second, writing signs vertically simplifies the representation of body-shifting in sign language.[21]
Sutton orders signs in ten groups based on which fingers are extended on the dominant hand. These are equivalent to the numerals one through ten in ASL. Each group is then subdivided according to the actual hand shape, and then subdivided again according to the plane the hand is in (vertical, then horizontal), then again according to the basic orientation of the hand (palm, side, back). An ordering system has been proposed using this beginning and examples from both American Sign Language and Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS).[26] The current system of ordering for SignWriting is called the Sign Symbol Sequence which is parsed by the creator of each sign as recorded into the on-line dictionary. This system allows for internal ordering by features including handshape, orientation, speed, location, and other clustered features not found in spoken dictionaries.
Some of the advantages of SignWriting, compared to other writing systems for sign languages, are:
However, it has a few disadvantages as well:
SignPuddle is a plain-text (ASCII) string representation of signs. It can be stored as plain text anywhere and be replaced by signs with special programs such as the SignWriting Icon Server.[27] An RFC standard draft for it has been proposed,[1] which later evolved into a stricter draft standard known as "Formal Signwriting" (FSW). It can also use Unicode characters instead of ASCII escapes.[28] There is also an experimental TrueType font that uses the SIL Graphite technology to automatically turn these sequences into signs.[27]
SignWriting is the first writing system for sign languages to be included in the Unicode Standard. 672 characters were added in the Sutton SignWriting (Unicode block) of Unicode version 8.0 released in June 2015. This set of characters is based on SignWriting's standardized symbol set[29] and defined character encoding model.[30][31]
The Unicode Standard only covers the symbol set. It does not address layout, the positioning of the symbols in two dimensions. Historically, software has recorded position using Cartesian (x–y) coordinates for each symbol.[32] Since Unicode focuses on symbols that make sense in a one-dimensional plain-text context, the number characters required for two-dimensional placement were not included in the Unicode proposal.[31]
The Unicode block for Sutton SignWriting is U+1D800–U+1DAAF:
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U+1D80x | 𝠀 | 𝠁 | 𝠂 | 𝠃 | 𝠄 | 𝠅 | 𝠆 | 𝠇 | 𝠈 | 𝠉 | 𝠊 | 𝠋 | 𝠌 | 𝠍 | 𝠎 | 𝠏 |
| U+1D81x | 𝠐 | 𝠑 | 𝠒 | 𝠓 | 𝠔 | 𝠕 | 𝠖 | 𝠗 | 𝠘 | 𝠙 | 𝠚 | 𝠛 | 𝠜 | 𝠝 | 𝠞 | 𝠟 |
| U+1D82x | 𝠠 | 𝠡 | 𝠢 | 𝠣 | 𝠤 | 𝠥 | 𝠦 | 𝠧 | 𝠨 | 𝠩 | 𝠪 | 𝠫 | 𝠬 | 𝠭 | 𝠮 | 𝠯 |
| U+1D83x | 𝠰 | 𝠱 | 𝠲 | 𝠳 | 𝠴 | 𝠵 | 𝠶 | 𝠷 | 𝠸 | 𝠹 | 𝠺 | 𝠻 | 𝠼 | 𝠽 | 𝠾 | 𝠿 |
| U+1D84x | 𝡀 | 𝡁 | 𝡂 | 𝡃 | 𝡄 | 𝡅 | 𝡆 | 𝡇 | 𝡈 | 𝡉 | 𝡊 | 𝡋 | 𝡌 | 𝡍𝪛 | 𝡎 | 𝡏𝪛 |
| U+1D85x | 𝡐 | 𝡑𝪛 | 𝡒 | 𝡓 | 𝡔 | 𝡕 | 𝡖 | 𝡗 | 𝡘 | 𝡙 | 𝡚 | 𝡛 | 𝡜𝪛 | 𝡝 | 𝡞𝪛 | 𝡟 |
| U+1D86x | 𝡠 | 𝡡 | 𝡢 | 𝡣 | 𝡤 | 𝡥 | 𝡦 | 𝡧 | 𝡨 | 𝡩 | 𝡪 | 𝡫 | 𝡬 | 𝡭 | 𝡮 | 𝡯 |
| U+1D87x | 𝡰 | 𝡱 | 𝡲 | 𝡳 | 𝡴 | 𝡵 | 𝡶 | 𝡷 | 𝡸 | 𝡹 | 𝡺 | 𝡻 | 𝡼 | 𝡽 | 𝡾 | 𝡿 |
| U+1D88x | 𝢀 | 𝢁 | 𝢂 | 𝢃 | 𝢄 | 𝢅 | 𝢆 | 𝢇 | 𝢈 | 𝢉 | 𝢊 | 𝢋 | 𝢌 | 𝢍 | 𝢎 | 𝢏 |
| U+1D89x | 𝢐 | 𝢑 | 𝢒 | 𝢓 | 𝢔 | 𝢕 | 𝢖 | 𝢗 | 𝢘 | 𝢙 | 𝢚 | 𝢛 | 𝢜 | 𝢝 | 𝢞 | 𝢟 |
| U+1D8Ax | 𝢠 | 𝢡 | 𝢢 | 𝢣 | 𝢤 | 𝢥 | 𝢦 | 𝢧 | 𝢨 | 𝢩 | 𝢪 | 𝢫 | 𝢬 | 𝢭 | 𝢮 | 𝢯 |
| U+1D8Bx | 𝢰 | 𝢱 | 𝢲 | 𝢳 | 𝢴 | 𝢵 | 𝢶 | 𝢷 | 𝢸 | 𝢹 | 𝢺 | 𝢻 | 𝢼 | 𝢽 | 𝢾 | 𝢿 |
| U+1D8Cx | 𝣀 | 𝣁 | 𝣂 | 𝣃 | 𝣄 | 𝣅 | 𝣆 | 𝣇 | 𝣈 | 𝣉 | 𝣊 | 𝣋 | 𝣌 | 𝣍 | 𝣎 | 𝣏 |
| U+1D8Dx | 𝣐 | 𝣑 | 𝣒 | 𝣓 | 𝣔 | 𝣕 | 𝣖 | 𝣗 | 𝣘 | 𝣙 | 𝣚 | 𝣛 | 𝣜 | 𝣝 | 𝣞 | 𝣟 |
| U+1D8Ex | 𝣠 | 𝣡 | 𝣢 | 𝣣 | 𝣤 | 𝣥 | 𝣦 | 𝣧 | 𝣨 | 𝣩 | 𝣪 | 𝣫 | 𝣬 | 𝣭 | 𝣮 | 𝣯 |
| U+1D8Fx | 𝣰 | 𝣱 | 𝣲 | 𝣳 | 𝣴 | 𝣵 | 𝣶𝪛 | 𝣷 | 𝣸 | 𝣹 | 𝣺 | 𝣻 | 𝣼 | 𝣽 | 𝣾 | 𝣿 |
| U+1D90x | 𝤀 | 𝤁 | 𝤂 | 𝤃 | 𝤄𝪛 | 𝤅 | 𝤆 | 𝤇 | 𝤈 | 𝤉 | 𝤊 | 𝤋 | 𝤌 | 𝤍 | 𝤎 | 𝤏 |
| U+1D91x | 𝤐 | 𝤑 | 𝤒 | 𝤓 | 𝤔 | 𝤕 | 𝤖 | 𝤗 | 𝤘 | 𝤙 | 𝤚 | 𝤛 | 𝤜 | 𝤝 | 𝤞 | 𝤟 |
| U+1D92x | 𝤠 | 𝤡 | 𝤢 | 𝤣 | 𝤤 | 𝤥 | 𝤦 | 𝤧 | 𝤨 | 𝤩 | 𝤪 | 𝤫 | 𝤬 | 𝤭 | 𝤮 | 𝤯 |
| U+1D93x | 𝤰 | 𝤱 | 𝤲 | 𝤳 | 𝤴 | 𝤵 | 𝤶 | 𝤷 | 𝤸 | 𝤹 | 𝤺 | 𝤻 | 𝤼 | 𝤽 | 𝤾 | 𝤿 |
| U+1D94x | 𝥀 | 𝥁 | 𝥂 | 𝥃 | 𝥄 | 𝥅 | 𝥆 | 𝥇 | 𝥈 | 𝥉 | 𝥊 | 𝥋 | 𝥌 | 𝥍 | 𝥎 | 𝥏 |
| U+1D95x | 𝥐 | 𝥑 | 𝥒 | 𝥓 | 𝥔 | 𝥕 | 𝥖 | 𝥗 | 𝥘 | 𝥙 | 𝥚 | 𝥛 | 𝥜 | 𝥝 | 𝥞 | 𝥟 |
| U+1D96x | 𝥠 | 𝥡 | 𝥢 | 𝥣 | 𝥤 | 𝥥 | 𝥦 | 𝥧 | 𝥨 | 𝥩 | 𝥪 | 𝥫 | 𝥬 | 𝥭 | 𝥮 | 𝥯 |
| U+1D97x | 𝥰 | 𝥱 | 𝥲 | 𝥳 | 𝥴 | 𝥵 | 𝥶 | 𝥷 | 𝥸 | 𝥹 | 𝥺 | 𝥻 | 𝥼 | 𝥽 | 𝥾 | 𝥿 |
| U+1D98x | 𝦀 | 𝦁 | 𝦂 | 𝦃 | 𝦄 | 𝦅 | 𝦆 | 𝦇 | 𝦈 | 𝦉 | 𝦊 | 𝦋 | 𝦌 | 𝦍 | 𝦎 | 𝦏 |
| U+1D99x | 𝦐 | 𝦑 | 𝦒 | 𝦓 | 𝦔 | 𝦕 | 𝦖 | 𝦗 | 𝦘 | 𝦙 | 𝦚 | 𝦛 | 𝦜 | 𝦝 | 𝦞 | 𝦟 |
| U+1D9Ax | 𝦠 | 𝦡 | 𝦢 | 𝦣 | 𝦤 | 𝦥 | 𝦦 | 𝦧 | 𝦨 | 𝦩 | 𝦪 | 𝦫 | 𝦬 | 𝦭 | 𝦮 | 𝦯 |
| U+1D9Bx | 𝦰 | 𝦱 | 𝦲 | 𝦳 | 𝦴 | 𝦵 | 𝦶 | 𝦷 | 𝦸 | 𝦹 | 𝦺 | 𝦻 | 𝦼 | 𝦽 | 𝦾 | 𝦿 |
| U+1D9Cx | 𝧀 | 𝧁 | 𝧂 | 𝧃 | 𝧄 | 𝧅 | 𝧆 | 𝧇 | 𝧈 | 𝧉 | 𝧊 | 𝧋 | 𝧌 | 𝧍 | 𝧎 | 𝧏 |
| U+1D9Dx | 𝧐 | 𝧑 | 𝧒 | 𝧓 | 𝧔 | 𝧕 | 𝧖 | 𝧗 | 𝧘 | 𝧙 | 𝧚 | 𝧛 | 𝧜 | 𝧝 | 𝧞 | 𝧟 |
| U+1D9Ex | 𝧠 | 𝧡 | 𝧢 | 𝧣 | 𝧤 | 𝧥 | 𝧦 | 𝧧 | 𝧨 | 𝧩 | 𝧪 | 𝧫 | 𝧬 | 𝧭 | 𝧮 | 𝧯 |
| U+1D9Fx | 𝧰 | 𝧱 | 𝧲 | 𝧳 | 𝧴 | 𝧵 | 𝧶 | 𝧷 | 𝧸 | 𝧹 | 𝧺 | 𝧻 | 𝧼 | 𝧽 | 𝧾 | 𝧿 |
| U+1DA0x | 𝨀 | 𝨁 | 𝨂 | 𝨃 | 𝨄 | 𝨅 | 𝨆 | 𝨇 | 𝨈 | 𝨉 | 𝨊 | 𝨋 | 𝨌 | 𝨍 | 𝨎 | 𝨏 |
| U+1DA1x | 𝨐 | 𝨑 | 𝨒 | 𝨓 | 𝨔 | 𝨕 | 𝨖 | 𝨗 | 𝨘 | 𝨙 | 𝨚 | 𝨛 | 𝨜 | 𝨝 | 𝨞 | 𝨟 |
| U+1DA2x | 𝨠 | 𝨡 | 𝨢 | 𝨣 | 𝨤 | 𝨥 | 𝨦 | 𝨧 | 𝨨 | 𝨩 | 𝨪 | 𝨫 | 𝨬 | 𝨭 | 𝨮 | 𝨯 |
| U+1DA3x | 𝨰 | 𝨱 | 𝨲 | 𝨳 | 𝨴 | 𝨵 | 𝨶 | 𝨷 | 𝨸 | 𝨹 | 𝨺 | 𝨻 | 𝨼 | 𝨽 | 𝨾 | 𝨿 |
| U+1DA4x | 𝩀 | 𝩁 | 𝩂 | 𝩃 | 𝩄 | 𝩅 | 𝩆 | 𝩇 | 𝩈 | 𝩉 | 𝩊 | 𝩋 | 𝩌 | 𝩍 | 𝩎 | 𝩏 |
| U+1DA5x | 𝩐 | 𝩑 | 𝩒 | 𝩓 | 𝩔 | 𝩕 | 𝩖 | 𝩗 | 𝩘 | 𝩙 | 𝩚 | 𝩛 | 𝩜 | 𝩝 | 𝩞 | 𝩟 |
| U+1DA6x | 𝩠 | 𝩡 | 𝩢 | 𝩣 | 𝩤 | 𝩥 | 𝩦 | 𝩧 | 𝩨 | 𝩩 | 𝩪 | 𝩫 | 𝩬 | 𝩭 | 𝩮 | 𝩯 |
| U+1DA7x | 𝩰 | 𝩱 | 𝩲 | 𝩳 | 𝩴 | 𝩵 | 𝩶 | 𝩷 | 𝩸 | 𝩹 | 𝩺 | 𝩻 | 𝩼 | 𝩽 | 𝩾 | 𝩿 |
| U+1DA8x | 𝪀 | 𝪁 | 𝪂 | 𝪃 | 𝪄 | 𝪅 | 𝪆 | 𝪇 | 𝪈 | 𝪉 | 𝪊 | 𝪋 | ||||
| U+1DA9x | SW F2 |
SW F3 |
SW F4 |
SW F5 |
SW F6 | |||||||||||
| U+1DAAx | SW R2 |
SW R3 |
SW R4 |
SW R5 |
SW R6 |
SW R7 |
SW R8 |
SW R9 |
SW R10 |
SW R11 |
SW R12 |
SW R13 |
SW R14 |
SW R15 |
SW R16 | |
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
Current software records each sign as a string of characters in either ASCII or Unicode. Older software may use XML or a custom binary format to represent a sign. Formal SignWriting uses ASCII characters to define the two-dimensional layout within a sign and other simple structures.[33] It would be possible to fully define a sign in Unicode with seventeen additional characters.[34] With either character set (Unicode or ASCII), the spelling of a sign produces a word that the can be efficiently processed with regular expressions. These sets are isomorphic.
Sutton has released the International SignWriting Alphabet 2010[35] under the SIL Open Font License. The symbols of the ISWA 2010 are available as individual SVG or as TrueType Fonts.
Google has released an open type font called Noto Sans SignWriting[36][37] that supports the SignWriting in Unicode 8 (uni8) specification with modifying characters and facial diacritics.
SignWriting is enabled on Wikimedia Incubator. Test wikis include the ASL Wikipedia on Incubator and the other test wikis of sign languages.
The Sutton SignWriting SignMaker is a sign editor that can be accessed directly, embedded in an iframe, and downloaded. It uses both Formal SignWriting in ASCII (FSW) and SignWriting in Unicode (SWU) character sets, along with the associated style string.
For modern web and app development, several packages are available on GitHub and NPM.
For sign language translation, SignWriting text is a useful abstraction layer between video and the natural language processing of sign language.[38] The usefulness of SignWriting in natural language processing was validated with a new method of machine translation that has achieved over 30 BLEU.[39][40] The conversion of sign language video to SignWriting text is an emerging field with open source options.[41]
Additional machine learning projects are available for handwriting recognition of SignWriting, SignWriting to spoken language, and spoken language to SignWriting.[42]
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