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Slevinski 3 Internet-Draft SignPuddle 4 Intended status: Informational May 9, 2013 5 Expires: November 10, 2013 7 The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting Text 8 draft-slevinski-signwriting-text-01 10 Abstract 12 For concreteness, because the universal character set is not yet 13 universal, and because an international standard for the internet 14 community should be documented and stable, this I-D has been released 15 with the intention of producing an RFC to document the character use 16 and naming conventions of the SignWriting community on the Internet. 18 The SignWriting Script is an international standard for writing sign 19 languages by hand or with computers. From education to research, 20 from entertainment to religion, SignWriting has proven useful because 21 people are using it to write signed languages. The SignWriting 22 Script has two major families: Block Printing for the reader and 23 Handwriting for the writer. The script encoding model presented in 24 this document evolved from the Block Printing half of the SignWriting 25 Script. 27 The SignWriting Text encoding model encompasses the Block Printing 28 family of the SignWriting Script. The plain text model for the 29 mathematical names has been stable since January 12th, 2012. The 30 visual image can be SVG generated on the server or created with an 31 experimental TrueType Font. The coded character sets and character 32 encoding forms are documented with regular expressions. 34 The ad hoc graphemes of informal SignWriting were first created in 35 1974. Ad hoc graphemes are still used in the handwriting family. 36 The standardized symbols of computerized Block Printing text began in 37 1986. After several generations of writers and standardized 38 symbolsets, the ISWA 2010 has been optimized and refined as a 16-bit 39 coded character set with several isomorphic encodings based on an 40 ordered hierarchy with 6 degrees of significance. The International 41 SignWriting Alphabet 2010 is a mathematical symbolset that has been 42 stable since its initial release on May 11th, 2010. 44 The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting Text is an open and freely 45 available encoding model for sign language as text. The licenses 46 include the Open Font License for the fonts, Creative Commons by-sa 47 (Attribution, Share Alike) for the documentation, and the GPL for the 48 software implementation. The technological infrastructure continues 49 to expand and should be fully realized by the time this I-D has 50 become an RFC. SignPuddle Online contains almost 1 million examples 51 of 2-dimensional signs written by the internet community. Each 52 logogram has a mathematical name which describes the freeform 53 placement of the symbols. These strings are the written record of 54 the sign. This standard and emerging infrastructure are used for the 55 sign language Wikipedia project on Wikimedia Labs. This standard is 56 being integrated with the SignTyp linguistic coding system developed 57 by Rachel Channon through an NSF grant. This standard was the origin 58 for the alternate Unicode proposals. 60 For Unicode, the current use of the Private Use Area font characters 61 is documented. The state of the TrueType Font is explained. A 62 character proposal for plane 1 is included that is isomorphic with 63 the characters that are currently used by the community. 65 Three appendices discuss additional topics to the standard. The 66 first discusses the Modern SignWriting theory and example document, 67 stable since January 12, 2012. The second discusses the founding 68 principles of Cartesian SignWriting: a script encoding model for 69 SignWriting Block Printing. The third discusses a common framework 70 for written sign language grammar. 72 This memo concretely defines a conceptual character encoding map for 73 the Internet community. It is published for reference, examination, 74 implementation, and evaluation. Distribution of this memo is 75 unlimited. 77 Status of this Memo 79 This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the 80 provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. 82 Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering 83 Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute 84 working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- 85 Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. 87 Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months 88 and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any 89 time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference 90 material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." 92 This Internet-Draft will expire on November 10, 2013. 94 Copyright Notice 96 Copyright (c) 2013 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the 97 document authors. All rights reserved. 99 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal 100 Provisions Relating to IETF Documents 101 (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of 102 publication of this document. Please review these documents 103 carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect 104 to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must 105 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of 106 the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as 107 described in the Simplified BSD License. 109 Table of Contents 111 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 112 1.1. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 113 1.2. Historical Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 114 1.3. Current Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 115 2. SignWriting Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 116 2.1. 2-Dimensional Logograms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 117 2.2. Viewpoints, Planes, & Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 118 2.3. Block Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 119 2.3.1. Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 120 2.3.2. Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 121 2.3.3. Computerized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 122 2.4. Handwriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 123 2.4.1. Cursive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 124 2.4.2. Shorthand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 125 3. SignWriting Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 126 3.1. Mathematical Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 127 3.1.1. Pattern String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 128 3.1.2. Unordered String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 129 3.1.3. Compact and Tractable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 130 3.2. Visual Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 131 3.2.1. TrueType Font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 132 3.2.2. Server Generated SVG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 133 3.3. Character Encoding Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 134 3.3.1. ASCII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 135 3.3.2. Unicode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 136 3.4. Coded Character Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 137 3.4.1. x-ISWA-2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 138 3.4.2. x-Binary-SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 139 3.4.3. x-Character-SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 140 3.5. Character Encoding Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 141 3.5.1. Lite Markup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 142 3.5.2. Formal SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 143 3.5.3. Kartesian SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 144 3.5.3.1. Raw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 145 3.5.3.2. Expanded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 146 3.5.3.3. Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 147 3.5.3.4. Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 148 3.6. Query Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 149 4. ISWA 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 150 4.1. Grapheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 151 4.2. Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 152 4.3. Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 153 4.4. Combined Character Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 154 4.5. Validity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 155 5. SignPuddle Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 156 5.1. Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 157 5.1.1. Open Font License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 158 5.1.2. Creative Commons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 159 5.1.3. GPL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 160 5.1.4. BSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 161 5.2. Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 162 5.2.1. International SignWriting Alphabet Fonts . . . . . . . 39 163 5.2.2. SignWriting Icon Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 164 5.2.3. SignWriting Thin Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 165 5.2.3.1. CSS Text Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 166 5.3. Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 167 5.3.1. SignPuddle Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 168 5.3.2. Wikimedia Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 169 5.3.3. SignTyp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 170 5.3.4. SignWriter Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 171 5.3.5. DELEGS Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 172 6. Unicode Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 173 6.1. Private Use Area Font Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 174 6.2. Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 175 7. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 176 8. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 177 Appendix A. Modern SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 178 Appendix B. Cartesian SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 179 B.1. Signbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 180 B.2. Temporal Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 181 B.3. Logograph of Logographs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 182 Appendix C. Theory of SignWriting Grammar and Encoding . . . . . 50 183 C.1. Logographic Sign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 184 C.2. Punctuation and Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 185 C.3. Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 186 C.4. Lanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 187 C.5. Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 188 C.6. Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 189 C.6.1. Freeform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 190 C.6.2. Restricted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 191 C.6.3. Non-form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 193 C.7. Positioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 194 C.7.1. Absolute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 195 C.7.2. Relative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 196 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 198 1. Introduction 200 For concreteness, because the universal character set is not yet 201 universal, and because an international standard for the internet 202 community should be documented and stable, this I-D has been released 203 with the intention of producing an RFC to document the character use 204 and naming conventions of the SignWriting community on the Internet. 206 The SignWriting Script is an international standard for writing sign 207 languages by hand or with computers. From education to research, 208 from entertainment to religion, SignWriting has proven useful because 209 people are using it to write signed languages. 211 Sign languages are fundamentally different than spoken language in 212 the quality of the segments in the stream of human speech. The 213 SignWriting Script uses 2-dimensional logograms with freeform symbol 214 placement to capture the spatial and simultaneous segments in the 215 stream of signed language speech. 217 The SignWriting fonts and standards are freely and openly available, 218 with no royalties or restrictions. This information is provided to 219 promote a complete solution for an open culture in written sign 220 language. 222 1.1. Overview 224 The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting Text is an emerging standard 225 intended for the internet community. This memo concretely defines a 226 fully developed model for reference, examination, implementation, and 227 evaluation. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. 229 The fonts are officially available [1]. The release candidate of the 230 SignWriting Icon Server is available on Github [2], hosted on 231 SignBank [3] and hosted on Wikimedia Labs [4]. 233 Section 1 Introduction: includes a discussion of terminology, 234 historical background, current usage, and this overview of the 235 document. 237 Section 2 SignWriting Script: includes a general discussion of the 238 SignWriting script. Both the Block Printing and the Handwriting 239 families are discussed. 241 Section 3 SignWriting Text: includes a general discussion of the 242 plain text of logograms for the mathematical names and visual images. 244 Section 4 ISWA 2010: discusses the SignWriting grapheme, symbolset, 245 and symbol encoding of the ISWA 2010. Symbols are visually iconic, 246 uniquely identified, and organized in a layered hierarchy. 248 Section 5 SignPuddle Standard: defines the licenses, infrastructure, 249 and the data available. 251 Section 6 Unicode Integration: discusses the private use area font 252 characters and the proposed characters on plane 1. 254 Appendix A Modern SignWriting: discusses the theory and example 255 document released on January 12th, 2012. 257 Appendix B Cartesian SignWriting: presents a script encoding model 258 for SignWriting Block Printing. Formal structures for logographic 259 sign are mixed with punctuation to form text. 261 Appendix C Theory of SignWriting Grammar: discusses the common and 262 possible script encoding models for written sign language. 264 1.2. Historical Foundation 266 In 1966, Valerie Sutton invented the DanceWriting notation, which was 267 the precursor to the entire Sutton MovementWriting System. 269 in 1974, Valerie Sutton invented the SignWriting Script. The 270 subsequent development of the script was driven by input from readers 271 and writers, both hearing and Deaf. 273 From 1974 to 1986 SignWriting Script was written exclusively by hand. 274 During this time the use of the script spread around the world, and 275 to this day it continues to be written on paper and chalkboard. 277 In 1981, the development of SignWriting Block Printing evolved 278 rapidly with the publication of the SignWriting Newsletter, which was 279 published from 1981 to 1984. 281 In 1984 Emerson and Stern Associates received a grant to develop a 282 word processor for SignWriting Block Printing. The resulting 283 software, which operated on the Apple II, supported only a minor 284 subset of the SignWriting system. It was not subsequently used, and 285 received no further development. 287 In 1986, Richard Gleaves designed and developed SignWriter as a word 288 processor for SignWriting Block Printing. SignWriter introduced the 289 keyboard typing model and a symbol encoding system which served as 290 the basis for subsequent encoding systems. The initial version was 291 for the Apple IIe, and the resulting symbolset was limited by the 292 128KB memory limit. 294 By 1995, SignWriter had been ported to MS-DOS and expanded to support 295 multiple languages, an integrated sign dictionary, and the full 296 SSS-95 symbolset. SignWriter DOS was distributed on the internet, 297 and achieved widespread international use. 299 In 1999, the SSS-99 symbolset was created for SignWriter Java. The 300 revamped symbolset was created without the limitations imposed upon 301 the SSS-95. 303 In 2002, the SSS-2002 symbolset reorganized the structure of the 304 symbols imposing a multi level hierarchy with the modern symbol ID. 305 The SSS-2002 was the first symbolset used in the SignBank 2002 306 application by Todd Duell. 308 In 2004, the SSS-2004 symbolset was created after reaching widespread 309 international use. The SSS-2004 was the first symbolset used in the 310 SignPuddle application by Steve Slevinski. This symbolset was 311 expanded to include international MovementWriting concepts and became 312 known as the International MovementWriting Alphabet. 314 September 12, 2008, Valerie Sutton and Steve Slevinski released the 315 ISWA 2008 under the open font license. The International SignWriting 316 Alphabet 2008 was a major refactoring of the IMWA concept by 317 eliminating the general MovementWriting symbols and focusing on the 318 SignWriting script. Valerie organized and named 37,811 unique 319 symbols. Steve analyzed and formatted the ISWA 2008, creating a 16- 320 bit coded character set called the x-ISWA-2008. Steve also created 321 the first iteration of Cartesian SignWriting as a script encoding 322 model. 324 The ISWA 2008 was used in a production setting for a year and a half 325 without issue. In 2010, the ISWA 2008 was updated. 576 unused 326 symbols had a palm facing irregularity which needed to be fixed. 327 General size and shape of the symbols did not change. 329 May 11th, 2010, Valerie and Steve released the ISWA 2010. The ISWA 330 2010 was designed as a focused refactor of the ISWA 2008 concepts. 331 The update included a restructured hierarchy, better movement 332 symbols, elimination of variation defects, addition of new hand 333 shapes, and removal of hand shape variations. Revision 2 of 334 Cartesian SignWriting script encoding model was released for the ISWA 335 2010. The symbolset and encoding have been stable since release, 336 with only a cosmetic fix for symbol 01-06-017-01-03-10. 338 June 22nd, 2010, Steve refactored the coded character set as 12-bit 339 rather than 16-bit to improve searching. The updated script encoding 340 model was called Cartesian SignWriting revision 3. 342 October 20th, 2010, the initial release of the ISWA 2010 Font 343 Reference. Since then, 2 years of stability and growth. 345 February 23rd, 2011, the addition of SVG using polygon line tracing. 347 September 19th, 2011, the complete SVG Refinement by Adam Frost. 349 January 12th, 2012, the fully realized character encoding model for 350 SignWriting Text. 352 May 2nd, 2012, added database fonts. 354 November 1st, 2012, the prerelease of the SignWriting Icon Server. 356 1.3. Current Usage 358 SignPuddle Online contains almost 1 million examples of 2-dimensional 359 signs written by the internet community. Each logogram has a 360 mathematical name that describes the freeform placement of the 361 symbols. These strings are the written record of the sign. XML 362 files organize these names by language and purpose. The ASL 363 Dictionary has over 9 thousand entries. 365 This standard and emerging infrastructure are used for the sign 366 language Wikipedia project on Wikimedia Labs (Section 5.3.2). This 367 standard is being integrated with the SignTyp linguistic coding 368 system developed by Rachel Channon through an NSF grant 369 (Section 5.3.3). This standard was the origin for the alternate 370 Unicode proposals. Compatibility with this standard is highly 371 encouraged to efficiently leverage sign language as text. 373 For Unicode, the current use of the Private Use Area font characters 374 is documented. A character proposal for plane 1 is included that is 375 isomorphic with the characters that are currently used by the 376 community. 378 2. SignWriting Script 380 The SignWriting Script is the universal and complete solution for 381 written sign language. It has been applied to a wide and deep 382 international community of many sign languages including: American 383 Sign Language, Arabian Sign Languages, Australian Sign Language, 384 Bolivian Sign Language, Brazilian Sign Language, British Sign 385 Language, Catalan Sign Language, Colombian Sign Language, Czech Sign 386 Language, Danish Sign Language, Dutch Sign Language, Ethiopian Sign 387 Language, Finnish Sign Language, Flemish Sign Language, French- 388 Belgian Sign Language, French Sign Language, German Sign Language, 389 Greek Sign Language, Irish Sign Language, Italian Sign Language, 390 Japanese Sign Language, Malawi Sign Language, Malaysian Sign 391 Language, Maltese Sign Language, Mexican Sign Language, Nepalese Sign 392 Language, New Zealand Sign Language, Nicaraguan Sign Language, 393 Norwegian Sign Language, Peruvian Sign Language, Philippines Sign 394 Language, Polish Sign Language, Portugese Sign Language, Quebec Sign 395 Language, South African Sign Language, Spanish Sign Language, Swedish 396 Sign Language, Swiss Sign Language, Taiwanese Sign Language, and 397 Tunisian Sign Language. 399 Initially developed in 1974, the script was written exclusively by 400 hand for 12 years. Since then the script has spread around the world 401 and continues to be written on paper and chalkboard. 403 In 1981, SignWriting Publishing rapidly evolved with Block Printing. 404 In 1986, computerization of the SignWriting Block Printing began. 405 The current symbol encoding of the ISWA 2010 has been stable since 406 the font release on October 20th, 2010. The current character 407 encoding model has been stable since the initial release of Modern 408 SignWriting on January 12th, 2012. 410 2.1. 2-Dimensional Logograms 412 A founding principle of the SignWriting Script is that signs are 413 written in 2-dimensional signboxes. The size of the signbox varies 414 with the symbols written inside. Both block printing and handwriting 415 use 2-dimensional logograms. 417 Inside of a 2-dimensional signbox, the symbols are placed in a 418 freeform, 2-dimensional arrangement. This feature of the script 419 expresses spatial relation directly. 421 2.2. Viewpoints, Planes, & Perspectives 423 Writing based on vision uses two viewpoints: receptive and 424 expressive. The receptive viewpoint is based on the idea of 425 receiving an image. For the receptive viewpoint, the right hand of a 426 signer will be written on the left side of the canvas. When 427 SignWriting is used for transcription, the receptive view is most 428 often used. The related writing systems of DanceWriting and 429 MovementWriting normally use the receptive viewpoint. 431 The expressive viewpoint is based on the idea of expressing a 432 concept. For the expressive viewpoint, the right hand of a signer 433 will be written on the right side of the canvas. When SignWriting is 434 used for authorship, the expressive view is most often used. 436 The are two main writing planes: the front wall (Frontal Plane) and 437 the floor (Transverse Plane). The choice of writing plane can affect 438 the shape of the graphemes, such as the fill pattern for the hand 439 graphemes or the tail for the movement arrow graphemes. 441 There are two perspectives: front and top. The front perspective is 442 a straight on view of/from the signer. The top perspective is a top- 443 down view of the signer. Usually, a cluster will be written from a 444 single perspective. 446 2.3. Block Printing 448 Block printing is only half of the SignWriting Script. Block 449 printing is based on the iconic symbols of the symbol set. Each of 450 the iconic symbols is structured, standardized, and highly featural. 451 Block printing is used in education, publishing, and is the basis of 452 the computerized model. 454 Valerie Sutton writes, "SignWriting Printing is easy to read. It is 455 designed for the reader. The Printing can be written by hand as well 456 as by computer. If I am writing a letter to a friend in ASL, I write 457 the letter in SignWriting Printing, taking the time to make sure that 458 my handwritten-symbols are easy and clear to read. I try to write as 459 clearly as if I were using a computer. Of course it is slower, but 460 it is worth it, knowing that my friend will be able to read my 461 letter!" 463 2.3.1. Education 465 Kids all over the earth [5] are learning block printing thanks to 466 Valerie Sutton and the material she donates though the Center for 467 Sutton Movement Writing [6]. 469 2.3.2. Publishing 471 The history of SignWriting Publishing had a rapid development between 472 1981 and 1984 with the SignWriter Newspaper [7]. Patience and 473 concentration was needed to write neat enough for publication. 474 Stencils and wax transfer symbols were used in painstaking work. 475 Typesetters could consistently reproduce the iconic symbols. 477 Discussions during early publishing history were a catalyst for 478 developing a way to type sign language. 480 The SignWriter Newspaper suspended in 1984 and resumed publication as 481 a typed SignWriter Newsletter in 1989. 483 2.3.3. Computerized 485 Block printing is the basis of the computerized SignWriting model. 487 Read about the Historical Foundation in section 2.C of Modern 488 SignWriting. 490 Computerized SignWriting is important, but there is so much more [8] 491 to the SignWriting Script [9]. 493 2.4. Handwriting 495 SignWriting Handwriting [10] has always been a part of the script. 497 Valerie Sutton writes, "SignWriting Handwriting is easier to write by 498 hand, than the Printing. It is designed for the writer. There are 499 several variations of Handwriting, and since most of the time, the 500 writer is only writing for private notes, some writers create their 501 own shortcuts that work just for them...and that is fine!" 503 2.4.1. Cursive 505 A popular form of SignWriting is cursive. It can be shared among a 506 groups of writers or it can be individualized and personal. Cursive 507 writing is designed to have fluid marks and a natural flow. Cursive 508 writing may use fewer features than the iconic symbols, but should be 509 related to an iconic symbol in appearance and meaning. Once 510 developed, this style of writing is great for taking notes in a 511 class. 513 2.4.2. Shorthand 515 Shorthand is a skill of the proficient writer [11]. They can write 516 SignWriting shorthand quickly and naturally. 518 In 1982, Sign Language Stenographers could record sign language with 519 SignWriting Shorthand at normal signing speed [12]. Time tests 520 proved practice and special training were required. The marks they 521 write are personal style of quick and efficient strokes with a highly 522 developed reception to what signifies meaning. They understand the 523 iconic symbols of the SignWriting Script, but their marks are 524 personal reminders rather than a fully developed text. 526 The shorthand in and of itself is often an incomplete representation 527 of the gestures that were experienced. The shorthand writing can be 528 thought of as a short-term memory device. Often shorthand notes must 529 be revised and extended at a later time, the sooner the better. 531 3. SignWriting Text 533 SignWriting Text uses plain text that is iconic. The sequential 534 characters specify properties in common between forms. The text is 535 diagrammatic with defined relationships and simple structures. It 536 clarifies likenesses that are topologically similar. 538 SignWriting Text is grammatically correct because it supports 539 2-dimensional arrangement and writing with lanes. Mathematically 540 sized logograms are named with plain text strings based on patterns. 541 Simple HTML and CSS are used for proper vertical layout. 543 This model separates visual display from layout issues. It is 544 compatible with TrueType Fonts and server generated SVG. 546 The model defines several compatible coded character sets and 547 character encoding forms. 549 3.1. Mathematical Name 551 The mathematical name of a logographic sign is a plain text string of 552 characters. This encoding model makes explicit those features which 553 can be effectively and efficiently processed. Formal languages and 554 regular expressions are used to solve fundamental problems. 556 3.1.1. Pattern String 558 The mathematical name is structured with 11 different tokens. They 559 can be grouped in 4 layers: the 5 structural makers (A, B, L, M, R), 560 the 3 base symbol ranges (w, s, P), the 2 modifier indexes (i, o), 561 and the numbers (n). 563 Token Patterns 565 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 566 | Pattern | Description | 567 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 568 | wio | a writing symbol as 3 | 569 | | tokens of writing base, | 570 | | fill modifier and | 571 | | rotation modifier | 572 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 573 | nn | coordinate with X and Y | 574 | | values as 2 numbers | 575 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 576 | wionn | a spatial symbol as 5 | 577 | | tokens, with 3 tokens for | 578 | | a writing symbol and 2 | 579 | | tokens for coordinates of | 580 | | top left placement | 581 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 582 | (wionn)* | zero or more spatial | 583 | | symbols | 584 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 585 | Bnn(wionn)* | a signbox with a | 586 | | preprocessed maximum | 587 | | coordinate and a list of | 588 | | spatial symbols used for | 589 | | horizontal writing | 590 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 591 | [LMR] | a lane marker: either | 592 | | left, middle or right. | 593 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 594 | [LMR]nn(wionn)* | a signbox in either the | 595 | | left, middle, or right | 596 | | lane with a preprocessed | 597 | | maximum coordinate and a | 598 | | list of spatial symbols | 599 | | used for vertical writing | 600 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 601 | [ws] | a writing base symbol or | 602 | | a detailed location base | 603 | | symbol | 604 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 605 | [ws]io | a writing symbol or a | 606 | | detailed location symbol | 607 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 608 | ([ws]io)+ | one or more writing | 609 | | symbols and/or detailed | 610 | | location symbols | 611 | (A([ws]io)+)? | an optional prefix as a | 612 | | prefix marker followed by | 613 | | one or more writing | 614 | | symbols and/or detailed | 615 | | location symbols | 616 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 617 | Pio | a punctuation symbol as a | 618 | | punctuation base symbol | 619 | | with a fill modifier and | 620 | | a rotation modifier | 621 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 622 | (((A([ws]io)+)?Bnn(wionn)*)|Pio)+ | a sign text for | 623 | | horizontal writing as a | 624 | | string of signboxes (with | 625 | | optional prefixes) and | 626 | | punctuation | 627 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 628 | (((A([ws]io)+)?[LMR]nn(wionn)*)|Pio)+ | a sign text for vertical | 629 | | writing as a string of | 630 | | signboxes in lanes (with | 631 | | optional prefixes) and | 632 | | punctuation | 633 +---------------------------------------+---------------------------+ 635 Table 1 637 3.1.2. Unordered String 639 2-dimensional space does not have a normative 1-dimensional order. A 640 group of spatial symbols is defined as (wionn)* which is zero or more 641 writing symbols with 2-dimensional placement by tokens nn for each 642 symbol. The tokens nn are meaningful and searchable. Each symbol 643 defined with wionn is absolutely meaningful and searchable. Except 644 for exact sign matching, the 2-dimensional order of the spatial 645 symbols is meaningless and unreliable. 647 3.1.3. Compact and Tractable 649 The ASCII encoding is ready to deploy with a mature infrastructure. 650 The name of a sign with 4 symbols is 60 characters long. The plain 651 text model fully supports the grammar of written ASL with an 652 additional 350 characters of basic HTML and CSS. The stand alone 653 JavaScript engine for client side viewing is 1.3 K characters and 654 qualifies as a micro script. This script can be applied to any 655 modern browser through a site script or initiated within a browser 656 using a bookmark. 658 To search for a sign with 4 spatial symbols requires 53 characters of 659 query string and will create around 800 characters of regular 660 expression. 662 3.2. Visual Image 664 The visual image of a logographic sign is a 2-dimension arrangement 665 of symbols inside of a sign box. The sign box has a defined width, 666 height, and 2-dimensional center that can be calculated from the 667 plain text. The SVG created by the SignWriting Icon Server is print 668 quality. 670 3.2.1. TrueType Font 672 Ready for experimental use with several open issues. The entire ISWA 673 2010 is included with 2-dimensional arrangements of symbols for the 674 logograms. The TrueType Font utilizes the temporary Unicode 675 characters from the Private Use Area. 677 There are 4 open issues: the symbols are fuzzy, handshapes overlap 678 incorrectly, arrow head/tail fill is missing, and Graphite 679 occassionally crashes. 681 3.2.2. Server Generated SVG 683 The SignWriting Icon Server (open source on GitHub) is able to create 684 logographic sign images from the mathematical names. The SVG is 685 grammatically correct and print quality. 687 Each SignWriting Icon Server provides the SignWriting Thin Viewer as 688 a site script and as a bookmark. The main SignWriting Icon Server is 689 available on Wikimedia Labs and open to all. The backup SignWriting 690 Icon Server is available on SignBank.org. New SignWriting Icon 691 Servers can be created directly from the GitHub source. 693 3.3. Character Encoding Scheme 695 Encoding schemes define how a character is written as a sequence of 696 bytes. SignWriting Text can use any encoding schemes that supports 697 ASCII or Unicode. 699 Given a sequence of bytes representing text and a stated character 700 encoding scheme, a string of characters is unambiguous and it is easy 701 to recreate a sequence of characters as required for plain text. 703 3.3.1. ASCII 705 Every logographic sign has a mathematical name in ASCII. ASCII is 706 universally supported. The ASCII names are authoritative and easy to 707 identify. Searching with regular expressions is 4 times faster in 708 ASCII that the equivalent Unicode. 710 3.3.2. Unicode 712 Every logographic sign has a temporary name of Unicode PUA characters 713 for client side font handling. The use of the Unicode PUA 714 demonstrates the necessity and the capability of the proposed 715 character set. 717 3.4. Coded Character Set 719 A character is a fundamental building block of digital data. A 720 character's smallest representation is a binary representation of a 721 code point found in a character set. A string is an ordered sequence 722 of characters, which is nothing more that a list of code points. 724 3.4.1. x-ISWA-2010 726 The x-ISWA-2010 is a 16-bit character set that covers each symbol of 727 the ISWA 2010. A 16-bit code is an integer between 0 and 65,535. 728 This type of value is perfect for a primary key for database lookup 729 or other integer index. Through a simple formula, any symbol 730 identification can be transformed into a unique 16-bit codepoint. 731 Font software using the SQLite fonts rely on the x-ISWA-2010 coded 732 character set. 734 There are 652 BaseSymbols in the ISWA 2010, numbered from 1 to 652. 735 Each BaseSymbol can be visualized on a grid of 6 columns and 16 rows: 736 for the 6 fills and 16 rotations. Each symbol can be identified by 3 737 values of BaseSymbol, column and row. 739 The codes of the x-ISWA-2010 are assigned starting with the first 740 BaseSymbol grid. The first symbol is given a code value of 1 and the 741 codes are incremented down the first column, continue to the next 742 column, and continue through the remaining BaseSymbols. 744 Given any symbol with: 746 BaseSymbol number = n 748 Fill = f 750 Rotation = r 752 code = (n-1)*96 + (f-1)*16 + r 754 3.4.2. x-Binary-SignWriting 756 The x-Binary-SignWriting is a 12-bit character set that covers the 757 characters of SignWriting Plain Text. It is possible to write the 758 name of a logographic sign with binary data. This is more of a 759 theoretical advantage because we don't write with 12-bit characters. 760 This form is most useful for the translation to Private Use Area 761 Unicode. 763 x-Binary-SignWriting Character 765 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 766 | Name | Token | BSW Codepoint(s) | 767 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 768 | Sequence Marker | A | B+100 | 769 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 770 | SignBox Marker | B | B+101 | 771 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 772 | Left Lane Marker | L | B+102 | 773 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 774 | Middle Lane Marker | M | B+103 | 775 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 776 | Right Lane Marker | R | B+104 | 777 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 778 | Columns 1 thru 6 (fills) | i | B+110 - B+115 | 779 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 780 | Rows 1 thru 16 (rotations) | o | B+120 - B+12F | 781 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 782 | Writing BaseSymbols | w | B+130 - B+3AE | 783 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 784 | Detailed Location BaseSymbols | s | B+3AF - B+3B6 | 785 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 786 | Punctuation BaseSymbols | P | B+3B7 - B+3BB | 787 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 788 | Negative Numbers: -250 thru -1 | n | B+706 - B+7FF | 789 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 790 | Positive Numbers: 0 thru 249 | n | B+800 - B+8F9 | 791 +--------------------------------+-------+------------------+ 793 Table 2 795 3.4.3. x-Character-SignWriting 797 The x-Character-SignWriting is a character set for SignWriting in 798 Unicode. Take the characters of the x-Binary-SignWriting coded 799 character set and add hexadecimal value FD700. The characters follow 800 the same token patterns as x-Binary-SignWriting defined in 801 Section 3.4.2. 803 x-Character-SignWriting Characters 805 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 806 | Name | Token | Unicode PUA | 807 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 808 | Sequence Marker | A | U+FD800 | 809 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 810 | SignBox Marker | B | U+FD801 | 811 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 812 | Left Lane Marker | L | U+FD802 | 813 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 814 | Middle Lane Marker | M | U+FD803 | 815 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 816 | Right Lane Marker | R | U+FD804 | 817 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 818 | Columns 1 thru 6 (fills) | i | U+FD810 - U+FD815 | 819 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 820 | Rows 1 thru 16 (rotations) | o | U+FD820 - U+FD82F | 821 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 822 | Writing BaseSymbols | w | U+FD830 - U+FDAAE | 823 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 824 | Detailed Location BaseSymbols) | s | U+FDAAF - U+FDAB6 | 825 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 826 | Punctuation BaseSymbols | P | U+FDAB7 - U+FDABB | 827 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 828 | Negative Numbers: -250 thru -1 | n | U+FDE06 - U+FDEFF | 829 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 830 | Positive Numbers: 0 thru 249 | n | U+FDF00 - U+FDFF9 | 831 +--------------------------------+-------+-------------------+ 833 Table 3 835 3.5. Character Encoding Form 837 The character encoding form for SignWriting text are based on ASCII 838 or Unicode. The standard Unicode CEFs of UTF-8, UTF-16, or UTF-32 839 can be used. For ASCII, an additional mapping layer of a lite markup 840 is used. 842 3.5.1. Lite Markup 844 ASCII characters are used to identify structure, symbols, and 845 coordinates. It has proven to be beneficial to use a human readable 846 lite markup of ASCII words separated by white space. Each word 847 represents either a signbox or a punctuation. The lite markup has 848 the advantage of a small size without requiring special Unicode or 849 XML functions. Simple regular expressions can quickly and 850 efficiently process the lite markup. 852 In the lite markup, the structural markers use the token values as 853 the character representation. 855 Structural Marker Tokens 857 +-------+--------------------+ 858 | Token | Description | 859 +-------+--------------------+ 860 | A | Sequence Marker | 861 +-------+--------------------+ 862 | B | SignBox Marker | 863 +-------+--------------------+ 864 | L | Left Lane Marker | 865 +-------+--------------------+ 866 | M | Middle Lane Marker | 867 +-------+--------------------+ 868 | R | Right Lane Marker | 869 +-------+--------------------+ 871 Table 4 873 In the lite markup, symbols are referenced by symbol keys: the letter 874 'S' followed by 5 hexadecimal values, 3 characters for the symbol 875 base and 2 characters for the modifiers. 877 In the lite markup, there are 2 types of coordinates: regular fixed- 878 width coordinates and irregular variable-width coordinates. Both 879 types of coordinates contain 2 numbers separated by the letter 'x'. 881 In the lite markup, regular coordinates are always 7 ASCII characters 882 long: 3 digits followed by the letter 'x' followed by 3 more digits. 883 The numbers range from 250 to 749, with 500 being the center point as 884 zero. So for regular coordinates, the string "250" is equal to the 885 number value of -250 and "749" is equal to the number value of 249. 886 The loose definition of regular coordinates matches numbers with 3 887 digits without specifying the number range. It has a regular 888 expression of /[0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3}/. The strict definition of regular 889 coordinates only matches numbers in the range from 250 to 749. It 890 has a more verbose regular expression of /(2[5-9][0-9]|[3-6][0-9]{2}| 891 7[0-4][0-9])x(249|2[5-9][0-9]|[3-6][0-9]{2}|7[0-4][0-9])/. 893 In the lite markup, irregular coordinates are variable width. The 894 numbers can be positive or negative. For negative numbers, the '-' 895 minus sign is replaced with the letter 'n'. The two numbers in the 896 coordinate are separated by the letter 'x'. The center coordinate of 897 (0,0) is represented by the string '0x0'. The coordinate (-250,-250) 898 is represented by the string 'n250xn250'. 900 Although signs have a coordinate number limit of -250 to 249, 901 irregular coordinates are unbounded when used for display with 902 compounds of multiple signs and punctuation. 904 3.5.2. Formal SignWriting 906 Formal SignWriting is the standard format for storing the names of 907 the signs. It uses a lite markup with the token values for 908 structural markers (A, B, L, M, R), symbol keys, and regular 909 coordinates. White space is used to separate words of signs and 910 punctuation. 912 Regular Expressions of Formal SignWriting 914 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 915 | Stru | Regular Expression | 916 | ctur | | 917 | e | | 918 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 919 | Symb | S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f] | 920 | ol | | 921 | key | | 922 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 923 | Coor | [0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3} | 924 | dina | | 925 | te | | 926 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 927 | Sign | [BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0 | 928 | box | -9]{3}x[0-9]{3})* | 929 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 930 | Term | (A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)[BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{ | 931 | | 3})(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})* | 932 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 933 | Punc | S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3} | 934 | tuat | | 935 | ion | | 936 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 937 | Text | ((A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)?[BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9 | 938 | | ]{3})(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*|S3 | 939 | | 8[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})( | 940 | | (A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)?[BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0- | 941 | | 9]{3})(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*| | 942 | | S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})* | 943 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 945 Table 5 947 3.5.3. Kartesian SignWriting 949 Kartesian SignWriting is an alternate encoding form with several 950 types of display variants. It uses a lite markup with the token 951 values for structural markers (A, B, L, M, R), symbol keys, and 952 irregular coordinates. White space is used to separate words of 953 signs and punctuation. 955 Each format uses a lite markup with the token values for structural 956 markers (A, B, L, M, R), symbol keys, and irregular coordinates. 957 Spaces separate words for signs and punctuation. 959 Regular Expressions of Formal SignWriting 961 +------------+--------------------------------+ 962 | Structure | Regular Expression | 963 +------------+--------------------------------+ 964 | Symbol key | S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f] | 965 +------------+--------------------------------+ 966 | Coordinate | n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+ | 967 +------------+--------------------------------+ 969 Table 6 971 3.5.3.1. Raw 973 The raw display format string contains the minimal amount of data 974 required to represent text. It defines signs and punctuations. The 975 signboxes are neither centered or sized. A signbox can occur 976 anywhere in the signbox space and the center is not assumed to be the 977 coordinate (0,0). The maximum coordinate for a signbox is unstated. 978 Likewise, the punctuation does not contain any placement information. 979 Layout is impossible without access to an outside datasource. 981 A sign is a combination of a lane maker (BLMR), followed by zero or 982 more symbol keys with placement coordinates. 984 A punctuation is represented with a single symbol key. 986 Regular Expressions of Kartesian SignWriting Raw 988 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 989 | Struc | Regular Expression | 990 | ture | | 991 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 992 | Signb | [BLMR](S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)* | 993 | ox | | 994 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 995 | Term | A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+ | 996 | prefi | | 997 | x | | 998 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 999 | Punct | S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f] | 1000 | uatio | | 1001 | n | | 1002 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 1003 | Text | ((A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)?[BLMR](S[123][0-9a- | 1004 | | f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)*|S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9 | 1005 | | a-f])( | 1006 | | (A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)?[BLMR](S[123][0-9a | 1007 | | -f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)*| | 1008 | | S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f])* | 1009 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 1011 Table 7 1013 3.5.3.2. Expanded 1015 The expanded display format string contains sizing information (width 1016 and height) for every symbol outside of the term prefix. The maximum 1017 coordinate for a signbox can be calculated by adding the symbol width 1018 and height to the symbol placement coordinate. 1020 For any symbol key in the signbox or for punctuation, the width and 1021 height is accessed from an outside data source. The size information 1022 is written as an irregular coordinate and appended to the symbol key 1023 through a simple search and replace. 1025 A sign is a combination of a lane maker (BLMR), followed by zero or 1026 more symbol keys with sizing information followed by placement 1027 coordinates. 1029 A punctuation is represented with a symbol key and a size coordinate 1030 Regular Expressions of Kartesian SignWriting Expanded 1032 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1033 | Stru | Regular Expression | 1034 | ctur | | 1035 | e | | 1036 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1037 | Sign | [BLMR](S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]+x[0-9]+xn?[0-9] | 1038 | box | +xn?[0-9]+)* | 1039 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1040 | Term | A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+ | 1041 | pref | | 1042 | ix | | 1043 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1044 | Punc | S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]+x[0-9]+ | 1045 | tuat | | 1046 | ion | | 1047 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1048 | Text | ((A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)?[BLMR](S[123][0-9a-f | 1049 | | ]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]+x[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)*|S38[7-9 | 1050 | | ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]+x[0-9]+)( | 1051 | | (A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)?[BLMR](S[123][0-9a- | 1052 | | f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]+x[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)*| | 1053 | | S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]+x[0-9]+)* | 1054 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1056 Table 8 1058 3.5.3.3. Layout 1060 The layout display format string contains the maximum coordinate as a 1061 preprocessed value for signboxes and it contains the placement 1062 coordinate for punctuation. It is equivalent to the lite markup for 1063 the regular searching form, but with irregular coordinates. 1065 A sign is a combination of a lane maker (BLMR), followed by the 1066 maximum coordinate, followed by zero or more symbol keys with 1067 placement coordinates. 1069 A punctuation is a combination of a symbol key followed by a 1070 placement coordinate. The center is assumed to be the coordinate 1071 (0,0). The maximum coordinate is the additive inverse of the 1072 placement coordinate. 1074 Regular Expressions of Kartesian SignWriting Layout 1076 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1077 | Stru | Regular Expression | 1078 | ctur | | 1079 | e | | 1080 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1081 | Sign | [BLMR]([0-9]+x[0-9]+)(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9 | 1082 | box | ]+xn?[0-9]+)* | 1083 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1084 | Term | A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+ | 1085 | pref | | 1086 | ix | | 1087 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1088 | Punc | S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+ | 1089 | tuat | | 1090 | ion | | 1091 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1092 | Text | ((A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)?[BLMR]([0-9]+x[0-9]+ | 1093 | | )(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)*|S38[7- | 1094 | | 9ab][0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)( | 1095 | | (A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)?[BLMR]([0-9]+x[0-9] | 1096 | | +)(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)*| | 1097 | | S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)* | 1098 +------+------------------------------------------------------------+ 1100 Table 9 1102 3.5.3.4. Panel 1104 A panel display format string combines multiple signs and 1105 punctuations into a unit as a defined height column or defined width 1106 row. Each signbox contains an offset coordinate that is used to 1107 position the symbols inside of the signbox. The offset is added to 1108 the placement coordinate to determine the position of each symbol on 1109 the panel. 1111 Each panel begins with a panel display marker "D" followed by a 1112 sizing coordinate. The top-left of the panel is taken to be the 1113 coordinate (0,0) such that the sizing coordinate can be understood as 1114 the width and height of the panel as well as the maximum coordinate. 1116 Each panel can contain several signboxes. Each signbox has its own 1117 offset coordinate. The offset coordinate is used to determine the 1118 position of the signbox's symbols within the panel. 1120 A full panel includes the panel prefix with several signboxes with 1121 offsets. 1123 Regular Expressions of Kartesian SignWriting Display 1125 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 1126 | Struc | Regular Expression | 1127 | ture | | 1128 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 1129 | Signb | _[BLMR]([0-9]+x[0-9]+)(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0 | 1130 | ox | -9]+xn?[0-9]+)* | 1131 | with | | 1132 | offs | | 1133 | et | | 1134 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 1135 | Panel | D[0-9]+x[0-9]+(_[BLMR]([0-9]+x[0-9]+)(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0 | 1136 | | -5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)*)* | 1137 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 1138 | Panel | D[0-9]+x[0-9]+(_[BLMR]([0-9]+x[0-9]+)(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0 | 1139 | s | -5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)*)*( | 1140 | | D[0-9]+x[0-9]+(_[BLMR]([0-9]+x[0-9]+)(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[ | 1141 | | 0-5][0-9a-f]n?[0-9]+xn?[0-9]+)*)*)* | 1142 +-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ 1144 Table 10 1146 3.6. Query Language 1148 The query language is an ASCII lite markup similar to FSW used to 1149 search. A query will compile to a series of regular expression to 1150 search a section of text to find similar or exact sign matches. 1151 Modern SignWriting section 9 clearly illustrates the searching 1152 available and the associated regular expression technology. 1154 The query string is a concise representation for a much larger set of 1155 regular expression statements. The query string permits several 1156 types of searches for symbols, ranges and spatial relation. 1158 4. ISWA 2010 1160 The ISWA 2010 is the abstract symbolset for the x-ISWA-2010 coded 1161 character set. The symbols are visually iconic, uniquely identified, 1162 and organized in a layered hierarchy (Section 4.3). 1164 The x-ISWA-2010 is a 16-bit coded character used in the font software 1165 to access the symbol glyphs. 1167 The x-Binary-SignWriting is a 12-bit coded character set that does 1168 not directly encode the symbols of the ISWA 2010, but divides each 1169 symbol into a combination of 3 characters. The first character 1170 represents the base of the symbol. The next represents the fill of 1171 the symbol. The last character represents the rotation of the 1172 symbol. 1174 4.1. Grapheme 1176 The grapheme is the fundamental unit of writing for the SignWriting 1177 script. Many graphemes of SignWriting are visually iconic. The main 1178 writing graphemes of SignWriting represent a visual conception: 1179 either hands, movement, dynamics, timing, head, face, trunk, or limb. 1180 The body concept is a combination of trunk and limb. The specific 1181 size and shape of each grapheme is designed to balance and complement 1182 other graphemes. 1184 The writing graphemes are extensive and specifically organized for 1185 written sign language and sign gestures. The writing graphemes do 1186 not include the specific graphemes of DanceWriting or the general 1187 graphemes of MovementWriting. 1189 The writing graphemes are used in clusters. A cluster is a spatial 1190 grouping of graphemes written as a single unit. The graphemes can 1191 overlap and obscure graphemes underneath. A cluster can represents a 1192 sign of a sign language or a visual performance of a sign gesture. 1194 Detailed location graphemes are separate from the main writing 1195 graphemes. Detailed location graphemes are used individually or 1196 sequentially. They represent isolated analysis that is written 1197 outside the cluster. 1199 Punctuation graphemes are used when writing sentences. They are used 1200 individually, between clusters. 1202 When written by hand, lines are drawn to form each grapheme. 1203 Different styles draw different types of lines: either for personal 1204 taste, speed, or quality. The main types of handwriting are formal, 1205 cursive, and shorthand. Formal handwriting, equivalent to block 1206 printing, includes defined lines for all grapheme features, specific 1207 palm facings for hand shapes, and detailed arrow heads and tails. 1208 Cursive handwriting is more fluid and less detailed. Handwriting for 1209 personal use can omit palm facings, generalize arrows, and other 1210 liberties of personal consumption. Shorthand is a further reduction 1211 of detail, written for speed. Shorthand is a memory aid to a written 1212 record and should be rewritten soon after the notes were taken. 1214 Understanding the ratios of size and shape for the graphemes improves 1215 hand writing. SignWriting was an exclusively handwritten script for 1216 7 years before publishing formalized the Block Printing model. 1218 4.2. Symbol 1220 There are 37,811 symbols, each with a unique ID. A symbol ID is a 1221 sequence of six formatted numbers of increasing detail. The first 1222 dashed number defines the category (11). The first two dashed 1223 numbers define the group (11-22). The first four dashed numbers 1224 define a base (11-22-333-44). The fifth number represents the fill 1225 (55). The sixth number represents the rotation (66). A symbol ID is 1226 a combination of base ID with a valid fill and a valid rotation. A 1227 symbol ID has the format "nn-nn-nnn-nn-nn-nn", where each "n" is a 1228 digit from 0 to 9. 1230 The fill modifier can best be understood through the palm facing of 1231 the hand graphemes. The palm facing is based on planes. The 1232 SignWriting script uses two planes: the Front Wall (Frontal Plane) 1233 and the Floor (Transverse Plane). There are 6 palm facings. The 1234 first three palm facings are parallel with the Front Wall. The 1235 second three palm facings are parallel with the Floor. The reader 1236 can view the signer from different viewpoints (expressive or 1237 receptive) and can view the hands from different perspectives (front 1238 or top), but no matter what the viewpoint or perspective, the first 1239 three Fills represent the palm facing parallel to the Front Wall and 1240 the second three Fills represent the palm facing parallel to the 1241 Floor. 1243 +------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+ 1244 | Fill | Indicator | Meaning | 1245 +------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+ 1246 | 01 | grapheme with white palm | reader sees palm of hand | 1247 | | | parallel Front Wall | 1248 +------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+ 1249 | 02 | grapheme with half black | reader sees side of hand | 1250 | | palm | parallel Front Wall | 1251 +------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+ 1252 | 03 | grapheme with black palm | reader sees back of hand | 1253 | | | parallel Front Wall | 1254 +------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+ 1255 | 04 | grapheme with white palm and | reader sees palm of hand | 1256 | | broken line | parallel Floor | 1257 +------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+ 1258 | 05 | grapheme with half black | reader sees side of hand | 1259 | | palm and broken line | parallel Floor | 1260 +------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+ 1261 | 06 | grapheme with black palm and | reader sees palm of hand | 1262 | | broken line | parallel Floor | 1263 +------+------------------------------+-----------------------------+ 1265 Table 11 1267 The fill modifier is redefined for the movement arrows of category 2. 1269 +------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+ 1270 | Fill | Indicator | Meaning | 1271 +------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+ 1272 | 01 | a grapheme with a | movement of the right hand | 1273 | | black arrow head | | 1274 +------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+ 1275 | 02 | a grapheme with a | movement of the left hand | 1276 | | white arrow head | | 1277 +------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+ 1278 | 03 | a grapheme with a | spatial overlapping of movement | 1279 | | thin, unconnected | arrows for the left and right hands | 1280 | | arrow head | when they move as a unit | 1281 +------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+ 1282 | 04 | Irregular arrow | building blocks for complex movement | 1283 | | stems | | 1284 +------+---------------------+--------------------------------------+ 1286 Table 12 1288 The rest of the other bases use a fill modifier for grouping and 1289 visual organization that is meaningful only for a particular base 1290 symbol or small set. 1292 The rotation modifier can best be understood through the hand 1293 symbols. The first 8 rotations progress 45 degrees counter 1294 clockwise. The last 8 rotations are a mirror of the first 8 and 1295 progress 45 degrees clockwise. Zero (0) degrees is understood to 1296 point to the top of the grapheme. 1298 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1299 | Rotation | Direction | Degrees from top | 1300 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1301 | 01 | Counter Clockwise | 0 | 1302 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1303 | 02 | Counter Clockwise | 45 | 1304 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1305 | 03 | Counter Clockwise | 90 | 1306 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1307 | 04 | Counter Clockwise | 135 | 1308 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1309 | 05 | Counter Clockwise | 180 | 1310 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1311 | 06 | Counter Clockwise | 225 | 1312 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1313 | 07 | Counter Clockwise | 270 | 1314 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1315 | 08 | Counter Clockwise | 315 | 1316 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1317 | 09 | Clockwise | 0 | 1318 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1319 | 10 | Clockwise | 45 | 1320 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1321 | 11 | Clockwise | 90 | 1322 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1323 | 12 | Clockwise | 135 | 1324 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1325 | 13 | Clockwise | 180 | 1326 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1327 | 14 | Clockwise | 225 | 1328 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1329 | 15 | Clockwise | 270 | 1330 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1331 | 16 | Clockwise | 315 | 1332 +----------+-------------------+------------------+ 1334 Table 13 1336 4.3. Hierarchy 1338 The symbols of the ISWA 2010 are placed in a layered hierarchy for 1339 organization and access. There are 4 levels to the ISWA 2010 1340 hierarchy: category, group, base, and symbol. 1342 There are 7 categories. The first number of the symbol ID identifies 1343 the category. The first 5 categories contain writing symbols for use 1344 in clusters: 1) Hands, 2) Movement, 3) Dynamics & Timing, 4) Head & 1345 Face, and 5) Body. The Body category can be broken into 2 1346 subcategories: 5.1) Trunk and 5.2) Limb. 1348 The 6th category is Detailed Location that contains symbols used 1349 alone or in sequence, always outside the cluster. The 7th category 1350 is Punctuation that contains symbols used between clusters for text. 1352 The 7 Categories of the ISWA 2010 1354 +-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ 1355 | Cat | Purpose | Name | Description | 1356 +-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ 1357 | 1 | Writing | Hands | Handshapes from over 40 Sign | 1358 | | | | Languages are placed in 10 | 1359 | | | | groups based on the numbers | 1360 | | | | 1-10 in American Sign Language. | 1361 +-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ 1362 | 2 | Writing | Movement | Contact symbols, small finger | 1363 | | | | movements, straight arrows, | 1364 | | | | curved arrows and circles are | 1365 | | | | placed into 10 groups based on | 1366 | | | | planes: The Front Wall Plane | 1367 | | | | includes movement that is | 1368 | | | | "parallel to the front wall" | 1369 | | | | and the Floor Plane includes | 1370 | | | | movement that is "parallel to | 1371 | | | | the floor". | 1372 +-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ 1373 | 3 | Writing | Dynamics & | Dynamics Symbols are used to | 1374 | | | Timing | give the "feeling" or "tempo" | 1375 | | | | to movement. They provide | 1376 | | | | emphasis on a movement or | 1377 | | | | expression, and combined with | 1378 | | | | Punctuation Symbols become the | 1379 | | | | equivalent to Exclamation | 1380 | | | | Points. The Tension Symbol, | 1381 | | | | combined with Contact Symbols, | 1382 | | | | provides the feeling of | 1383 | | | | "pressure", and combined with | 1384 | | | | facial expressions can place | 1385 | | | | emphasis or added feeling to an | 1386 | | | | expression. Timing symbols are | 1387 | | | | used to show alternating or | 1388 | | | | simultaneous movement. | 1389 +-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ 1390 | 4 | Writing | Head & Face | Starting with the head and then | 1391 | | | | from the top of the face and | 1392 | | | | moving down. | 1393 +-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ 1394 +-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ 1395 | 5 | Writing | Body | Torso movement, shoulders, | 1396 | | | | hips, and the limbs are used in | 1397 | | | | Sign Languages as a part of | 1398 | | | | grammar, especially when | 1399 | | | | describing conversations | 1400 | | | | between people, called Role | 1401 | | | | Shifting, or making spatial | 1402 | | | | comparisons between items on | 1403 | | | | the left and items on the | 1404 | | | | right. | 1405 +-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ 1406 | 6 | Detailed | Detailed | Detailed Location symbols used | 1407 | | Location | Location | are used alone or in sequence | 1408 | | | | outside of the cluster. They | 1409 | | | | may be useful for sorting large | 1410 | | | | dictionaries, refining | 1411 | | | | animation, simplifying | 1412 | | | | translation between scripts and | 1413 | | | | notation systems, and for | 1414 | | | | detailed analysis of location | 1415 | | | | sometimes needed in linguistic | 1416 | | | | research. | 1417 +-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ 1418 | 7 | Punctuation | Punctuation | Punctuation symbols are used | 1419 | | | | when writing complete sentences | 1420 | | | | or documents in SignWriting. | 1421 +-----+-------------+-------------+---------------------------------+ 1423 Table 14 1425 There are 30 groups. The first 2 dashed numbers in the symbol ID 1426 identify the group. The 30 groups can be divided into 3 sets of 10. 1427 The first ten are hands, category 1. The second ten are movements, 1428 category 2. The third ten are categories 3 thru 7. In order, 1 1429 group for the Dynamics & Timing category, 1 for Head, 4 for Face, 1 1430 for Trunk, 1 for Limb, 1 for Detailed Location, and 1 for 1431 Punctuation. 1433 The 30 groups with symbol ID segment. 1435 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1436 | First Set | Second Set | Third Set | 1437 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1438 | 01-01 Index | 02-01 Contact | 03-01 Dynamics & | 1439 | | | Timing | 1440 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1441 | 01-02 Index | 02-02 Finger Movement | 04-01 Head | 1442 | Middle | | | 1443 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1444 | 01-03 Index | 02-03 Straight Wall | 04-02 Brow Eyes | 1445 | Middle Thumb | Plane | Eyegaze | 1446 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1447 | 01-04 Four | 02-04 Straight | 04-03 Cheeks Ears | 1448 | Fingers | Diagonal Plane | Nose Breath | 1449 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1450 | 01-05 Five | 02-05 Straight Floor | 04-04 Mouth Lips | 1451 | Fingers | Plane | | 1452 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1453 | 01-06 Baby Finger | 02-06 Curves Parallel | 04-05 Tongue Teeth | 1454 | | Wall Plane | Chin Neck | 1455 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1456 | 01-07 Ring Finger | 02-07 Curves Hit Wall | 05-01 Trunk | 1457 | | Plane | | 1458 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1459 | 01-08 Middle | 02-08 Curves Hit Floor | 05-02 Limbs | 1460 | Finger | Plane | | 1461 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1462 | 01-09 Index Thumb | 02-09 Curves Parallel | 06-01 Detailed | 1463 | | Floor Plane | Location | 1464 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1465 | 01-10 Thumb | 02-10 Circles | 07-01 Punctuation | 1466 +-------------------+------------------------+----------------------+ 1468 Table 15 1470 There are 652 bases. The first 4 dashed numbers of a symbol ID 1471 identify the base. The 652 bases are divided between the 30 groups. 1472 For each group, there are less than 60 bases. The bases are often 1473 displayed in columns of 10. 1475 Each base can have up to 96 symbols. All 6 dashed numbers of the 1476 symbol ID are required to identify a symbol. Each symbol is a 1477 combination of a base, fill, and rotation. The fill is identified by 1478 the 5th number of the symbol ID with possible values from 01 to 06. 1479 The rotation is identified by the 6th number of the symbol ID with 1480 possible values from 01 to 16. 1482 4.4. Combined Character Sequence 1484 Each symbol of the ISWA 2010 can be expressed with a combination of 3 1485 characters. The first character represents the base of the symbol. 1486 The next character represents the fill of the symbol. The last 1487 character represents the rotation of the symbol. 1489 There are three forms the fill and rotation can use to represent 1490 their value: a hexadecimal key, an x-Binary-SignWriting character, or 1491 an x-Character-SignWriting character. 1493 The x-Binary-SignWriting coded character set uses a 12-bit encoding. 1494 Code points in this set use a "B+" prefix along with the 3 1495 hexadecimal digits that represent the value. 1497 The x-Character-SignWriting coded character set uses the Private Use 1498 Area of Unicode. These code points occur on plane 15. Code points 1499 in this set use a "U+" prefix along with the 5 hexadecimal digits 1500 that represent the value. 1502 The fill value ranges from 1 to 6. The fill key is 1 less than the 1503 value and ranges from 0 to 5. 1505 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1506 | Fill Value | Key | x-Binary-SignWriting | x-Character-SignWriting | 1507 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1508 | 1 | 0 | B+110 | U+FD810 | 1509 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1510 | 2 | 1 | B+111 | U+FD812 | 1511 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1512 | 3 | 2 | B+112 | U+FD812 | 1513 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1514 | 4 | 3 | B+113 | U+FD813 | 1515 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1516 | 5 | 4 | B+114 | U+FD814 | 1517 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1518 | 6 | 5 | B+115 | U+FD815 | 1519 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1521 Table 16 1523 The rotation value ranges from 1 to 16. The rotation key is written 1524 in hexadecimal and is equal to 1 less than the value and ranges from 1525 "0" to "f". 1527 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1528 | Rotation | Key | x-Binary-SignWriting | x-Character-SignWriting | 1529 | Value | | | | 1530 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1531 | 1 | 0 | B+120 | U+FD820 | 1532 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1533 | 2 | 1 | B+121 | U+FD821 | 1534 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1535 | 3 | 2 | B+122 | U+FD822 | 1536 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1537 | 4 | 3 | B+123 | U+FD823 | 1538 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1539 | 5 | 4 | B+124 | U+FD824 | 1540 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1541 | 6 | 5 | B+125 | U+FD825 | 1542 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1543 | 7 | 6 | B+126 | U+FD826 | 1544 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1545 | 8 | 7 | B+127 | U+FD827 | 1546 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1547 | 9 | 8 | B+128 | U+FD828 | 1548 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1549 | 10 | 9 | B+129 | U+FD829 | 1550 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1551 | 11 | a | B+12A | U+FD82A | 1552 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1553 | 12 | b | B+12B | U+FD82B | 1554 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1555 | 13 | c | B+12C | U+FD82C | 1556 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1557 | 14 | d | B+12D | U+FD82D | 1558 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1559 | 15 | e | B+12E | U+FD82E | 1560 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1561 | 16 | f | B+12F | U+FD82F | 1562 +------------+-----+----------------------+-------------------------+ 1564 Table 17 1566 Further, a 16 bit symbol code from the x-ISWA-2010 exists for each of 1567 the valid combined character sequences. This relationship can be 1568 stated as (symbol code = ((base code - 256) * 96) + ((fill value - 1) 1569 * 16) + rotation value). The first symbol code is 1 and the last 1570 valid symbol code is 62,504. 1572 The first symbol has an ID of "01-01-001-01-01-01" and a symbol code 1573 of 1. 1575 Symbol code 1 = symbol key S10000 = B+130, B+110, B+120 = U+FD830, 1576 U+FD810, U+FD820. 1578 Symbol code 1 = ( ( hexdec('100') - 256 ) * 96 ) + ( ( 1579 fill_value(1) - 1 ) * 16 ) + rotation_value(1). 1581 Symbol code 1 = ( ( 256 - 256 ) * 96 ) + ( ( 1 - 1 ) * 16 ) + 1. 1583 Symbol code 1 = ( 0 * 96 ) + ( 0 * 16 ) + 1. 1585 Symbol code 1 = 1. 1587 4.5. Validity 1589 Although there are 6 possible fills and 16 possible rotations, not 1590 every combination of base, fill, and rotation is valid. Each base 1591 has a set of valid fills and a set of valid rotation. These validity 1592 sets contain one or more values from the defined range. 1594 For each value, the inclusion in the validity set can be expressed 1595 with a value of "0" or "1". For fill values, lining up the digit 1596 from left to right, will result in a string 6 digits long. The value 1597 of the 6 digit number is 2 ^ (value -1). 1599 +------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1600 | Fill Value | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Binary | Power of 2 | 1601 +------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1602 | 1 | X | | | | | | 100000 | 1 | 1603 +------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1604 | 2 | | X | | | | | 010000 | 2 | 1605 +------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1606 | 3 | | | X | | | | 001000 | 4 | 1607 +------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1608 | 4 | | | | X | | | 000100 | 8 | 1609 +------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1610 | 5 | | | | | X | | 000010 | 16 | 1611 +------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1612 | 6 | | | | | | X | 000001 | 32 | 1613 +------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1615 Table 18 1617 The value of any fill validity set is equal to the sum of the power 1618 of 2 for each fill value in the set. The empty set is invalid and 1619 has a sum of zero (0). The full set of all possible fills has a sum 1620 of 63. 1622 +---------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1623 | Fill Set | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Binary | Power of 2 | 1624 +---------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1625 | {} | | | | | | | 000000 | 0 | 1626 +---------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1627 | {1,2,3,4,5,6} | X | X | X | X | X | X | 111111 | 63 | 1628 +---------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--------+------------+ 1630 Table 19 1632 Each base has a defined validity set for fills. The "Fills" column 1633 in the "Bases" section. 1635 The rotation validity sets have a larger range than the fills. The 1636 possible rotation values range from 1 to 16. The power of 2 numbers 1637 are 16-bit. 1639 +-------+--------+------------+ 1640 | Value | Binary | Power of 2 | 1641 +-------+--------+------------+ 1642 | 1 | 2^0 | 1 | 1643 +-------+--------+------------+ 1644 | 2 | 2^1 | 2 | 1645 +-------+--------+------------+ 1646 | 3 | 2^2 | 4 | 1647 +-------+--------+------------+ 1648 | 4 | 2^3 | 8 | 1649 +-------+--------+------------+ 1650 | 5 | 2^4 | 16 | 1651 +-------+--------+------------+ 1652 | 6 | 2^5 | 32 | 1653 +-------+--------+------------+ 1654 | 7 | 2^6 | 64 | 1655 +-------+--------+------------+ 1656 | 8 | 2^7 | 128 | 1657 +-------+--------+------------+ 1658 | 9 | 2^8 | 256 | 1659 +-------+--------+------------+ 1660 | 10 | 2^9 | 512 | 1661 +-------+--------+------------+ 1662 | 11 | 2^10 | 1024 | 1663 +-------+--------+------------+ 1664 | 12 | 2^11 | 2048 | 1665 +-------+--------+------------+ 1666 | 13 | 2^12 | 4096 | 1667 +-------+--------+------------+ 1668 | 14 | 2^13 | 8192 | 1669 +-------+--------+------------+ 1670 +-------+--------+------------+ 1671 | 15 | 2^14 | 16384 | 1672 +-------+--------+------------+ 1673 | 16 | 2^15 | 32768 | 1674 +-------+--------+------------+ 1676 Table 20 1678 The value of a rotation validity set is the summation of the power of 1679 2 numbers. The minimum summation is 1. The largest possible 1680 summation is 65,535 where all 16 rotations are valid. 1682 Each base has a defined validity set for rotations. The "Rotations" 1683 column in the "Bases" section. 1685 Interestingly enough, there are only 12 possible validity sets in the 1686 ISWA 2010. 1688 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1689 | Sum | Binary | Set | 1690 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1691 | 1 | 100000 | {1} | 1692 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1693 | 2 | 010000 | {2} | 1694 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1695 | 3 | 110000 | {1, 2} | 1696 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1697 | 7 | 111000 | {1, 2, 3} | 1698 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1699 | 15 | 111100 | {1, 2, 3, 4} | 1700 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1701 | 31 | 111110 | {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} | 1702 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1703 | 63 | 111111 | {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} | 1704 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1705 | 187 | 11011101 | {1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8} | 1706 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1707 | 255 | 11111111 | {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8} | 1708 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1709 | 511 | 1111111110000000 | {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9} | 1710 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1711 | 48059 | 1101110111011101 | {1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, | 1712 | | | 16} | 1713 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1714 | 65535 | 1111111111111111 | {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, | 1715 | | | 12, 13, 14, 15, 16} | 1716 +-------+------------------+----------------------------------------+ 1717 Table 21 1719 5. SignPuddle Standard 1721 The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting text is nearing a stable and 1722 fully functional version 1. 1724 5.1. Licenses 1726 5.1.1. Open Font License 1728 Our font software is available under SIL's Open Font License. 1730 5.1.2. Creative Commons 1732 Our reference material is licensed under Creative Commons 1733 attribution, share alike (by-sa). 1735 5.1.3. GPL 1737 The current open source projects are licensed under the GPL 2 for 1738 MediaWiki and GPL 3 for the general software on Github. Any 1739 contributions to the open source code must agree to a possible 1740 relicense in the future under a BSD like license. 1742 5.1.4. BSD 1744 After the financial issues [13] of the Center for Sutton Movement 1745 Writing have been addressed, the open source projects will relicensed 1746 under a more open and free BSD-like license, such as the MIT License. 1748 5.2. Infrastructure 1750 5.2.1. International SignWriting Alphabet Fonts 1752 The International SignWriting Alphabet 2010 (ISWA 2010) Font 1753 Reference [1] is a product of the collaboration between SignWriting 1754 inventor, Valerie Sutton, and SignWriting encoder Stephen E Slevinski 1755 Jr. Special thanks to Adam Frost's excellent work on the SVG 1756 refinement and more. 1758 The ISWA 2010 fonts have been stable since their initial release on 1759 October 20th, 2010. 1761 Valerie Sutton 1762 o hand crafted and organized 30K plus individual glyphs 1764 o created a 2 dimension PNG of 3 colors for each 1766 o named each individual glyph with 6 degrees of significance 1768 o font name: ISWA 2010 Sutton 1770 Steve Slevinski 1772 o counted and numbered the glyphs 1774 o created mathematical names 1776 o analyzed PNGs for line and fill 1778 o refactored glyphs - font name: ISWA 2010 PNG Standard 1780 o extended glyphs - font names: ISWA 2010 PNG Inverse, Shadow, 1781 Colorized 1783 o traced glyphs - font names: ISWA 2010 SVG Line Trace, Shaddow 1784 Trace, Smooth, and Angular 1786 o refactored and extended Adam's SVG work - font name: ISWA 2010 SVG 1787 Refinement 1789 Adam Frost 1791 o manually traced each and every glyph that could not be 1792 automatically rotated 1794 o font name: ISWA 2010 SVG Refinement 1796 o physically performed and photographed every hand shape 1798 o font name: ISWA 2010 Hand Photo 1800 o consulted with Valerie in places of ambiguity 1802 o found the Facial Irregularity, documented in the ISWA 2010 Errata 1804 5.2.2. SignWriting Icon Server 1806 The SignWriting Icon Server create SVG and PNG images and queries 1807 data collections using an open API. The image creation is stable and 1808 fully implemented. The API is currently under construction with only 1809 an initial level of support. 1811 The main server is available on Wikimedia Labs [4] for all 1812 SignWriting projects. 1814 A backup server is available on SignBank [3]. 1816 Additional SignWriting Icon Servers can be created directly from the 1817 GitHub source. 1819 5.2.3. SignWriting Thin Viewer 1821 The SignWriting Thin Viewer uses JavaScript to wrap the sign names 1822 with basic HTML and CSS to fully supports the grammar of written ASL. 1823 This script can be applied to any modern browser through a site 1824 script or initiated within a browser using a bookmark. 1826 5.2.3.1. CSS Text Layout 1828 The SignWriting Thin Viewer use CSS to make SignWriting text behave 1829 more like logographic text. It uses simple math for layout. It has 1830 center data points for selecting text to copy and for searching text 1831 on a page. It uses images for individual signs and punctuation. It 1832 makes SignWritng text act more like text. 1834 The current working prototype uses 12 CSS rules: 4 that cover every 1835 cluster, 4 that cover the data string, and 4 custom layout values for 1836 each cluster. 1838 Common 1840 o position: relative; 1842 o background-repeat: no-repeat; 1844 o background-origin: content-box; 1846 o padding: 10px; 1848 Data Span 1850 o display: table-cell; 1852 o vertical-align: middle; 1854 o font-size:0%; 1856 o height: inherit; 1858 Individual 1859 o width: ?px 1861 o height: ?px 1863 o left: ?px 1865 o background-image: url(ht.. 1867 The width, height, and left values are easy to calculate using the 1868 character string. No need to access a database or wait for the image 1869 server. 1871 The background-image must link to a SignWriting Icon Server. CSS 1872 rules will directly effect the '''url''' affecting the style of the 1873 rich text. Specify the looks of Headings 1 thru 6, bold, italic, or 1874 to indicate URL links. 1876 5.3. Compatibility 1878 SignPuddle Online, ASL Wikipedia Project, SignTyp, SignWriter Studio, 1879 the DELEGS Editor, and more. 1881 5.3.1. SignPuddle Online 1883 SignPuddle Online [14] is the current home of the international 1884 community of online writers of the SignWriting Script. Online tools 1885 make it possible to create SignWriting dictionaries and documents 1886 directly on the web. Each collection is freely available as a small 1887 XML file [15]. Dozens of sign languages from around the world are 1888 represented. Each language can have several collections of 1889 SignWriting. 1891 5.3.2. Wikimedia Labs 1893 SignWriting has an open project on Wikimedia Labs [16]. The ASL 1894 Wikipedia Project [17] is in full swing. The Libras Wikipedia 1895 Project [18] may start soon. 1897 In general, Wikimedia Labs creates virtual computers running Linux. 1898 They use a special tool called Puppet to configure the virtual 1899 servers. Wikimedia Labs allows you to create, manage, and analyze 1900 the virtual servers through a MediaWiki based application. Wikimedia 1901 Labs is deeply integrated but not always configured properly or 1902 documented. 1904 Wikimedia Labs has created a project for SignWriting. I am a super 1905 user on Wikimedia Labs. I administer the SignWriting project. I can 1906 create virtual servers at will, each is called an instance. I have 2 1907 instances running. The first is "ase10", the 10th server I created 1908 before I had everything properly configured and installed. I created 1909 "ase11" when I was trying to fix the catastrophic crash of the ASL 1910 Wikipedia. "ase11" is a basic server without MediaWiki or the SWMP. 1912 For the public to view anything on Wikimedia Labs, you must use an IP 1913 from a limited pool. Each project has a limit of 0 IPs when it is 1914 first created. This number can be increased according to need. 1916 I have 2 public IPs for SignWriting. The first is used by the ASL 1917 Wikipedia Project and points to "ase10". The second is currently 1918 used for the SignWriting Icon Server [4] installation for Wikimedia 1919 projects. 1921 There is no BZS virtual server running on Wikimedia Labs. This needs 1922 to be created by a skilled and experienced Linux administrator 1923 through the Wikimedia Labs environment. BZS is pointing to the 1924 SignWriting Icon Server on "ase11". 1926 You do not need a public IP to start development on Wikimedia Labs, 1927 only to be viewed by the public. 1929 5.3.3. SignTyp 1931 This standard is being integrated with the SignTyp linguistic coding 1932 system developed by Rachel Channon through an NSF grant. 1934 Notation Systems [19] by Harry van der Hulst and Rachel Channon. 1936 Why dynamic features? [20] by Harry van der Hulst and Rachel 1937 Channon. 1939 Transcription systems as input to coding systems: SignWriting & 1940 SignTyp [21] by Charles Butler and Rachel Channon. 1942 5.3.4. SignWriter Studio 1944 SignWriter Studio [22] is a Windows-only compatible application by 1945 Jonathan Duncan. It has an alternate symbol selection technique. 1946 According to Valerie Sutton, it illustrates a unique insight into the 1947 hand shapes of the ISWA. 1949 Jonathan Duncan writes: 1951 SignWriter Studio has 4 ways to get the basic symbol base, and 3 1952 ways to modify the selected base. 1954 1) Select the base symbol from a complete list of base symbols 1955 organized in a tree view 2) Search for a hand symbol in hand 1956 search section by hand feature. 3) Select a symbol already present 1957 in the signbox. 4) Select a symbol from a Favorites section. 1959 Then one of three chooser to define the fill and rotation will 1960 become available. 1)The hand chooser. 2)The arrow chooser. 3)The 1961 general chooser. 1963 The Hand chooser is to quickly find the symbol for a certain, 1964 hand, plain(wall or floor), palm facing and rotation. The Hand 1965 Chooser also extends add a fourth palm facing to logically show 1966 all possible symbols in their most common uses. This chooser 1967 resembles the instruction manual explaining the use of hand 1968 shapes. 1970 The Arrow Chooser is to quickly find arrows for a certain hand, 1971 plain(wall or floor) and rotation.This chooser resembles the 1972 instruction manual explaining the use of arrows. 1974 The General Chooser is for symbols for which the two previous 1975 chooser do not work well and gives a grouped list of symbols for 1976 the base group. 1978 5.3.5. DELEGS Online 1980 The DELEGS Editor [23] from the University of Hamburg and C1 WPS GmbH 1981 in Germany is designed for Deaf Education. It is a tool for writing 1982 translation texts between spoken and signed languages. 1984 Spoken language text is used to display horizontal SignWriting Text 1985 from left to right. The spoken language can appear beneath the sign 1986 or it can be hidden. 1988 6. Unicode Integration 1990 SignWriting Text is integrated with Unicode in the Private Use Area. 1992 6.1. Private Use Area Font Characters 1994 The Unicode PUA is a simple shift of the x-Binary-SignWriting coded 1995 character set. Each code is increased by decimal value 1,038,080 1996 which is FD700 in hex. An experimental TrueType Font converts the 1997 Unicode PUA to create the visual images. 1999 6.2. Proposal 2001 A shift of the 12 bit characters of x-Binary-SignWriting by 1D700 2002 will use the range U+1D800 to U+1DFFF, using eight 8-bit rows of 2003 Unicode Plane 1 known as the the SMP: Supplementary Multilingual 2004 Plane. These rows occur inside an unassigned section of the 2005 Notational systems. 2007 These are the characters being used by the community. The gap 2008 between the ISWA 2010 symbols and the number sections illustrates two 2009 truths. First, the entire Sutton MovementWriting family will be 2010 encoded. Second, it doesn't really matter where the numbers are 2011 placed, perhaps plane 14. 2013 The number characters encode the ruler principle with characters. 2014 The ruler principle is built in automatically for scripts written 2015 sequentially in one dimension. The number characters are needed for 2016 2-dimensional logograms, where the spatial relationship between 2017 symbols is explicitly stated with X,Y Cartesian coordinates. Number 2018 characters may be a useful concept for other scripts and notations to 2019 support 2-dimensional script processing. 2021 The entire set of characters is used for a plain text model of a 2022 2-dimension logographic script with freeform placement of symbols. 2024 Future additions to the ISWA 2010 will include essential hand shapes 2025 and new mouth shapes. New characters will extend the SignWriting 2026 Text model with minimal complications. 2028 Future proposals will include the rest of the Sutton MovementWriting 2029 System. 2031 7. IANA Considerations 2033 This section provides guidance to the Internet Assigned Numbers 2034 Authority (IANA) regarding registration of values related to the code 2035 spaces of the Center for Sutton Movement Writing, in accordance with 2036 [RFC2978]. protocol, in accordance with BCP 26, [RFC2434]. 2038 See IANA: http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2978.txt 2040 Conforms with RFC 2040. 2042 There are three name spaces for the Center for Sutton Movement 2043 Writing that require definition and extension: x-ISWA-2010, x-Binary- 2044 SignWriting, and x-Character-SignWriting 2045 SignWriting Text is an international standard with several coded 2046 character sets. These sets may require additional hand and mouth 2047 shapes. 2049 The following terms are used here with the meanings defined in BCP 2050 26: "name space", "assigned value", "registration". 2052 The following policies are used here with the meanings defined in BCP 2053 26: "Private Use", "First Come First Served", "Expert Review", 2054 "Specification Required", "IETF Consensus", "Standards Action". 2056 8. Security Considerations 2058 None. 2060 URIs 2062 [1] 2064 [2] 2066 [3] 2068 [4] 2070 [5] 2072 [6] 2074 [7] 2076 [8] 2078 [9] 2080 [10] 2082 [11] 2084 [12] 2086 [13] 2088 [14] 2090 [15] 2092 [16] 2095 [17] 2097 [18] 2099 [19] 2102 [20] 2105 [21] 2108 [22] 2110 [23] 2112 [24] 2114 [25] 2118 [26] 2121 [27] 2123 Appendix A. Modern SignWriting 2125 This Internet Draft is in complete agreement with the theory and 2126 example workbook released on January 12th, 2012 called Modern 2127 SignWriting [24]. 2129 Modern SignWriting has example text and concretely defines the 2130 processes available. It fully documented the symbol encoding. The 2131 query language is by far the most important aspect of this design. 2132 Modern SignWriting section 9 clearly illustrates the searching 2133 available and the associated regular expression technology. I 2134 discussed the model on the Regular Expressions Experts list of Linked 2135 In the end of 2011 [25]. 2137 Modern SignWriting is now part of the SignWriting Text Reference [26] 2138 and available in wiki form and PDF. 2140 Entire sections of the Modern SignWriting document will be included 2141 in this I-D as progresses is made. 2143 Appendix B. Cartesian SignWriting 2145 Cartesian SignWriting is the name of a script encoding model for 2146 SignWriting Block Printing. The mathematical model is defined by the 2147 SignWriting Text Language [27]. This language uses formal words to 2148 name terms, signs, and punctuation. 2150 Formal structures of logographic sign are mixed with punctuation to 2151 form text. Each logographic sign is a 2-dimensional arrangement of 2152 symbols defined with cartesian coordinates. 2154 Cartesian SignWriting is a heuristic model. The first prototypes 2155 were created in 2008. Through trial and error, the model was 2156 successively refactored to reduce the complexity and the computation 2157 cost of the implementations. The model has been optimized for common 2158 usage and processing. 2160 B.1. Signbox 2162 Cartesian SignWriting uses coordinate based symbol placement. 2164 Each logographic sign exists on its own 2-dimensional canvas. Each 2165 point on the canvas is identified with an X and a Y coordinate. Each 2166 canvas has a defined center. Formal numbers range from -250 to 249. 2167 Informal number have no limit. 2169 Y Axis 2170 | - 2171 | 2172 | 2173 | 2174 | 2175 | 2176 X Axis | 2177 -----------+------------ 2178 - | + 2179 | 2180 | 2181 | 2182 | 2183 | 2184 | + 2186 Symbols are placed on the canvas with coordinates that represent the 2187 top-left of the symbol image. 2189 B.2. Temporal Order 2191 A term is a specialized sign that uses a sequential prefix before the 2192 2-dimensional signbox. 2194 A sequence is a list of writing symbols and/or detailed location 2195 symbols. A valid sequence must contain at least one symbol and can 2196 not contain punctuation. A sequence is an optional sign prefix used 2197 to define a temporal order. 2199 The temporal order of a sign is distinct from the visual cluster. 2200 Neither structure can be dirived from the other automatically. It 2201 requires human intelligence to correctly create the sequence from the 2202 signbox contents. 2204 There are several theories on the best way to structure a sequence. 2205 The most productive is based on the SignSpelling Sequence theory of 2206 Valerie Sutton. A sequence is structured as a series of starting 2207 handshapes followed by optional movements, transitional handshapes, 2208 movement, and end handshapes. Only symbols from category 1 (hands) 2209 and category 2 (movement) should be used in this first section. The 2210 last section of the sequence should contain symbols of dynamics & 2211 timing, head & face, or body: categories 3, 4, and 5. 2213 Detailed location symbols from category 6 can be used in a sequence, 2214 but are rarely (if ever) needed for a sequence in general writing. 2216 B.3. Logograph of Logographs 2218 Cartesian SignWriting text uses a series of canvases, each with a 2219 unique coordinate space. A higher level coordinate space can be 2220 created to represent an entire panel of SignWriting Text. Either a 2221 column of vertical writing or a row of horizontal. The higher level 2222 coordinate space has an origin of (0,0). For columns, the panels 2223 share a common height. For rows, the panels share a common width. 2225 X Axis 2226 (0,0) width 2227 +------------------- 2228 | 2229 Y h | 2230 e | 2231 A i | 2232 x g | 2233 i h | 2234 s t | 2235 | 2236 | 2238 The mathematics of the panel is defined in Modern SignWriting, 2239 section 10.D Variant Display Form: Panel. The SignWriting Icon 2240 Server contains the functions required to convert a section of 2241 SignWriting Text into a series of panels. This can be useful for 2242 presentation. 2244 The development of the rich text model defines a higher level 2245 logograph with manipulation of the DOM using CSS rules. 2247 Appendix C. Theory of SignWriting Grammar and Encoding 2249 Sign language is vastly different than spoken language. Instead of 2250 the sequential sounds of the voice, there is a 3 dimensional space 2251 with simultaneous action. The SignWriting Script creates 2252 2-dimensional writing that is visually icon and full of featural 2253 information. This is true on the symbol level and on the sign level. 2254 A symbol represents phonemic information and is full of featural 2255 information to better understand the phonemes of the symbols. A sign 2256 is a 2-dimensional arrangement of symbols and is full of featural 2257 information to better understand the morphemes of the signs. 2259 The 2 families of the SignWriting Script are Handwriting and Block 2260 Printing. The Handwriting family integrates with diacritic marks. 2261 The Block Printing family uses 2-dimensional placement with overlap 2262 and overlay. 2264 Both of these families identify features in the writing they produce. 2265 Block Printing uses more features and Handwriting often uses less. 2267 The Block Printing family is aimed at the needs of the reader and the 2268 publisher. The Block Printing family is ready to standardize with a 2269 fully developed model. 2271 The Handwriting family is concerned with the needs of the writer. 2273 The purpose is not to recreate the iconic symbols of the 2274 International SignWriting alphabet exactly by hand, but the purpose 2275 is to enable the writer to quickly write notes on paper or 2276 chalkboard. Handwriting often drops features of the SignWriting 2277 Script for efficiency and speed. If too many features are dropped, 2278 the writing may loose it's clarity over time as the writer is 2279 distanced from the writing. This is common for Shorthand. 2281 C.1. Logographic Sign 2283 A sign is a variably-size logographic word. It is a 2-dimensional 2284 combination of symbols inside of a signbox with a tight bounding box 2285 and an explicit center. 2287 C.2. Punctuation and Text 2289 Punctuation separates signs into structured sentences. A punctuation 2290 symbol is always used alone and should not be used in a sign. Line 2291 breaks should not occur before punctuation. 2293 C.3. Terms 2295 A term is a logographic sign with an optional prefix. The prefix is 2296 a sequential list of symbols that identify temporal order and 2297 additional analysis. Terms are special signs that are above the 2298 standard noise of SignWriting Text. The query language of Formal 2299 SignWriting support searching for general signs with the letter "Q" 2300 and searching for terms with the letters "QT". 2302 C.4. Lanes 2304 When written vertically, SignWriting can use 3 different lanes: left, 2305 middle, and right. The middle lane is the default lane and 2306 punctuation is always used in the middle lane. No matter the lane, 2307 the center of a sign is aligned with the center of the lane. 2309 For body weight shifts to one side or the other, the center of the 2310 cluster is aligned with a fixed horizontal offset from the middle 2311 lane into either the left or right lane. 2313 The left and right lanes are used to represent body weight shifts and 2314 are represented by a horizontal offset from the middle lane. Body 2315 weight shifts are important to the grammar of sign languages, used 2316 for two different grammatical aspects: 1) role shifting during sign 2317 language storytelling, and 2) spatial comparisons of two items under 2318 discussion. One "role" or "item" is placed on the right side of the 2319 body (right lane), and the other on the left side of the body (left 2320 lane), and the weight shifts back and forth between the two, with the 2321 narrator in the middle (middle lane). 2323 C.5. Modes 2325 The most common writing mode is vertical. 2327 Vertical Writing Mode 2329 <-- width / extent --> 2331 top side/ 2332 start side 2333 +--------------------+ A 2334 | ----> Block flow | | 2335 | | | 2336 | | i b T F | | 2337 left side/ | | n a e l | right side/ height/ 2338 head side | | l s x o | foot side measure 2339 | V i e t w | | 2340 | n | | 2341 | e | | 2342 | | | 2343 +--------------------+ V 2344 bottom side/ 2345 end side 2347 Figure 1 2349 downward inline base 2351 rightward block flow 2353 vertical translate by word 2355 variable dimensions of words 2357 center of word aligns with the central baseline 2359 variable over and under values from central baseline 2361 The horizontal writing mode can loose or obfuscate important 2362 grammatical information, but is still useful, especially for 2363 translations with a spoken language. 2365 Horizontal Writing Mode 2367 ----> inline base 2369 | B f Text 2370 | l l Flow 2371 | o o 2372 v c w 2373 k 2375 Figure 2 2377 C.6. Layout 2379 The SignPuddle Standard for SignWriting Text uses a freeform layout 2380 with cartesian coordinates for absolute positioning. Additional 2381 layout options are included and explored. 2383 The main issue of layout is how the writer will use the system. The 2384 balance between complexity and usability from the writer's 2385 perspective is of primary importance. 2387 The second issue of layout involve comparison. Signs can quickly be 2388 scanned for the symbols used; however, the relative position of the 2389 symbols require an analysis of the layout. The different layouts 2390 offer different approaches for evaluation. 2392 The third issues of layout involves variability. There are two types 2393 of variability. The first, inter-personal variability, occurs when 2394 writers pick different symbols and different details. Inter-personal 2395 variability is part of the writing system that layout can not 2396 resolve. The second, intra-personal variability, occurs when writers 2397 use the same symbols, but in slightly different positions. With 2398 layout choices, it is possible to reduce the intra-personal 2399 variability, but this reduction may harm the writing system by 2400 imposing too many restrictions on the writer. 2402 A fourth issues of layout involves elegance and beauty. Some may 2403 consider one type of layout to be superior to another based on 2404 subjective personal opinions. SignWriting is a unique script. The 2405 ultimate choice of layout should be based on the writer's experience, 2406 comparison, and variability. 2408 C.6.1. Freeform 2410 With freeform layout, the writer decides what symbols to use and the 2411 exact symbol position. The freeform layout offers the greatest 2412 flexibility for the writer and the greatest intra-personal 2413 variability. 2415 Cartesian coordinates specify X and Y coordinates for the top, left 2416 of the symbol glyph. The coordinates of the symbols relate to the 2417 center of the canvas. The Cartesian Coordinate system is a more 2418 practical choices for computer processing because the equations of 2419 layout and comparison are eaiser. This is the current method for 2420 writing. The writer is presented with a canvas and positions each 2421 symbol independently. 2423 Polar coordinates specify an angle and a distance from the center of 2424 the sign to the center of each symbol. Polar coordinates require the 2425 pythagorean therum and the slope equation for standard processing. 2427 C.6.2. Restricted 2429 It is possible to impose restrictions on symbol placement thereby 2430 limiting the intra-personal variability of sign spellings. 2432 For generic restrictions, instead of allowing any coordinates, it may 2433 be possible to limit the options. For example, with polar 2434 coordinates, only allow specific angles and specific distances. This 2435 has not been evaluated. 2437 For specific restrictions it may be possible to perform a statistical 2438 analysis of the symbols used to come up with a limited number of 2439 attachment points around each symbol and a small list of predefined 2440 distances between symbols. This information would be symbol specific 2441 and could greatly reduce the intra-personal variability if 2442 successfully implemented. 2444 C.6.3. Non-form 2446 Some would argue that the writer should not determine the form of a 2447 sign, but should input linguistic analysis and let the layout/font 2448 manager determine the best representation for the written sign. This 2449 would change the script from a writing system into computer aided 2450 design, requiring concepts that are not part of the script and are 2451 not part of the writer's thought processes. The idea would make for 2452 an interesting project, but it is not about encoding SignWriting. 2454 C.7. Positioning 2456 Any of the above layout options have two choices for positioning: 2457 absolute or relative. 2459 C.7.1. Absolute 2461 The absolute position of each symbol relates to the center of the 2462 sign. The freeform layout section above is defined using absolute 2463 positioning. 2465 C.7.2. Relative 2467 A relative position relates the symbol position according to other 2468 symbols. This could be defined with a tree structure or a more 2469 complicated linked list. One or more root symbols could initialize 2470 the sign and other symbols would build from the roots. The 2471 restricted layout of polar coordinates is defined above using 2472 relative positioning. 2474 The viability and usability of relative positioning is unknown and 2475 has not been investigated. 2477 Author's Address 2479 Stephen E Slevinski Jr 2480 SignPuddle 2482 Email: slevin@signpuddle.net