ISWA
From PuddleNet
The ISWA is the International SignWriting Alphabet. It is the latest generation of symbol set for SignWriting, and the first to be released under the Open Font License.
The ISWA 2010 is the name of the current abstract symbol set. Unique ID names organize the symbols into a layered hierarchy.
Contents |
[edit] Symbol Name
Each symbol of the ISWA 2010 has a unique name called the symbol ID. Every symbols does not have a unique glyph.
The symbol ID is a six part number formatted for zero padding with a mask of "xx-xx-xxx-xx-xx-xx-xx". The six individual numbers of the symbol ID listed by order are: category, group, base, variation, fill, rotation.
The first number by itself identifies the Category, together with the second number identifies the SymbolGroup ID.
The third number identifies the BaseSymbol place, usually with an "01" for the fourth number: variation. When more than one BaseSymbols share the first three numbers, the fourth number will order these BaseSymbols with variation numbers starting from 1.
The fifth and six numbers uniquely define an individual symbol. They are used to place symbols on a 6 by 16 palette. Each BaseSymbol has a unique symbol palette that lists the symbols on a 6 by 16 grid with valid columns and valid rows. Any cell on a valid column and a valid row is valid and must identify a symbol. Any cell on an invalid column or an invalid row does not represent a symbol and is invalid.
[edit] Structures
You can build 2 structures with the ISWA 2010: signs and punctuation.
[edit] Sign
A sign structure is a combination of a Spatial SignSpelling with an optional SignSpelling Sequence.
[edit] Punctuation
Punctuation structures are composed of a single punctuation symbol.
[edit] Symbol Type
The ISWA 2010 identifies 3 main types of symbols.
[edit] Writing
Writing symbols are used in both the Spatial SignSpelling and the SignSpelling Sequence of a sign.
[edit] Sequence
Sequence symbols can only be used in the SignSpelling Sequence. They are not used for everyday writing, but may enhance sorting and animation. The sequence symbols may be useful for translation with other scripts or integration with notation systems.
[edit] Punctuation
Punctuation symbols are always used alone.
[edit] Categories
The ISWA 2010 identifies 7 categories for the symbols.
Writing Symbols
- Category 1: Hands
- Handshapes from over 40 Sign Languages are placed in 10 groups based on the numbers 1-10 in American Sign Language.
- Category 2: Movement
- Contact symbols, small finger movements, straight arrows, curved arrows and circles are placed into 10 groups based on planes: The Front Wall Plane includes movement that is “parallel to the front wall” and the Floor Plane includes movement that is “parallel to the floor”.
- Category 3: Dynamics
- Dynamics Symbols are used mostly with Movement Symbols and Punctuation Symbols, to give the "feeling" or "tempo" to movement. They also provide emphasis on a movement or expression, and combined with Puncuation Symbols become the equivalent to Exclamation Points. The Tension Symbol, combined with Contact Symbols, provides the feeling of 'pressure", and combined with facial expressions can place emphasis or added feeling to an expression. Timing symbols are used to show alternating or simultaneous movement.
- Category 4: Head & Faces
- Starting with the head and then from the top of the face and moving down. Group 22 includes head movement and views of the head. Groups 23-26 include detailed facial expressions and movement of parts of the face and neck.
- Category 5: Body
- Torso movement, shoulders, hips, and the limbs are used in Sign Languages as a part of grammar, especially when describing conversations between people, called Role Shifting, or making spatial comparisons between items on the left and items on the right. This category is important when writing sign language storytelling and poetry. All sign languages have some signs that point below the hips, or touch the torso, or hunch the shoulders, or touch the arms and wrists.
Sequence Symbols
- Category 6: Detailed Location
- Detailed Location symbols are used in the SignSpelling Sequence and not in the Spatial SignSpelling. May be useful for sorting large dictionaries, refining animation, simplifying translation between scripts and notation systems, and for detailed analysis of location sometimes needed in linguistic research.
Punctuation Symbols
- Category 7: Punctuation
- Punctuation Symbols are used when writing complete sentences or documents in SignWriting. The Punctuation Symbols do not look like the symbols for punctuation in English, but they do have similar meanings. SignWriting punctuation symbols include a period, comma, colon, semicolon, exclamation point and so forth.
[edit] SymbolGroups
The ISWA 2010 identifies 30 SymbolsGroups.
Category 1: Hands
- Group 01: Index
- Group 02: Index Middle
- Group 03: Index Middle Thumb
- Group 04: 4 Fingers
- Group 05: 5 Fingers
- Group 06: Baby Finger
- Group 07: Ring Finger
- Group 08: Middle Finger
- Group 09: Index Thumb
- Group 10: Thumb
Category 2: Movement
- Group 11: Contact
- Group 12: Finger Movement
- Group 13: Straight Wall Plane
- Group 14: Straight Diagonal Plane
- Group 15: Straight Floor Plane
- Group 16: Curves Wall Plane
- Group 17: Curves Hit Wall Plane
- Group 18: Curves Hit Floor Plane
- Group 19: Curves Floor Plane
- Group 20: Circles
Category 3: Dynamics
- Group 21: Dynamics & Timing
Category 4: Head & Faces
- Group 22: Head
- Group 23: Brow, Eyes, Eyegaze
- Group 24: Cheeks Ears Nose Breath
- Group 25: Mouth Lips
- Group 26: Tongue Teeth Chin Neck
Category 5: Body
- Group 27: Shoulders Hips Torso
- Group 28: Limbs
Category 6: Detailed Location
- Group 29: Detailed Location
Category 7: Punctuation
- Group 30: Punctuation
[edit] BaseSymbols
The ISWA 2010 identifies 652 BaseSymbols.
[edit] Symbols
The ISWA 2010 defines 37811 symbols.
Each symbol has a unique name and non-unique glyph. The glyphs of the ISWA 2010 are raster and use 3 colors: line, fill, and back. The line color is the positive drawing of the glyph and represents the shape. The fill color is an optional negative drawing for the inside of a symbol that can cover the line of symbols placed underneath. Only category 1 and 2 use fill color. Back color is used for the background of the symbols. The back color defaults to transparent so that symbols can be written in a cluster. The 3 colored glyphs work together to form a cluster of potentially overlapping glyphs on a two dimensional canvas called a glyphogram.
[edit] Token Reference
Each symbol of the ISWA can be represented by a single letter token. This token is used with regular expressions in Binary SignWriting to validate and evaluate the character data stream.
h: Hand token
- Category 1: Hands
m: Movement token
- Category 2: Movement
d: Dynamics token
- Category 3: Dynamics
f: Head token
- Category 4: Head & Faces
t: Trunk token
- Category 5: Body, SymbolGroup 27: Shoulders Hips Torso
x: Limb token
- Category 5: Body, SymbolGroup 28: Limbs
s: Sequence token
- Category 6: Detailed Location
P: Punctuation token
- Category 7: Punctuation
