| |
DISCUSSING
SPOKEN LANGUAGES... |
DISCUSSING
SIGNED
LANGUAGES... |
1 |
English, for example, is one spoken
language
with multiple dialects, spoken in several countries,
such as England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, US, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand and other countries...;-) |
In
English-speaking countries, there are distinctly
different Sign Languages. American Sign
Language (ASL)& British Sign
Language (BSL) do not have the same historic
root and are different languages (not
dialects of each other)...
|
2 |
The
Roman alphabet
is to western spoken languages as... |
...the SignWriting alphabet is to any signed language (around 40 now) |
3 |
alphabetical
order
is
a term that can be applied to the order of symbols
in ANY alphabet, including the Roman Alphabet and
the SignWriting Alphabet. Alphabetical order is
used to sort dictionaries and directories. |
SignSymbolSequence (SSS) is another term we use for "the
alphabetical order" of SignWriting symbols.
The SSS term developed so as not to confuse signers,
who call Fingerspelling the "Manual Alphabet" (used for fingerspelling foreign
spoken language words while signing). |
4 |
a
word
is to spoken languages as... |
...a
sign
is to signed languages. |
5 |
spelling
is to spoken languages as... |
...SignSpelling
is to writing signs in SignWriting... |
6 |
a
letter or character is to the Roman Alphabet
as... |
...a
Symbol or SignSymbol is to the SignWriting
Alphabet... |
7 |
the
International Phonetic Alphabet (the IPA) is to spoken languages as... |
...the
International SignWriting Alphabet (the ISWA) is to signed languages.... |
8 |
a
glyph is a term from the typography profession
that can mean typography design-variations of the
standard letters (characters) of the Roman Alphabet.
The glyphs of one typeface, like Helvetica, have
a certain curve to them without a serif, but the
glyphs of another typeface, like Times, does have
a serif... |
a
SignWriting glyph is a new term that can
mean that once the ISWA symbols are released in
2008, new typeface designs can develop. For example,
the Parkhurst SignWriting fonts have thumbs that
are more perpendicular to the base of the hand than
the original ISWA symbols (designed by Sutton),
and the Machado SVG fonts have a little serif, or
flair. |
