Xref: utzoo comp.fonts:2067 sci.lang:9250 comp.text.tex:5992
Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!portal!cup.portal.com!EZ-as-pi
From: EZ-as-pi@cup.portal.com (Bruce Robert Gilson)
Newsgroups: comp.fonts,sci.lang,comp.text.tex
Subject: Re: Stokoe's American Sign Language Orthography
Message-ID: <39933@cup.portal.com>
Date: 8 Mar 91 00:20:58 GMT
References: <2#4-Q1-@rpi.edu> <1991Mar01.203907.6553@ariel.unm.edu>
  <1991Mar3.074343.15470@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 31

Emerson & Stern's SignFont was quite
different from Stokoe's system, but
before explaining E&S I have to de-
scribe yet a third system: Sign Writ-
ing, developed by Valerie Sutton. The
Sutton system was designed to be much
more graphic -- the symbols are styl-
ized pictures of the movements, with
conventions for representing 3rd di-
mensions, contact, etc. The E&S sys-
tem was developed by someone who had
originally gotten a grant to compu-
terize Sign Writing, but ended up
with a very much more abstract and
(I think) less readable system, with-
out the Stokoe advantage of using a
lot of letter-like symbols. In short,
neither fish nor fowl. 
Stokoe's system is used by some re-
searchers; I have never heard of any
use of it in writing connected text.
It sore of functions as a Sign equiv-
alent of the IPA.
Sutton's system is being used for
writing a newsletter, a dictionary
exists, and I believe it is used in
Denmark as an instructional medium.
                  Bruce R. Gilson
           ez-as-pi@cup.portal.com
    or
           9398@mneuxg.uucp