Formal SignWriting
draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting-03
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| Author | Stephen E Slevinski Jr | ||
| Last updated | 2017-07-20 | ||
| Replaces | draft-slevinski-signwriting-text | ||
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draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting-03
Sutton-Slevinski Collaboration S. Slevinski
Internet-Draft Center for Sutton Movement Writing
Intended status: Informational July 20, 2017
Expires: January 21, 2018
Formal SignWriting
draft-slevinski-formal-signwriting-03
Abstract
Sutton SignWriting is the universal and complete solution for written
sign language. It has been applied by a wide and deep international
community of sign language users. Sutton SignWriting is an
international standard for writing sign languages by hand or with
computers. From education to research, from entertainment to
religion, SignWriting has proven useful because people are using it
to write signed languages.
Formal SignWriting (FSW) is a faithful character-encoding of Sutton
SignWriting based on 2-dimensional mathematics. FSW defines a formal
language for written sign languages where any sign of any sign
language can be written as a string of ASCII or Unicode characters.
The mathematical names are explained with tokens and regular
expression patterns. Signs are written in a spatial SignBox, where
each symbol is positioned with a 2-dimension Cartesian coordinate.
For sorting, each sign can have an optional temporal sequence of
symbols that is outside of the SignBox. To create sentences, signs
are written sequentially, interspersed with punctuation symbols.
The styling string of Formal SignWriting uses a lite markup to define
a variety of styling options. The entire sign can be customized for
padding, coloring, and size. Individual symbols within a sign can be
customized for coloring and size. For SVG, class names and IDs can
be defined.
The query language of Formal SignWriting uses a lite markup, similar
to FSW, to define a variety of searching possibilities. The spatial
SignBox can be searched for symbols or ranges of symbols. For each
symbol or range, the search can specify if the symbol only needs to
be found somewhere in the SignBox, or if the symbol needs to be found
near certain coordinates. The temporal sequence can be searched for
starting symbols, written as a sequential list of symbols and ranges
of symbols. When searching the temporal sequence, the search results
will be limited to signs that start with a matching temporal
sequence. Each query string is transformed into one or more regular
expressions. The regular expressions are used to quickly search
large amounts of data.
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Formal SignWriting has been specifically designed to integrate with
standard technology on the phone, tablet, and desktop. Four main
components make this integration possible: 1) Fonts, 2) Scalar Vector
Graphics, 3) HTML and CSS, and 4) JavaScript.
Formal SignWriting as ASCII characters is compatible with and
optimized for UTF-8. There are 2 options for Formal SignWriting in
Unicode. Option 1 is an alternate encoding that replaces the Sutton
SignWriting block in Unicode. Option 1 focuses on small size, simple
design, and ease of use. Option 2 is an encoding that is 97.5%
official Unicode with defined characters in the Sutton SignWriting
block. Option 2 focuses on augmenting the Unicode 8 standard with 17
new control characters for a design that is compatible with Formal
SignWriting.
This memo defines a conceptual character encoding map for the
Internet community. It is published for reference, examination,
implementation, and evaluation. Distribution of this memo is
unlimited.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-
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Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on January 21, 2018.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2017 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
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to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must
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include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
described in the Simplified BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Sutton SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1. Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2. Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2. Formal SignWriting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1. Building Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.1. Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.2. Token Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.1.3. Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.4. Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.5. Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.1.6. Spatial SignBox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.1.7. Temporal Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1.8. Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2. Styling String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2.1. Entire Sign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2.2. Individual Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.3. SVG Class Names and ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.3. Query Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.3.1. Searching the Spatial SignBox . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.3.2. Searching the Temporal Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3.3. Including the Styling String . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.4. Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.4.1. Formal SignWriting to Query String . . . . . . . . . 29
2.4.2. Query String to Regular Expression . . . . . . . . . 29
3. Technology Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.1. Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3.1.1. Installing the TrueType Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.1.2. Using the Fonts without Installation . . . . . . . . 31
3.2. Scalar Vector Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.1. Font Based SVG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.2. Stand Alone SVG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.3. HTML and CSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.3.1. Centering and Sizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.3.2. Coloring Symbols and Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.3.3. Other Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.3.4. Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.4. JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4. Unicode Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.1. UTF-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.2. Option 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.2.1. Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.2.2. Other Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
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4.3. Option 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.3.1. Official Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.3.2. 17 New Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
7. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
1. Sutton SignWriting
Sutton SignWriting is the universal and complete solution for written
sign language. It has been applied by a wide and deep international
community of sign languages including: American Sign Language,
Arabian Sign Languages, Australian Sign Language, Bolivian Sign
Language, Brazilian Sign Language, British Sign Language, Catalan
Sign Language, Colombian Sign Language, Czech Sign Language, Danish
Sign Language, Dutch Sign Language, Ethiopian Sign Language, Finnish
Sign Language, Flemish Sign Language, French-Belgian Sign Language,
French Sign Language, German Sign Language, Greek Sign Language,
Irish Sign Language, Italian Sign Language, Japanese Sign Language,
Malawi Sign Language, Malaysian Sign Language, Maltese Sign Language,
Mexican Sign Language, Nepalese Sign Language, New Zealand Sign
Language, Nicaraguan Sign Language, Norwegian Sign Language, Peruvian
Sign Language, Philippines Sign Language, Polish Sign Language,
Portugese Sign Language, Quebec Sign Language, South African Sign
Language, Spanish Sign Language, Swedish Sign Language, Swiss Sign
Language, Taiwanese Sign Language, and Tunisian Sign Language.
Sutton SignWriting is an international standard for writing sign
languages by hand or with computers. From education to research,
from entertainment to religion, SignWriting has proven useful because
people are using it to write signed languages.
1.1. Script
Sign language is vastly different than spoken language. Instead of
the sequential sounds of the voice, there is a 3 dimensional space
with simultaneous action. Sutton SignWriting creates 2-dimensional
writing that is visually icon and full of featural information. This
is true on the symbol level and on the sign level. A symbol
represents phonemic information and is full of featural information
to better understand the phonemes of the symbols. A sign is a
2-dimensional arrangement of symbols and is full of featural
information to better understand the morphemes of the signs.
Punctuation is represented by a single symbol and separates a series
of signs into structured sentences. Line breaks should not occur
before punctuation.
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When written vertically, SignWriting can use 3 different lanes: left,
middle, and right. The middle lane is the default lane and
punctuation is always used in the middle lane. No matter the lane,
the center of a sign is aligned with the center of the lane. The
left and right lanes are used to represent body weight shifts and are
represented by a horizontal offset from the middle lane. Body weight
shifts are important to the grammar of sign languages, used for two
different grammatical aspects: 1) role shifting during sign language
storytelling, and 2) spatial comparisons of two items under
discussion. One "role" or "item" is placed on the right side of the
body (right lane), and the other on the left side of the body (left
lane), and the weight shifts back and forth between the two, with the
narrator in the middle (middle lane).
1.2. Symbols
The Sutton SignWriting Symbols are the building blocks of Sutton
SignWriting. The symbols are arranged in 2 dimensions to create the
sign images. The symbols are organized with a 16-bit coded character
set and a layered hierarchy. The symbols are defined in the
International SignWriting Alphabet 2010 (ISWA 2010). The ISWA 2010
is a product of the Sutton-Slevinski collaboration.
2. Formal SignWriting
Formal SignWriting (FSW) is a faithful character-encoding of Sutton
SignWriting based on 2-dimensional mathematics. FSW defines a formal
language for written sign languages where any sign of any sign
language can be written as a string of ASCII or Unicode characters.
Each sign is written as a separate word.
2.1. Building Blocks
The mathematical words of Formal SignWriting are plain text strings
of characters.
2.1.1. Regular Expressions
Regular Expressions define string matching criteria. Regular
Expressions offer fast processing and wide support on the various
platforms.
Formal SignWriting is defined with regular expressions. Formal
languages and regular expressions are used to solve fundamental
problems.
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Regular Expression Basics
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| Characters | Description | Example |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| * | Match a literal 0 or | ABC* matches AB, ABC, |
| | more times | ABCC, ... |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| + | Match a literal 1 or | ABC+ matches ABC, ABCC, |
| | more times | ABCCC, ... |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| ? | Match a literal 0 or 1 | ABC? matches AB or ABC |
| | times | |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| {#} | Match a literal "#" | AB{2} matches ABB |
| | times | |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| [ ] | Match any single literal | [ABC] matches A, B, or C |
| | from a list | |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| [ - ] | Match any single literal | [A-C] matches A, B, or C |
| | in a range | |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| ( ) | Creates a group for | A(BC)+ matches ABC, |
| | matching | ABCBC, ABCBCBC, ... |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
| ( | ) | Matches one of several | (AB|BC|CD) will match AB, |
| | alternatives | BC, or CD |
+------------+--------------------------+---------------------------+
Table 1
2.1.2. Token Patterns
The Formal SignWriting encoding model makes explicit those features
which can be effectively and efficiently processed. The mathematical
names are structured with 11 different tokens. They can be grouped
in 4 layers: the 5 structural makers (A, B, L, M, R), the 3 base
symbol ranges (w, s, P), the 2 modifier indexes (i, o), and the
numbers (n).
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The Tokens of Formal SignWriting
+-------+-------------------------------+
| Token | Description |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| A | Sequence Marker |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| B | SignBox Marker |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| L | Left Lane Marker |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| M | Middle Lane Marker |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| R | Right Lane Marker |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| w | Writing BaseSymbols |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| s | Detailed Location BaseSymbols |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| P | Punctuation BaseSymbols |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| i | Fill Modifiers |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| o | Rotation Modifiers |
+-------+-------------------------------+
| n | Number from 250 to 749 |
+-------+-------------------------------+
Table 2
These tokens are used in patterns to form written sign language.
2.1.3. Characters
Each of the tokens can be encoded with a variety of characters.
Formal SignWriting in ASCII has been stable since Janguary 2012.
Unicode option 1 was published October 2016. Unicode option 2 was
published December 2016.
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Character Options
+---------+-------------+-------------------------------------------+
| Set | Section | Description |
+---------+-------------+-------------------------------------------+
| ASCII | Section 4.1 | Formal SignWriting as ASCII characters is |
| | | the standard that is currently used by |
| | | the Center for Sutton Movement Writing |
| | | and the sign language Wikipedia projects |
| | | on Wikimedia Incubator. The ASCII form |
| | | is fully supported with the fonts, |
| | | styling string, query string, and the |
| | | various transformations. |
+---------+-------------+-------------------------------------------+
| Unicode | Section 4.2 | Formal SignWriting as an alternate |
| Option | | encoding that replaces the Sutton |
| 1 | | SignWriting block in Unicode. Option 1 |
| | | focuses on small size, simple design, and |
| | | ease of use. This option can complicate |
| | | processing with UTF-8 and UTF-16 |
| | | considerations. |
+---------+-------------+-------------------------------------------+
| Unicode | Section 4.3 | Formal SignWriting as an encoding that is |
| Option | | 97.5% official Unicode with defined |
| 2 | | characters in the Sutton SignWriting |
| | | block. Option 2 focuses on augmenting |
| | | the Unicode 8 standard with 17 new |
| | | control characters for a design that is |
| | | compatible with Formal SignWriting. This |
| | | option is three times larger than Option |
| | | 1 and requires the support of the |
| | | ligature feature "ccmp" for Glyph |
| | | Composition/Decomposition. Support in |
| | | older software is limited. In the |
| | | browser, "ccmp" ligatures support is |
| | | possible, but it will require extra css |
| | | to define the font famiily and may |
| | | require extra css to enable the "ccmp" |
| | | feature. |
+---------+-------------+-------------------------------------------+
Table 3
2.1.4. Symbols
Symbols can be described with 3 tokens: base symbol, fill modifier,
and rotation modifier.
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Symbol Tokens
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| Token | Description |
| Pattern | |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| w | Writing BaseSymbols. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| s | Detailed Location BaseSymbols. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| P | Punctuation BaseSymbols. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| i | Fill Modifiers. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| o | Rotation Modifiers. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| wio | A writing symbol as 3 tokens of writing base, fill |
| | modifier and rotation modifier. Writing symbols can be |
| | used in the spatial SignBox or the temporal sequence. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| [ws]io | A writing symbol or a detailed location symbol as 3 |
| | tokens of base, fill modifier, and rotation modifier. |
| | Writing symbols and detail location symbols can be used |
| | in the temporal sequence. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| Pio | A punctuation symbol as 3 tokens of punctuation base, |
| | fill modifier, and rotation modifier. Punctuation |
| | symbols divide signs into sentences. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------+
Table 4
There are a variety of symbol types that are used for different
purposes.
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Symbol Types and Descriptions
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Type | Description |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| all symbols | All symbols used in Formal SignWriting. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| writing | Symbols that can be used in the spatial SignBox or |
| | the temporal sequence. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| hand | Various handshapes |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| movement | Contact symbols, small finger movements, straight |
| | arrows, curved arrows and circles. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| dynamic | Dynamic symbols are used to give the "feeling" or |
| | "tempo" to movement. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| head | Symbols for the head and face. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| hcenter | Used to determine the horizontal center of a sign. |
| | Same as the head type. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| vcenter | Use to determine the vertical center of a sign. |
| | Includes the head and trunk types. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| trunk | Symbols for torso movement, shoulders, and hips. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| limb | Symbols for limbs and fingers. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| location | Detailed location symbols can only be used in the |
| | temporal sequence. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| punctuation | Punctual symbols are used to divide signs into |
| | sentences. |
+-------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
Table 5
Symbol types occur in specific ranges depending on the characters
involved.
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Symbol Types and Ranges
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| Type | ASCII | Option 1 | Option 2 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| all symbols | S100 - S38b | U+40001 -U+4F428 | U+1D800 - U+1DA8B |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| writing | S100 - S37e | U+40001 -U+4F904 | U+1D800 - U+1DA7E |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| hand | S100 - 204 | U+40001 -U+461A0 | U+1D800 - U+1D904 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| movement | S205 - S2f6 | U+461E1 -U+4BC98 | U+1D905 - U+1D9F6 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| dynamic | S2f7 - S2fe | U+4BCA1 -U+4BF48 | U+1D9F7 - U+1D9FE |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| head | S2ff - S36c | U+4BFA1 -U+4E8B1 | U+1D9FF - U+1DA6C |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| hcenter | S2ff - S36c | U+4BFA1 -U+4E8B1 | U+1D9FF - U+1DA6C |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| vcenter | S2ff - S375 | U+4BFA1 -U+4EC38 | U+1D9FF - U+1DA75 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| trunk | S36d - S375 | U+4E8E1 -U+4EC38 | U+1DA6D - U+1DA75 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| limb | S376 - S37e | U+4EC41 -U+4EFA0 | U+1DA76 - U+1DA7E |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| location | S37f - S386 | U+4EFA1 -U+4F2A0 | U+1DA7F - U+1DA86 |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
| punctuation | S387 - S38b | U+4F2A1 -U+4F428 | U+1DA87 - U+1DA8B |
+-------------+-------------+------------------+-------------------+
Table 6
2.1.4.1. ASCII
Symbol keys are 6 characters long. The first character of a symbol
key is always "S". The next 3 characters identify the symbol base.
The last two characters identify the fill and rotation modifiers
respectively.
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Symbol Key Definition
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| Regular Expression | Description |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| S | Start of symbol key |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| [123][0-9a-f]{2} | Symbol key base |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| [0-5] | Fill modifier |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| [0-9a-f] | Rotation modifier |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
| S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f] | Symbol key definition |
+--------------------------------+-----------------------+
Table 7
2.1.4.2. Unicode Option 1
The 37,811 symbols of the International SignWriting Alphabet 2010 are
uniquely idendified with Unicode characters in the range U+40001 to
U+4F428.
2.1.4.3. Unicode Option 2
The 37,811 symbols of the International SignWriting Alphabet 2010 are
defined with 3 characters each. A symbol is defined as a combination
of base symbol, fill modifier, and a rotation modifier. The base
symbols occur in the range U+1D800 to U+1DA8B. The fill modifiers
occur in the range U+1DA9A to U+1DA9F. The rotation modifiers occur
in the range U+1DAA0 to U+1DAAF.
2.1.5. Numbers
The numbers encode the ruler principle with characters. The ruler
principle is built in automatically for scripts written sequentially
in one dimension. The number characters are needed to specify the
spatial relationship between symbols.
Between the various forms, the numbers exist in a restricted range of
500 and in a general range of 1,000. The more general definition
simply defines 3 digits together with a potential range of 1000. A
more explicit definition correctly restricts the numbers to 500
possibilities in the 250 to 749 range.
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Cartesian Coordinates can be described with 2 tokens: number and
number. These numbers represent the X and Y coordinates
respectively.
Coordinate Tokens
+----------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Token Patterns | Description |
+----------------+---------------------------------------------+
| n | Number from 250 to 749 |
+----------------+---------------------------------------------+
| nn | Coordinate with X and Y values as 2 numbers |
+----------------+---------------------------------------------+
Table 8
2.1.5.1. ASCII
There are 2 definitions for a number. The more general definition
simply defines 3 digits together with a potential range of 1000. A
more explicit definition correctly restricts the numbers to 500
possibilities in the 250 to 749 range. The general coordinate
definition is adequate for processing.
General 3 digit number definition: [0-9]{3}
General coordinate definition: [0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3}
Explicit number definition from 250 to 749:
(2[5-9][0-9]|[3-6][0-9]{2}|7[0-4][0-9])
Explicit coordinate definition: (2[5-9][0-9]|[3-6][0-9]{2}|7[0-4][0-
9])x(2[5-9][0-9]|[3-6][0-9]{2}|7[0-4][0-9])
2.1.5.2. Unicode Option 1
The 500 numbers of Formal SignWriting are uniquely idendified with
Unicode characters in the range U+1D80C to U+1D9FF. The numbers of
this set have a hard limit of 500. A coordinate is defined with 2
numbers together. Numbers and coordinates can be defined for UTF-8,
UTF-16, and UTF-32.
2.1.5.3. Unicode Option 2
Each of the 500 numbers of Formal SignWriting is defined with 3
characters in the range U+1DAB0 to U+1DAB9. The numbers of this set
have a soft limit of 500 and a hard limit of 1,000. A coordinate is
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defined with 2 numbers together. Numbers and coordinates can be
defined for UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32.
2.1.6. Spatial SignBox
The visual image of a logographic sign is a 2-dimension arrangement
of symbols inside of a SignBox. Each SignBox has a defined width,
height, and 2-dimensional center that can be calculated from the
plain text.
Each logographic sign exists on its own 2-dimensional SignBox. Each
point on the SignBox is identified with an X and a Y coordinate.
Each SignBox has a defined center. Formal numbers range from 250 to
749.
Y Axis
| 250
|
|
|
|
|
X Axis |
-----------+------------
250 | 749
|
|
|
|
|
| 749
Symbols are placed on the SignBox with coordinates that represent the
top-left of the symbol image. Symbol images may overlap.
The Spatial SignBox can be described with 8 tokens.
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Spatial SignBox Tokens
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| Token Pattern | Description |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| B | SignBox Marker |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| L | Left Lane Marker |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| M | Middle Lane Marker |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| R | Right Lane Marker |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| w | Writing BaseSymbols |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| i | Fill Modifiers |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| o | Rotation Modifiers |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| n | Number from 250 to 749 |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| wio | A writing symbol as 3 tokens of writing base, |
| | fill modifier and rotation modifier |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| nn | Coordinate with X and Y values as 2 numbers |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| wionn | A spatial symbol as 5 tokens, with 3 tokens for |
| | a writing symbol and 2 tokens for coordinates |
| | of top left placement |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| (wionn)* | Zero or more spatial symbols |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| Bnn(wionn)* | A SignBox with a preprocessed maximum |
| | coordinate and a list of spatial symbols used |
| | for horizontal writing |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| [LMR] | A lane marker: either left, middle or right. |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| [LMR]nn(wionn)* | A SignBox in either the left, middle, or right |
| | lane with a preprocessed maximum coordinate and |
| | a list of spatial symbols used for vertical |
| | writing |
+-----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
Table 9
The Spatial SignBox is assigned to a lane, has a preprocessed maximum
coordinate and zero or more writing symbols with X and Y coordinates.
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Symbol key definition: S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f]
Coordinate definition: [0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3}
SignBox definition: [BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})(S[123][0-9a-
f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*
2-dimensional space does not have a normative 1-dimensional order.
When symbols overlap, the relative order of the overlapping symbols
is important. Otherwise, the exact string order of the spatial
symbols is unpredictable.
2.1.6.1. Bounding Box
The symbols do not have a consistent width or height. The center of
a symbol can be safely assumed to be at half-width and half-height.
A bounding box for a symbol is based on the symbol width and height.
Each symbol has a defined width and height in a text file with 37,811
lines. Alternately, the symbol width and height can be calculated by
analyzing the glyphs in a TTF font file, using JavaScript or other
language.
The bounding box of a sign is a tight box around the symbols. The
bounding box is used to determine the width and height of a sign.
The center of a bounding box is coordinate 500,500.
The bounding box of a sign consists of four values: Minimum X,
Minimum Y, Maximum X and Maximum Y. The values of the bounding box
is taken straight from the coordinates in an Formal SignWriting word.
2.1.6.2. Maximum Coordinate
The maximum coordinate for a SignBox is pre-calculated to simplify
layout for width, height, and center. For each symbol, the width of
height of that symbol is added to the coordinate position of that
symbol. These new coordinate values represent the bottom-right
coordinate of each symbol bounding box. The maximum X value is
joined with the maximum Y value to determine the maximum coordinate.
2.1.6.3. Centering a Sign
To simplify layout and improve 2-dimensional searching, every sign
has a normalized center based on symbol type, size, and mathematical
formula. The vertical center is based on the center of the bounding
box around the head symbols. The horizontal center is based on the
center of the bounding box around the head and trunk symbols. If a
sign doesn't contain head or trunk symbols, then the bounding box of
all symbols is used. For the symbol ranges see Table 6
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Once the center of a sign has been determined, the symbols are moved
so that the center is coordinate 500,500.
2.1.7. Temporal Sequence
Signs are written in 2-dimensional space which does not have a
normative 1-dimensional order. Any 1-dimensional order of
2-dimensional space is subjective. Some 1-dimensional orders may be
canonical according to a particular theory, but there are a variety
of theories on setting a 1-dimensional order.
The temporal sequence describes a 1-dimensional order that is
separate from the spatial SignBox, rather than ordering the
2-dimensional space directly. The temporal sequence is written as an
optional prefix to a spatial SignBox. The temporal sequence will use
the same symbols that are used in the spatial SignBox, but it does
not need to use all of them and it is not limited to only those
symbols. The temporal sequence is a list of writing symbols and/or
detailed location symbols that identify temporal order and additional
analysis. A valid sequence must contain at least one symbol and can
not contain punctuation.
The temporal sequence allows for sorting that is universally
supported through binary string comparison.
There are several theories on the best way to structure a temporal
sequence. The most productive is based on the SignSpelling Sequence
theory of Valerie Sutton. A temporal sequence is structured as a
series of starting handshapes followed by optional movements,
transitional handshapes, movement, and end handshapes. Only symbols
of type "hand" and "movement" should be used in this first section.
The last section of the temporal sequence should contain symbols of
of type "dynamic", "head", "trunk", and "limb".
Detailed location symbols of type "location" can be used in a
temporal sequence, but are rarely (if ever) needed for general
writing.
A temporal sequence can be described with 5 tokens.
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Temporal Sequence Tokens
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Token | Description |
| Patterns | |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| A | Sequence Marker |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| w | Writing BaseSymbols |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| s | Detailed Location BaseSymbols |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| i | Fill Modifiers |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| o | Rotation Modifiers |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| (A([ws]io)+)? | An optional temporal sequence to be used as a |
| | prefix for a SignBox |
+---------------+---------------------------------------------------+
Table 10
The temporal prefix starts with a sequence marker and includes an
ordered list of writing symbols and detailed locations.
Temporal Sequence Definition
+---------------------------------------+---------------------------+
| Regular Expression | Description |
+---------------------------------------+---------------------------+
| (A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)? | An optional temporal |
| | sequence as a sequence |
| | marker followed by one or |
| | more symbols. |
+---------------------------------------+---------------------------+
Table 11
2.1.8. Sentences
Signs are mixed with punctuation to form text. Punctuation is a
single symbol and separates a series of signs into structured
sentences. A punctuation symbol is always used alone and should not
be used in a sign. Line breaks should not occur before punctuation.
When written vertically, SignWriting can use 3 different lanes: left,
middle, and right. The middle lane is the default lane and
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punctuation is always used in the middle lane. No matter the lane,
the center of a sign is aligned with the center of the lane.
For body weight shifts to one side or the other, the center of the
sign is aligned with a fixed horizontal offset from the middle lane
into either the left or right lane.
The left and right lanes are used to represent body weight shifts and
are represented by a horizontal offset from the middle lane. Body
weight shifts are important to the grammar of sign languages, used
for two different grammatical aspects: 1) role shifting during sign
language storytelling, and 2) spatial comparisons of two items under
discussion. One "role" or "item" is placed on the right side of the
body (right lane), and the other on the left side of the body (left
lane), and the weight shifts back and forth between the two, with the
narrator in the middle (middle lane).
Sentence Token Patterns
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| Regular Expression | Description |
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| Pionn | a punctuation symbol as |
| | a punctuation base |
| | symbol with a |
| | preprocessed minimum |
| | coordinate |
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| (((A([ws]io)+)?Bnn(wionn)*)|Pionn)+ | a sign text for |
| | horizontal writing as a |
| | string of SignBoxes |
| | (with optional |
| | prefixes) and |
| | punctuation |
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| (((A([ws]io)+)?[LMR]nn(wionn)*)|Pionn)+ | a sign text for |
| | vertical writing as a |
| | string of SignBoxes in |
| | lanes (with optional |
| | prefixes) and |
| | punctuation |
+-----------------------------------------+-------------------------+
Table 12
Sentences mix signs with punctuation to form text.
Punctuation definition: S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3}
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Formal SignWriting text definition: ((A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-
f])+)?[BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-
f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*|S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})(
(A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-
f])+)?[BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-
f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*| S38[7-9ab][0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*
2.2. Styling String
The styling string of Formal SignWriting uses a lite markup to define
a variety of styling options. The entire sign can be customized for
padding, coloring, and size. Individual symbols within a sign can be
customized for coloring and size. For SVG output, class names and
IDs can be defined. A styling string can be added to the end of any
Formal SignWriting string to style a particular sign.
Colors can be written as CSS color names or as color hex values.
CSS Color Names: [a-zA-Z]+
Color Hex Values: [0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-9a-fA-F]{3})?
The styling string is divided into 3 sections: one for the entire
sign, one for individual symbols, and one for SVG class names and ID.
The styling string starts with a single dash, after which is the
section about the entire sign. A second dash, if present, marks the
start of the section about the individual symbols. A third dash, if
present, marks the start of the section about the SVG class names and
ID. The order of the styling options is important.
Styling String: -C?(P[0-9]{2})?(G_([0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-9a-fA-
F]{3})?|[a-zA-Z]+)_)?(D_([0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-9a-fA-F]{3})?|[a-zA-
Z]+)(,([0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-9a-fA-F]{3})?|[a-zA-
Z]+))?_)?(Z([0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?|x))?(-(D[0-9]{2}_([0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-
9a-fA-F]{3})?|[a-zA-Z]+)(,([0-9a-fA-F]{3}([0-9a-fA-F]{3})?|[a-zA-
Z]+))?_)*(Z[0-9]{2},[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?(,[0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?)*)?(--
?[_a-zA-Z][_a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,100}( -?[_a-zA-Z][_a-zA-
Z0-9-]{0,100})*!([a-zA-Z][_a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,100}!)?)?
2.2.1. Entire Sign
There are several options for styling an entire sign.
C Colorize
P Padding
G Background
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D Detail colors
Z Zoom level
2.2.1.1. Colorize
Colorizing a sign will set the color of each symbol based on its
classification.
Hand 0000CC
Movement CC0000
Dynamic FF0099
Head 006600
Body 000000
Detailed Location 884411
Punctuation FF9900
+----------------+----------------------------------+
| Styling String | Description |
+----------------+----------------------------------+
| -C | Colorize the symbols of the sign |
+----------------+----------------------------------+
Table 13
2.2.1.2. Padding
Padding is applied around the entire sign. A two-digit number is
used to set the padding.
+----------------+--------------------------------+
| Styling String | Description |
+----------------+--------------------------------+
| -P01 | A padding of 1 around the sign |
+----------------+--------------------------------+
Table 14
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2.2.1.3. Background
By default, the background of a sign is transparent. The background
color can be set with a CSS color name or with a color hex value.
The color name or value must be surrounded by underscores.
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
| Styling String | Description |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
| -G_lightblue_ | Background color of light blue. |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
| -G_f00_ | Background color as 3 hex values. |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
| -G_ff0000_ | Background color as 6 hex values. |
+----------------+-----------------------------------+
Table 15
2.2.1.4. Detail Colors
By default, each symbol has a line color of black and a fill color of
white. The line color for all of the symbols can be set with a CSS
color name or with a color hex value. The color name or value must
be surrounded by underscores. Setting the fill color is optional.
To set the fill color, put a comma and the fill color after the line
color but before the closing underscore.
+----------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Styling String | Description |
+----------------+------------------------------------------------+
| -D_red_ | Line color of red. |
+----------------+------------------------------------------------+
| -D_red,yellow_ | Line color of red with a fill color of yellow. |
+----------------+------------------------------------------------+
Table 16
2.2.1.5. Zoom Level
By default, a sign is set to zoom level 1. The zoom level can be set
with an integer or a decimal number.
Alternatively, the zoom level can be set to lower-case 'x', for
extendable. The SVG created will not specify the width or height, so
that the sign image will fill whatever container it is placed inside.
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+----------------+--------------------------+
| Styling String | Description |
+----------------+--------------------------+
| -Z2 | Zoom level of 2 |
+----------------+--------------------------+
| -Z15.7 | Zoom level of 15.7 |
+----------------+--------------------------+
| -Zx | Zoom level of extendable |
+----------------+--------------------------+
Table 17
2.2.2. Individual Symbols
There are two options for styling individual symbols. Individual
symbols are identified by a two-digit number, which identifies the
order the symbol appears in the SignBox.
D Detail colors
Z Zoom level
2.2.2.1. Detail Colors
By default, each symbol has a line color of black and a fill color of
white. The line color for an individual symbol can be set with a CSS
color name or with a color hex value. The color name or value must
be surrounded by underscores. Setting the fill color is optional.
To set the fill color, put a comma and the fill color after the line
color but before the closing underscore.
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| Styling String | Description |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| --D01_red_ | First symbol line color of red. |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| --D01_red,yellow_ | First symbol line color of red with a fill |
| | color of yellow. |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| --D01_red_D02_green_ | First symbol line color of red and second |
| | symbol line color of green. |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------+
Table 18
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2.2.2.2. Zoom Level
By default, each symbol is set to zoom level 1. The zoom level of
individual symbols can be set with an integer or a decimal number.
Additionally, an offset coordinate can be specified with an
individual symbol's zoom level. The offset coordinate of 500x500 is
considered no offset for either the x or y value.
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Styling String | Description |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| --Z03,2 | Third symbol zoom level of 2 |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| --Z04,15.7 | Fourth symbol zoom level of 15.7 |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| --Z04,1.5,480x500 | Fourth symbol zoom level of 1.5 with a -20 |
| | offset applied to the X value of the symbol's |
| | placement coordinate. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
Table 19
2.2.3. SVG Class Names and ID
When using SVG, there are two additional styling options of class
names and ID.
{class names}! SVG Class Names
{ID}! SVG ID
Both class names and ID use a restricted ASCII subset.
class names -?[_a-zA-Z][_a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,100}( -?[_a-zA-Z][_a-zA-
Z0-9-]{0,100})*
ID [a-zA-Z][_a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,100}
Each SVG can be created with a list of class names separated by
spaces, ending in an exclamation (!) mark. After the class names
exclamation mark, an ID can be written followed by another
exclamation mark.
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+---------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Styling String | Description |
+---------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| ---glowing! | A class name of "glowing" |
+---------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| ---flashing | Two class names of "flashing" and |
| primary! | "primary". |
+---------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| ---!cursor! | SVG created with an ID of "cursor" |
+---------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| ---flashing!cursor! | SVG created with a class name of "flashing" |
| | and an ID of "cursor" |
+---------------------+---------------------------------------------+
Table 20
2.3. Query Language
The query language is a lite ASCII markup similar to Formal
SignWriting. Any Formal SignWriting string can easily be converted
into several different query string, depending on the search
parameters.
The query string is a concise representation for a much larger and
detailed set of regular expressions. The regular expressions can be
used to quickly and accurately search large files and databases
containing Formal SignWriting.
A filter and repeat pattern of searching is used as a series of match
criteria. A file, database, or text input is searched using a
sequence of steps. Each step applies a single match criteria.
Matching results are collated and the next search criteria is
applied. The pattern of searching the previous results continues
until all regular expressions have been used.
There are two main sections of a query string. The first searches
the spatial SignBox. The second searches the temporal sequence.
Both sections use the same definition for a symbol or a range. The
symbol search can match an exact symbol, or a set of related symbols.
For the fill and rotation modifiers, the "u" character is a wildcard.
The "u" stands for unknown and will match all values rather than a
specific character. The range search can match a range of base
symbols. The base symbol range consists of 2 values: the starting
base symbol and the ending base symbol. Every symbol between these 2
base symbols will be matched.
Symbol Search: S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-9a-fu]
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Range Search: R[123][0-9a-f]{2}t[123][0-9a-f]{2}
At the end of the query string is an optional styling string flag
represented by a dash (-). If present, the Formal SignWriting
strings will include any styling strings. If the styling string flag
isn't included, the query string will only find plain text Formal
SignWriting strings without the styling string.
The full query string definition allows for the possibility of
searching the temporal sequence and the spatial SignBox at the same
time.
Query String: Q((A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-9a-fu]|R[123][0-9a-
f]{2}t[123][0-9a-f]{2})+)?T)?(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-9a-
fu]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?|R[123][0-9a-f]{2}t[123][0-9a-
f]{2}([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?)*(V[0-9]+)?-?
2.3.1. Searching the Spatial SignBox
The spatial SignBox is a list of symbols with 2-dimensional
placement. The query "Q" will find all signs regardless of the
symbols used or their placement.
It is possible to specify one or more symbols (or ranges of symbols)
that must be included in the SignBox to indicate a match. The order
of the symbols is not important. Each symbol (or range) can include
an optional coordinate. The coordinate is a restriction on the
match, such that a symbol must be used within a certain variance of
the coordinate to qualify as a match.
The variance is a number value, 0 or greater with a default value of
20. A variance of 0 will only find symbols used at an exact
coordinate. A variance of 5 will match the symbols used at a
coordinate, plus or minus 5 for both X and Y numbers.
Symbol Search with Optional Coordinate: S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-
9a-fu]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?
Range Search with Optional Coordinate: R[123][0-9a-f]{2}t[123][0-9a-
f]{2}([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?
Variance: (V[0-9]+)?
Spatial SignBox Search Query: Q(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-9a-
fu]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?|R[123][0-9a-f]{2}t[123][0-9a-
f]{2}([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})?)*(V[0-9]+)?
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Spatial SignBox Query Examples
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Query | Description |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| Q | All signs |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| QS100uu | Signs with the index handshape in the spatial |
| | SignBox |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| QS100uu480x480 | Signs with the index handshape in the spatial |
| | SignBox used near coordinate (480,480) |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| QS100uu480x480V0 | Signs with the index handshape in the spatial |
| | SignBox used at the exact coordinate (480,480) |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
| QS100uuR2fft36c | Signs with the index handshape and a symbol |
| | from the head & face range |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------+
Table 21
2.3.2. Searching the Temporal Sequence
The temporal sequence is a list of symbol keys. The query "QT" will
find all signs that include a temporal sequence.
It is possible to specify the start of the temporal sequence by
identifying a series of symbols and/or ranges. The query will start
with an "QA" and end with a "T", such as "QA...T". Between the "QA"
and "T", a series of symbol searches and/or range searches will
specify the desired start of the temporal sequence. The order of the
symbols and ranges is important.
Temporal Sequence Search Query: Q((A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5u][0-9a-
fu]|R[123][0-9a-f]{2}t[123][0-9a-f]{2})+)?T)?
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Temporal Sequence Query Examples
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Query | Description |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| QT | All signs that include the temporal |
| | sequence |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| QAS100uuT | Signs with a temporal sequence that |
| | starts with the index handshape |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| QAS100uuR100t204S20500T | Signs with a temporal sequence that |
| | starts with the index handshape, |
| | followed by any handshape, followed by |
| | the single contact |
+-------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
Table 22
2.3.3. Including the Styling String
At the end of the query string is an optional styling string flag
represented by a dash (-). If present, the Formal SignWriting
strings will include any styling strings. If the styling string flag
isn't included, the query string will only find plain text Formal
SignWriting strings without the styling string.
Styling String Search Query: Q-
Styling String Search Only: -
Styling String Query Examples
+-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Query | Description |
+-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Q- | All signs including the styling strings when present |
+-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| - | Only find styling string without including the Formal |
| | SignWriting |
+-------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
Table 23
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2.4. Transformations
Formal SignWriting and the surrounding technologies have been created
to facilitate easy transformations between the various forms.
2.4.1. Formal SignWriting to Query String
Formal SignWriting strings have several natural transformations to
query string. The transformation can use the temporal sequence and/
or the spatial SignBox. For each symbol, the query can include the
exact symbol key, or the query can use a general symbol key where the
fill and rotation modifiers are not explicitly defined. Consider the
Formal SignWriting string
"AS14c20S27106M518x529S14c20481x471S27106503x489".
Exact Temporal Sequence Symbols: QAS14c20S27106T
General Temporal Sequence Symbols: QAS14cuuS271uuT
Exact Spatial SignBox Symbols: QS14c20S27106
General Spatial SignBox Symbols: QS14cuuS271uu
Exact Spatial SignBox Symbols with Location:
QS14c20481x471S27106503x489
General Spatial SignBox Symbols with Location:
QS14cuu481x471S271uu503x489
2.4.2. Query String to Regular Expression
The transformation from query string to regular expressions has been
fully implemented in the Sutton SignWriting JavaScript Library and
the SignWriting Server.
The query language to regular expressions generator uses the
following regular expression structures as building blocks.
Temporal Sequence Prefix: (A(S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f])+)
SignBox Prefix: [BLMR]([0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})
Spatial Symbols: (S[123][0-9a-f]{2}[0-5][0-9a-f][0-9]{3}x[0-9]{3})*
The Temporal Sequence Prefix is a structural marker followed by one
or more symbols. For the query string "QT", the prefix is required.
For the general "Q", the prefix is optional so "?" is appended to the
Temporal Sequence Prefix regular expression.
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The SignBox Prefix is a combination of structural marker and
preprocessed maximum coordinate. Every constructed regular
expression will include the SignBox Prefix.
The Spatial Symbols is zero or more symbol definitions and associated
coordinates. The Spatial Symbols regular expression is used for
every search. For both "Q" and "QT", it is the only symbol matching
used. When searching for specific symbols and ranges, the general
Spatial Symbols definition will sandwich the specific search
definitions.
Searching for number ranges with regular expressions requires a
unique technique. This technique requires five steps.
Find a number between 122 and 455
1) 10's don't match and the min 1's are not zero ( last number to 9):
Match 12[2-9]
2) Bring up the 10's if hundreds are different: Match 1[3-9][0-9]
3) Bring up the 100's if different: Match [2-3][0-9][0-9]
4) Bring up the 10's: Match 4[0-4][0-9]
5) Bring up the 1's: Match 45[0-5]
Final Match (12[2-9]|1[3-9][0-9]|[2-3][0-9][0-9]|4[0-4][0-9]|45[0-5])
For the styling string regular expression, see Section 2.2.
3. Technology Integration
Formal SignWriting has been specifically designed to integrate with
standard technology on the phone, tablet, and desktop. Four main
components make this integration possible: 1) Font Technology, 2)
Scalar Vector Graphics, 3) HTML and CSS, and 4) a JavaScript Library.
3.1. Fonts
The Sutton SignWriting Fonts are available as source SVG and as two
TrueType Font files.
Sutton SignWriting Fonts
Copyright (c) 1974-2016, Center for Sutton Movement Writing, inc
Licensed under the SIL Open Font License v1.1
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3.1.1. Installing the TrueType Fonts
The Sutton SignWriting TrueType fonts are available for download and
installation.
Installing the fonts using the instructions below is not required,
but it will improve the user experience. If the fonts are not
installed on the system, CSS declarations will install the fonts in
the browser cache.
3.1.1.1. Windows, Linux, and Mac
Installation is straight forward for Windows, Linux and Mac. Simply
download the TrueType fonts and install as usual.
Sutton SignWriting Line TrueType Font [SuttonSignWritingFontLine]
Sutton SignWriting Fill TrueType Font [SuttonSignWritingFontFill]
Sutton SignWriting 1D Optimal TrueType Font
[SuttonSignWritingFont1DOpt]
Sutton SignWriting 1D TrueType Font [SuttonSignWritingFont1D]
3.1.1.2. Mac and iOS
Installation is possible for Mac OS X and iOS with a configuration
profile. The Sutton SignWriting Plus configuration profile includes
3 fonts: SuttonSignWritingLine, SuttonSignWritingFill, and
SuttonSignWriting1D. With the configuration profile installed, the
Unicode Option 1 characters can be used throughout the operating
system, even as file and folder names.
Sutton SignWriting Plus Configuration Profile
[SuttonSignWritingFontPlus]
3.1.1.3. Android
Android can not install the fonts directly onto the system. The CSS
declarations below will install the fonts in the browser cache.
3.1.2. Using the Fonts without Installation
The TrueType Fonts can be used without installing the fonts on any
platform by defining two font-face statements. Simply include the
following CSS in any HTML page to access the fonts. Make sure to
replace the URLs with the fully qualified links for both fonts.
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@font-face {
font-family: "SuttonSignWritingLine";
src:
local('SuttonSignWritingLine'),
url('https://.../SuttonSignWritingLine.ttf') format('truetype');
}
@font-face {
font-family: "SuttonSignWritingFill";
src:
local('SuttonSignWritingFill'),
url('https://.../SuttonSignWritingFill.ttf') format('truetype');
}
@font-face {
font-family: "SuttonSignWriting1dOpt";
src:
local('SuttonSignWriting1dOpt'),
url('https://.../SuttonSignWriting1dOpt.ttf') format('truetype');
}
@font-face {
font-family: "SuttonSignWriting1d";
src:
local('SuttonSignWriting1d'),
url('https://.../SuttonSignWriting1d.ttf') format('truetype');
}
If the fonts are installed, then the system fonts will be used. If
the fonts are not installed when a SignWriting Font page is opened,
the CSS will cause the fonts to be automatically downloaded to the
browser's cache on the first visit. Once the fonts are installed in
the browser cache, they will remain there until the browser cache is
emptied. Any webside that uses this CSS can access the browser
installed font without requesting a new copy. The fonts are 10 MB,
so the first install make take a few seconds or longer depending on
your download speed and processor.
3.2. Scalar Vector Graphics
Sutton SignWriting is a 2-dimensional script. The sign images are
composed using Scalar Vector Graphic (SVG).
3.2.1. Font Based SVG
The conversion of Formal SignWriting to Scalar Vector Graphics
requires three parts: header, text, and symbols. Consider the FSW
string
"M518x533S1870a489x515S18701482x490S20500508x496S2e734500x468".
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3.2.1.1. SVG Header
The header section contains the SVG definition along with the width,
height, and viewbox. The viewbox is a combination of the minimum X,
minimum Y, width, and height.
Minimum X: 482
Maximum X: 518
Width: 36
Minimum Y: 468
Maximum Y: 533
Height: 65
<svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
width="36" height="65" viewBox="482 468 36 65">
If the width and height properties are not included, then the
resulting SVG will automatically expand in size to fill the
containing element on the screen.
<svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
viewBox="482 468 36 65">
3.2.1.2. SVG Text
The SVG text section is included to make it possible to copy and
paste Formal SignWriting strings. The font-size is set to zero to
make the text invisible.
<text style="font-size:0%;">
M518x533S1870a489x515S18701482x490S20500508x496S2e734500x468
</text>
3.2.1.3. SVG Symbols
Each symbol in the SignBox is a combination of the symbol key and the
positioning coordinate.
Symbol 1: S1870a 489x515
Symbol 2: S18701 482x490
Symbol 3: S20500 508x496
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Symbol 4: S2e734 500x468
Each spatial symbol is written as an SVG group and positioned by the
transformation translate.
<g transform="translate(489,515)">...</g>
<g transform="translate(482,490)">...</g>
<g transform="translate(508,496)">...</g>
<g transform="translate(500,468)">...</g>
Inside of each group, 2 text elements are written. The symbol fill
is written first using the SuttonSignWritingFill font with a plane 16
character. The symbol line is written second using the
SuttonSignWritingLine font with a plane 15 character. See
Section 4.2.1 for the formula to convert symbol keys to codepoints.
<text class="sym-fill"
style="font-family:'SuttonSignWritingFill';font-size:30px;fill:white;">
{plane 16 codepoint}
</text>
<text class="sym-line"
style="font-family:'SuttonSignWritingLine';font-size:30px;fill:black;">
{plane 15 codepoint}
</text>
3.2.2. Stand Alone SVG
It is possible to request completed SVG images from the SignWriting
Server [SignWritingServer]. The SVG images created by the
SignWriting Server are stand-alone graphics that do not use the
TrueType Fonts. The SVG images use path elements to define the
symbol lines and curves.
The SVG header and SVG text for the server-side images are the same
as the standard FSW to SVG transformation. See Section 3.2.1
The SVG symbols section is structured differently. Multiple SVG
elements are contained within each sign SVG image. Each sub-SVG
element uses X and Y coordinates to place each symbol. Consider the
FSW string
"M518x533S1870a489x515S18701482x490S20500508x496S2e734500x468".
Symbol 1: S1870a 489x515
Symbol 2: S18701 482x490
Symbol 3: S20500 508x496
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Symbol 4: S2e734 500x468
<svg x="489" y="515">...</svg>
<svg x="482" y="490">...</svg>
<svg x="508" y="496">...</svg>
<svg x="500" y="468">...</svg>
Inside of each sub-SVG element is a group (g) element with one or two
path elements. This inside information can only be requested from
the SignWriting Server or some other source of the symbol image data.
<g transform="translate(0.146473559361,17.7697467366) ... ">
<path class="sym-fill" fill="white" d="M700 1493 ... "/>
<path class="sym-line" fill="black" d="M1826 1480 ... "/>
</g>
3.3. HTML and CSS
Basic HTML structures and CSS rules can be used with Sutton
SignWriting for customization and layout.
3.3.1. Centering and Sizing
It is possible to center a symbol or sign within a div with a few CSS
rules. The symbol or sign will automatically shrink in size if the
containing div is smaller than the SVG image. Additionally, if the
SVG is created with the zoom level of extendable (styling string
"-Zx"), the symbol or sign will grow in size to fill as much of the
containing div as possible.
<div class="centered">
<svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" ...
</div>
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div.centered {
position: relative;
width: 10%;
height: 10%;
border: 1px solid black;
}
div.centered svg {
position: absolute;
display: block;
top:2.5%;
bottom: 2.5%;
left: 2.5%;
right: 2.5%;
margin: auto;
max-width: 95%;
max-height: 95%;
}
3.3.2. Coloring Symbols and Signs
Individual signs can be colored with CSS rules. The individual
classes of 'sym-line' and 'sym-fill' can be used to isolate each part
of a symbol, both positive and negative spaces, or the classes can be
ignored to create the shadow of a symbol that includes both aspects
of a symbol.
<svg class="primary" ...
<svg class="success" ...
<svg class="info" ...
<svg class="warning" ...
<svg class="danger" ...
<svg class="shadow" ...
<svg class="inverse" ...
svg.primary g text.sym-line { fill: #337ab7 !important; }
svg.success g text.sym-line { fill: #5cb85c !important; }
svg.info g text.sym-line { fill: #5bc0de !important; }
svg.warning g text.sym-line { fill: #f0ad4e !important; }
svg.danger g text.sym-line { fill: #d9534f !important; }
svg.shadow g text { fill: grey !important; }
svg.inverse g text.sym-line { fill: white !important; }
svg.inverse g text.sym-fill { fill: black !important; }
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3.3.3. Other Effects
Other CSS rules can be used for other effect. Please note that
transform property does not effect the document flow and should not
be used for general layout.
svg.shadowed {
text-shadow: -1px -1px 1px #fff, 1px 1px 1px #000;
}
svg.rotate {
transform: rotate(0.5turn);
}
svg.bigger {
transform: scale(2);
}
svg.skewed {
transform: skewX(30deg);
}
3.3.4. Sentences
SignWriting is written vertically using the vertical writing mode of
CSS. To create the center lane and to visually divide the columns of
text, several span elements are used. Each sign is contained in a
div with a width and height that matches the enclosed sign. To
properly align each sign with the center of its lane, the containing
div will either use "margin-right" or "border-left". With "border-
left", the rule must include "solid transparent" after the size.
<div class="signtext">
<span class="outside"><span class="middle"><span class="inside">
<div style="width:42px;height:77px;margin-right:2px;"><svg ...
<div style="width:38px;height:48px;margin-right:2px;"><svg ...
<div style="width:25px;height:9px;border-left:7px solid transparent;">
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div.signtext {
-webkit-writing-mode: vertical-lr;
writing-mode: vertical-lr;
font-size: 0%;
border-left: 1px solid blue;
height: 100%;
}
span.outside { border-left: 1px solid blue; vertical-align: top; }
span.middle { vertical-align: bottom; }
span.inside { border-left: 1px dashed red; }
div.signtext div {
writing-mode: horizontal-tb;
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: middle;
padding: 20px;
box-sizing: content-box;
}
3.4. JavaScript
The Sutton SignWriting JavaScript Library leverages the Sutton
SignWriting Fonts, without additional dependancies.
The Sutton SignWriting JavaScript Library is part of the Sutton
SignWriting Project [SuttonSignWritingProject]
Sutton SignWriting JavaScript Library
Copyright (c) 2007-2016, Stephen E Slevinski Jr
Licensed under the MIT License
4. Unicode Considerations
Discussions with the Unicode Technical Committee continue. The
latest document submission is Design Options for Sutton SignWriting
with examples and fonts [SuttonSignWritingOptions].
4.1. UTF-8
Formal SignWriting as ASCII characters is compatible with and
optimized for UTF-8.
Formal SignWriting as ASCII characters is the standard that is
currently used by the Center for Sutton Movement Writing and the sign
language Wikipedia projects on Wikimedia Incubator. The ASCII form
is fully supported with the fonts, styling string, query string, and
the various transformations.
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4.2. Option 1
Formal SignWriting as an alternate encoding that replaces the Sutton
SignWriting block in Unicode. Option 1 focuses on small size, simple
design, and ease of use. This option can complicate processing with
UTF-8 and UTF-16 considerations.
4.2.1. Symbols
In order to support Sutton SignWriting, you must support all of the
Sutton SignWriting Symbols. This set has been designed as a 16-bit
coded character set. Using these derived codepoints makes it easier
to reference the individual Sutton SignWriting Symbols in a variety
of ways. Unicode Option 1 uses plane 4 characters as the canonical
codepoints for the Sutton SignWriting symbol glyphs.
A simple formula transforms a symbol key into a codepoint. Given a
symbol key as variable "key", in JavaScript the function is defined
as:
var code = ((parseInt(key.slice(1,4),16) - 256) * 96) +
((parseInt(key.slice(4,5),16))*16) + parseInt(key.slice(5,6),16) +
1;
4.2.2. Other Characters
In addition to the Sutton SignWriting symbols, the structural markers
and number characters need to be supported. These other characters
overwrite the Sutton SignWriting block with a viable character
design.
+-----------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| Description | Formal SignWriting | x-Character-SignWriting |
+-----------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| Sequence Marker | A | U+1D800 |
+-----------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| SignBox Markers | B, L, M, R | U+1D801 to U+1D804 |
+-----------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
| Numbers | 250 to 749 | U+1D80C to U+1D9FF |
+-----------------+--------------------+-------------------------+
Table 24
4.3. Option 2
Formal SignWriting as an encoding that is 97.5% official Unicode with
defined characters in the Sutton SignWriting block. Option 2 focuses
on augmenting the Unicode 8 standard with 17 new control characters
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for a design that is compatible with Formal SignWriting. This option
is three times larger than Option 1 and requires the support of the
ligature feature "ccmp" for Glyph Composition/Decomposition. Support
in older software is limited. In the browser, "ccmp" ligatures
support is possible, but it will require extra css to define the font
famiily and may require extra css to enable the "ccmp" feature.
4.3.1. Official Characters
In 2015, the symbols of Sutton SignWriting were added to Unicode
version 8.
See Section 1.2 and Section 2.1.4
+----------------------------+--------------------+
| Description | Unicode Range |
+----------------------------+--------------------+
| Base Charcters | U+1D800 to U+1DA8B |
+----------------------------+--------------------+
| Fill Modifiers 2 to 6 | U+1DA9B to U+1DA9F |
+----------------------------+--------------------+
| Rotation Modifiers 2 to 16 | U+1DAA1 to U+1DAAF |
+----------------------------+--------------------+
Table 25
Each symbol key can be rewritten as 3 Unicode characters of a base, a
fill, and a rotation. Given a symbol key as variable "key", in
JavaScript the 3 characters can be derived with the following
statements:
var base = parseInt(key.substr(1,3),16) + parseInt('1D700',16);
var fill = parseInt(key.substr(4,1),16) + parseInt('1DA9A',16);
var rotation = parseInt(key.substr(5,1),16) +
parseInt('1DAA0',16);
4.3.2. 17 New Characters
The addition of 17 Unicode characters to the official characters will
complete the script encoding and cover 2-dimensional layout.
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+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Description | Formal SignWriting | Proposed Unicode |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Fill Modifier 1 | 0 | U+1DA9A |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Rotation Modifier 1 | 0 | U+1DAA0 |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Numbers | 0 to 9 | U+1DAB0 to U+1DAB9 |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Sequence Marker | A | U+1DABA |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| SignBox Markers | B | U+1DABB |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Left Lane Markers | L | U+1DABC |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Middle Lane Markers | M | U+1DABD |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Right Lane Markers | R | U+1DABE |
+---------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
Table 26
Fill Modifier 1 and Rotation Modifier 1 are included to fix sorting
and simplify processing.
The 10 number characters express the concept of distance, important
for use with 2-dimensional scripts.
The 5 structural markers define cohesive units of the script.
5. IANA Considerations
None.
6. Security Considerations
None.
7. References
[SignWritingServer]
Slevinski, S., "SignWriting Server",
<https://signpuddle.net>.
[SuttonSignWritingFont1D]
Slevinski, S., "Sutton SignWriting 1D TypeType Font",
<https://cdn.rawgit.com/Slevinski/SuttonSignWriting/
master/assets/SuttonSignWriting1d.ttf>.
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[SuttonSignWritingFont1DOpt]
Slevinski, S., "Sutton SignWriting 1D Optimal TypeType
Font",
<https://cdn.rawgit.com/Slevinski/SuttonSignWriting/
master/assets/SuttonSignWriting1dOpt.ttf>.
[SuttonSignWritingFontFill]
Slevinski, S., "Sutton SignWriting Fill TypeType Font",
<https://cdn.rawgit.com/Slevinski/SuttonSignWriting/
master/assets/SuttonSignWritingFill.ttf>.
[SuttonSignWritingFontLine]
Slevinski, S., "Sutton SignWriting Line TypeType Font",
<https://cdn.rawgit.com/Slevinski/SuttonSignWriting/
master/assets/SuttonSignWritingLine.ttf>.
[SuttonSignWritingFontPlus]
Slevinski, S., "Sutton SignWriting Plus Configuration
Profile",
<https://cdn.rawgit.com/Slevinski/SuttonSignWriting/
master/assets/SuttonSignWritingPlus.mobileconfig>.
[SuttonSignWritingOptions]
Slevinski, S., "Sutton SignWriting Design Options",
<http://www.unicode.org/L2/
L2017/17220-signwriting-design-opt.pdf>.
[SuttonSignWritingProject]
Slevinski, S., "Sutton SignWriting Project",
<https://github.com/Slevinski/SuttonSignWriting>.
Author's Address
Stephen E Slevinski Jr
Center for Sutton Movement Writing
Email: slevinski@signwriting.org
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