Section III: Developing linguistic specifications for a sign language database: The development of Signbase

In this paper we wish to describe a joint British/Dutch project that was funded by the European Community under the TIDE programme. The main objective of the project Signbase has been to build a sign language database, which can be used to store linguistic information about a particular sign language. This repository then can be used to generate different types of signed language applications. The project commenced in March 1994 and ended in December 1996. The consortium consisted of people from three different places: the Deaf Studies Research Unit in Durham, UK (DSRU), the Dutch Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child (NSDSK) in Amsterdam and Bright Side of Life computer consultancy (BSL) in Maarssen. In this paper we discuss the linguistic specifications of Signbase, and then we describe the prototype of two end-user applications (CD-ROM British/English Dictionary and the Educational CD-ROM Nature and Environment) and a commercial application which has been developed during the Signbase project with additional funding (CD-ROM SLN/ Dutch Dictionary for parents and teachers deaf children).