Sign Language & Linguistics - Volume 4, Issue 1-2, 2001

Since the original Stokoe notation, many new variants and transcription systems have been proposed: currently, HamNoSys and Stokoe derivatives are most widespread. Sign language research is in real need of a standard of its own. Exchanging data in a standard notation should save authors the time and effort needed to produce photographs, drawings or video captures illustrating data and should allow researchers to present in an explicit form the aspects of the data that are truly relevant for their purposes. Since a notation extracts from the raw data what is of interest to the researcher, it is bound to reflect certain analytical assumptions and prejudices. To maximize a notation’s usefulness, a permanent process of discussion and revision is thus necessary. Particular issues that must be dealt with in designing a sign language notation system include the distinction “internal” vs. “external” descriptions, non-manuals and simultaneous use of two hands.

This paper focuses on some of the major methodological and theoretical problems raised by the fact that there are currently no appropriate notation tools for analyzing and describing signed language texts. We propose to approach these problems taking into account the fact that all signed languages are at present languages without a written tradition. We describe and discuss examples of the gloss-based notation that is currently most widely used in the analysis of signed texts. We briefly consider the somewhat paradoxical problem posed by the difficulty of applying the notation developed for individual signs to signs connected in texts, and the more general problem of clearly identifying and characterizing the constituent units of signed texts. We then compare the use of glosses in signed and spoken language research, and we examine the major pitfalls we see in the use of glosses as a primary means to explore and describe the structure of signed languages. On this basis, we try to specify as explicitly as possible what can or cannot be learned about the structure of signed languages using a gloss-based notation, and to provide some indications for future work that may aim to overcome the limitations of this notation.

This article discusses the ways in which a multi-media database can facilitate the analysis of ‘the productive lexicon’ within signed language. The database can free us, at least to some extent, from over-reliance on glossing. Analysis of productive forms is dependent upon accurate identification of these forms and consistent categorization of the component morphemes. Relevant categories of morphemes may include classifiers, nonmanual morphemes, metaphors and vocational morphemes. While questions may be raised about the status of each of these categories, the database can allow us to analyse and re-categorize, thus allowing different types of patterning to emerge. This should ultimately allow us to recognize the most linguistically efficient form of categorization. It is also suggested here that visual motivation has a triggering effect on sign production. By marking the different types of visual motivation, we can chart their significance within the language.

The Berkeley Transcription System (BTS) has been designed for the transcription of sign language videotapes at the level of meaning components. The system is based on efforts to transcribe adult-child interactions in American Sign Language (ASL) and Sign Language of the Netherlands (SLN). The goal of BTS is to provide a standard means of transcribing signed utterances, meeting the following objectives:–compatibility with CHAT format and CLAN programs (CHILDES)–linear representation on a continuous typed line, using only ASCII characters–representation at the level of meaning components–full representation of elements of polycomponential verbs–representation of manual and nonmanual elements–representation of gaze direction, role shift, visual attention–representation of gestures and other communicative acts–notation of characteristics of adult-child interaction (child-directed signing, errors, overlap, self-correction).

This article reports on a ‘rapid application development’ or RAD process to construct a research database in entry-level commercial database software, in this case FileMaker Pro. The database was required for a sign linguistic investigation into the morphology of the productive lexicon of British Sign Language (cf. Brennan’s article in this volume). Although at an early stage of development, the productive lexicon database (PLD) is an open and modifiable set of loosely-linked data files which can be reconfigured and remodelled according to user requirements, research aims or commercial objectives. The example offered is that of a trilingual sign/spoken language dictionary. The PLD’s flexible data model allows, as a matter of principle, for the combination of datasets irrespective of linguistic conventions used for data description. It is suggested that data models of this kind therefore open opportunities for research collaboration and commercial exploitation without necessitating detailed prior agreement on linguistic data description conventions or standards.

A lexicographic research team started working at the Finnish Association of the Deaf in 1988. Since 1989, one of the researchers from the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland has been working in the team as well. The team’s first project (1988–1998) was to produce a new Finnish Sign Language-Finnish dictionary. In this paper I will briefly explain the procedure followed within this project, and then describe the Word Perfect database we used to gather together the material we produced. I will describe the overall structure of the database system, the types of information registered, transcription methods used and the compatibility with other databases. As an illustration of the contents of the database I will provide a sample record of a sign entry as it appears in the book. When the dictionary was finished, the research team started working on new lexicographic projects and moved on to use a new database program, FileMaker Pro. To conclude this paper I will briefly introduce the new projects, discuss the reasons for choosing the FileMaker program, and describe how our research work has benefited from the new databases.

This multimedia database project is the first large-scale collection and description of the signs of Swiss German Sign Language (Deutschschweizerische Gebärdensprache, DSGS). The aim of the database is to gather linguistic information on the DSGS lexicon which can serve as a basis for future dictionaries and teaching materials, as well as function as a tool for linguistic research. For each lexical entry, there is information about all of the sign’s meanings, its morphological and syntactic characteristic, several categories of usage (geographical and generation variation, style, register) as well as example links to videotaped signed sentences. The information about each lexical item is represented in the database in several different forms: Video clips of the base form of the sign and of signed sentences in which it appears, line drawings, information checkboxes, form notation (HamNoSys and SignWriting), as well as German text.

The form and content of the lexical database of Auslan (Australian Sign Language) is described and explained. The type of database utilized and its precise structure (relational or flat, the type and number of fields, the design of the data entry interface, etc.) is first described. This is followed by a detailed description of the types of information registered in the database: phonological, definitional, bilingual (English-based glossing), grammatical, and semantic. The non-gloss based representations of each sign record (graphic, video, and transcription) that are used in the lexical database are then discussed. Finally, the compatibility of the Auslan lexical database with other lexical databases is examined. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possibility of building an extensive “universal” database of signs that could centralize lexical information from scores of signed languages and facilitate cross-linguistic investigations of lexis and phonology.

GlossLexer is a multi-user sign language lexical database integrating digital video that has been designed to support the compilation process for specialist dictionaries from data collection to production. Sign entries are identified by HamNoSys notations as well as glosses, but the user always has immediate access to video clips showing the signs as uttered by the informants.

The Klagenfurt database was originally developed as a base for both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries of Austrian Sign Language. The part dealing with the formational features of signs as well as the morphosyntactic and semantic information have already been finished. We decided on an approach using modified versions of Liddell & Johnson’s (1989) Movement-and-Hold model, the HamNoSys (Prillwitz, S. et al. 1989) and the SignPhon category system (Blees, M. et al. 1996).

SignStream™ is a MacOS application that provides a single computing environment within which to view, annotate, analyze, and search through video and/or audio data, making it useful for linguistic research on signed languages and the gestural component of spoken languages. SignStream is distributed on a non-profit basis to educators, students, and researchers, and the features in the current release, version 2.0, are described in this article. Program design and development are ongoing, however, and the developers welcome feedback and suggestions.

This paper describes the SignPhon database, a tool for phonological research. The history and goal of the project are outlined, and the database is briefly compared to other projects like HamNoSys and SignStream. We present the structure of the database and an overview of the fields that are included. We conclude with a discussion of the experiences that we have had in using the database for our research.

We recently began using the new multimedia tool MediaTagger to transcribe and code Nicaraguan Sign Language. Previously, this work had been conducted using glosses and coding spreadsheets that referred to analog video timecode. MediaTagger offers many advantages over analog videotape and glossing: it allows immediate access to tagged video segments, and enables the linking of those segments directly to the relevant transcription and coding. It does inherit some of the drawbacks of glossing, drawbacks that are shared with other tools available. In particular, the temporal order of signs takes priority over their spatial location. This bias in all of our tools may make us inadvertently attend to time more than space in our analyses. However, a new location-tagging feature may prove to overcome much of this imbalance. Overall, we find that MediaTagger provides us with a powerful and convenient tool for viewing and coding sign language data.

This is a short explanation of how we have used the commercial software program ‘Microsoft Excel’ for transcriptions of Swiss German Sign Language monologues and conversations. Although the transcription is not directly linked to video, it has the advantage that various kinds of searches and correlations can be carried out on it, that the same basic transcript can be expanded or reduced to be used for different kinds of analyses, and that the analyses can be easily represented and printed out in different forms (charts, graphs, etc.).

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).

syncWRITER is an interlinear text editor with a focus on the presentation of transcribed data. As it seamlessly integrates digital video, it is a useful tool for sign language transcription. This article discusses syncWRITER’s limitations in the areas that turn out to be essential in large-scale transcription projects. These are synchronization, multi-user database integration, data retrieval, and coreference handling.

In the last few years we have begun developing a database for studying the history of American Sign Language (ASL), and more generally as a prototype for making historical and contemporary sign language materials accessible to a variety of users. Our prototype began with a set of films, produced by the National Association of the Deaf, of master signers from the period 1910 to 1920. In addition to a digitized frame by frame version of these films, we have added a full transcription and a linguistic coding of each sign and sentence in the films. We are in the process of expanding these materials, adding further types of coding and representation of the items, and developing an interface permitting users to access parts of these materials in accord with their interests and needs. This paper describes our work thus far, and illustrates one possible use of these materials with an example of historical linguistic change.