Sign Writing

Notational and Conceptual Writings

Over time, several forms of written documentation for sign language have emerged, which can be categorized as either notational and conceptual. Notational refers to a system of graphics or symbols, each of which is given an arbitrary meaning or phonological or morphological segments of a form. For example, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is considered a notational system widely used by linguistics and semiotics to document speech. Conceptual writing allows for variance in meaning of the word or symbol depending on the concept or context of the message. To date, models have largely been notational, academic, phonemic script or logographic type of writing. Although the usage of glossing sign language based on a spoken language (i.e., ASL with English) is quite common, glossing is written with various pre-determined forms commonly used in written language. Each sign is mirrored with equivalent written form of a language, and usually aligned with an additional segment above the glossing sentences to denote the usage of a non-manual marker. Conceptual sign writing is something that glossing performs, but with its proprietary system to represent sign language in its truest form. This type of conceptual writing is most commonly seen in higher education ASL classes, Interpreter Training Programs, and academic linguistic fields where sign language is concerned.

Bébian’s Mimographie

The earliest known recorded attempt to introduce a written system - which can be considered both notational and conceptual - for a sign language was by Roch-Ambroise Auguste Bébian, a hearing godson of Abée Sicard, director of the National Institute of the Deaf in Paris. He grew up within the walls of the Deaf school and he took classes with deaf students using Old French Sign Language, and ultimately became a teacher there. He was fluent in Old French Sign Language and was considered a member of the Deaf community, thus allowing him to grasp the basic fundamentals of the structure of sign language long before the introduction of the Stokoe Notational System published in 1965. Bébian acknowledged the importance of written languages and entertained the notion of a written sign language. In 1825, Bébian published an essay in Mimographie (mimography), “On the Deaf and Natural Language, or Introduction To A Natural Classification of Ideas With Their Proper Signs.” Bébian proposed a system to transcribe the gestures on paper in order to cultivate their natural language. He argued that this method of documentation of natural language - rather than being burdened by translation—would promote the acquisition of knowledge. He may be one of the earliest precursors to advocates of bilingual education through his promotion of written systems for both languages modalities, signed and spoken.

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