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Written History of Sign Languages
The written history of sign language began in the 17th century in Spain. In 1620, It is considered the first modern treaty of Phonetics and Logopedia, setting out a method of oral education for the deaf people by means of the use of manual signs, in form of a manual alphabet to improve the communication of the dumb or deaf people.
From the language of signs of Bonet, Charles-Michel de l'Épée published his alphabet in the 18th century, which has arrived basically unchanged until the present time.
Sign languages exploit the unique features of the visual medium. Oral language is linear. Only one sound can be made or received at a time. In sign language a whole scene can be taken in at once.
Sign language differs from oral language in its relation to writing. ASL is often written with English words in all capital letters, which is known as glossing. This is, however, a method used simply to teach the structure of the language.
Writing systems
There are two true writing systems in use for ASL:
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Sign Writing and HamNoSys ( popular), are pictographic, conventionalized pictures of the hands, face, and body; others, such as the Stokoe notation, are more iconic. Stokoe used letters of the Latin alphabet and Arabic numerals to indicate the hand shapes used in finger spelling, '5' for a spread hand; but non-alphabetic symbols for location and movement, like '×' for contact, and '^' for an upward movement. David J. Peterson has attempted to create a phonetic transcription system for signing that is ASCII-friendly known as the (SLIPA)Sign Language International Phonetic Alphabet ., which represents each sign with a rather abstract illustration of its salient features.
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The phonemic systems of oral languages are primarily sequential: that is, the majority of phonemes are produced in a sequence one after another, although many languages also have non-sequential aspects such as tone. Sign languages have a higher non-sequential component, with many "phonemes" produced simultaneously. For example, signs may involve hands, fingers, and face moving simultaneously, or the two hands moving in different directions.
Sign Writing, being pictographic, is able to represent simultaneous elements in a single sign. The Stokoe notation, on the other hand, is sequential, with a conventionalized order of a symbol for the location of the sign, then one for the hand shape, and finally one (or more) for the movement. Neither the Stokoe nor HamNoSys scripts are designed to represent facial expressions or non-manual movements, both of which Sign Writing accommodates easily, although this is being gradually corrected in HamNoSys.
Traditional writing systems are not designed to deal with this level of complexity. SignWriting is commonly used for student newsletters and similar purposes.
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