Information about Stokoe Notation

Stokoe notation
Type
Languages	American Sign Language
Time period
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The Stokoe notation for American sign language (ASL) was the first writing system designed for a sign language. It was published in 1960 and became the organizing principle of A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles, which Stokoe wrote with two deaf colleagues and which is arranged according to the pronunciation of the signs in ASL, rather than by their English translations as in all other ASL dictionaries.

The Stokoe notation is mostly restricted to linguists and academics. Unlike SignWriting, it is arranged linearly on the page. Unlike SignWriting or HamNoSys, it uses elements of the Latin alphabet and is phonemic, with a reduced set of symbols to match the needs of ASL rather than attempting to capture all possible signs. For example, there is a single symbol for circling movement, regardless of whether the plane of the movement is horizontal or vertical; this is because the orientation of the motion is determined by ASL phonotactics and need not be indicated in a phonemic system.

William Stokoe coined the terms tab, dez, and sig, meaning sign Location ("tabula"), Handshape ("designator"), and Motion/Orientation ("signification"), to indicate different categories of phonemes in ASL, somewhat like the distinction between consonant, vowel, and tone in oral languages. A serious deficiency of the system is that it does not provide for facial Expression, as Stokoe had not worked out the phonemics of expression in ASL, but this is easy to remedy. (One proposal adds a symbol for Expression in parentheses at the beginning of the word.) Verbal inflection and non-lexical movement is awkward to notate, and more recent analyses such as those by Ted Supalla have contradicted Stokoe's set of motion phonemes. There is also no provision for representing the relationship between signs, which restricts the usefulness of the notation to the lexical level.

The Stokoe notation has been extended to other sign languages, including British Sign Language and the Australian Aboriginal sign languages. However, each researcher has made idiosyncratic modifications to the system. There are also several proposals for typable ASCII equivalents; one of these is shown below. (For this system, Orientation symbols occur before the dez rather than being subscripted after it.)

Symbols

Tab (Location)

Symbol	ASCII	Description
Ø	0	neutral location
⩇	Q	face, or whole head (symbol is superimposed ᴖ and ᴗ)
∩	P	forehead, brow, or upper face
⊔	T	eyes, nose, or mid face
∪	U	lips, chin, or lower face
Ȝ	}	cheek, temple, ear, or side face
Π	N	neck
[]	[]	shoulders, chest, trunk
	7	upper arm
√	J	elbow, forearm
ɑ	9	inside of wrist
ɒ	6	back of wrist

Given a handshape (dez) D, QD would be D signed at the face, JD the same handshape signed at the elbow, and 9D on the inside of the wrist.

Dez (Handshape)

Dez symbols may also be used as tabs. 'BB' represents a dominant flat hand acting on a passive flat hand; this is disambiguated from both hands acting together by using an overt tab symbol, such as 'ØBB'.

A	fist (as ASL 'a', 's', or 't')
B	flat hand (as ASL 'b' or '4')
5	spread hand (as ASL '5')
C	cupped hand (as ASL 'c', or more open)
E	claw hand (as ASL 'e', or more clawlike)
F	okay hand (as ASL 'f'; thumb & index touch or cross)
G	pointing hand (as ASL 'g' 'd' or '1')
H	index + middle fingers together (as ASL 'h,' 'n' or 'u')
I	pinkie (as ASL 'i')
K	thumb touches middle finger of V (as ASL 'k' or 'p')
L	angle hand, thumb + index (as ASL 'l')
Ʒ (3)	vehicle classifier hand, thumb + index + middle fingers (as ASL '3')
O	tapered hand, fingers curved over thumb (as ASL 'o' or 'm')
R	crossed fingers (as ASL 'r')
V	spread index + middle fingers (as ASL 'v')
W	thumb touches pinkie (as ASL 'w')
X	hook (as ASL 'x')
Y	horns (as ASL 'y', or as index + pinkie)
ȣ (8)	bent middle finger; may touch thumb (as ASL '8' in the latter case; this is a common allophone of Y)

Sig (Movement and Orientation)

Sigs are superscripted after the dez to indicate Movement, as in D^# (a dez D which closes) or subscripted to indicate hand Orientation, as in D_# (a dez which starts off closed). (These would be D# and #D in the ASCII system.) Multiple movement sigs are linear when the movements are sequential, as in TD^{×∨×} (a dez D which touches the tab T, moves down, and touches again; TDx-v-x in ASCII), but stacked when simultaneous, as in TD×ͮ (a dez which moves down while in contact with the tab; TDxv in ASCII).

A dot placed above the sig indicates that the motion is sharp, as in TD^×̇ (sharp contact by the dez D; TDx! in ASCII), while a dot placed after the sig indicates that the motion is repeated, as in TD^×· (repeated contact by the dez; TDx" in ASCII).

Only some symbols are relevant for Orientation.

Movement			Orientation
Symbol	ASCII	Description	Symbol	ASCII	Description
Dʌ	D^	moving upward	Dʌ	^D	facing or pointing upward
Dv	Dv	moving downward	Dv	vD	facing or pointing downward
Dɴ	Dw	moving up and down	—
D>	D>	to the dominant side	D>	>D	facing the dominant side
D<	D<	to the center or non-dominant side	D<	<d</Td>	facing the center or non-dominant side
D≷	Dz	side to side	—
D⊤	Dt	toward signer	D⊤	tD	facing signer
D⊥	Df	away from signer	D⊥	fD	facing away from signer
Dᶦ	Dm	to and fro	—
Dɑ	Da	supinate (turn palm up)	Dɑ	aD	supine (palm facing up)
Dɒ	Db	pronate (turn palm down)	Dɒ	bD	prone (palm facing down)
Dω	Dg	twist wrist back & forth	—
Dŋ	Dr	nod hand, bend wrist	Dŋ	rD	bent wrist
D◽[D’]	D*[D’]	open up (resulting Dez D’ shown in brackets)	D◽	*D	open
D#[D’]	D#[D’]	close (resulting Dez D’ shown in brackets)	D#	#D	closed
Dᴥ	De	wriggle fingers (symbol looks like a cursive e)	—
D@	D@	circle (symbol is a spiral)	—
D⁾⁽	D: or D=	approach, move together	D₎₍	:D or =D	near
D×	Dx	contact, touch	D×	xD	touching
D≬	D$	link, grasp	D≬	$D	linked
D‡	D+	cross	D‡	+D	crossed
Dʘ	Do	enter	Dʘ	oD	inside
D÷	D%	separate	—
Dʻʼ	D§ or D&	exchange positions	—

Orthography

A sign is written in the order Tab Dez Sig.

See also

• SignWriting
• HamNoSys
• SignFont

External links

• Description on the SignWriting site
• The MUSSLAP Project Multimodal Human Speech and Sign Language Processing for Human-Machine Communication.
• ASCII-Stokoe Notation Method for writing Stokoe in ASCII by Mark A. Mandel