SignWriting Flat Hand, Center Split, Thumb-Side Bent

It marks one handshape inside a written sign.

In the ISWA, 𝡤 is one part of a visual writing system: a complete sign combines handshape with movement, location, contact, facial expression, and body symbols. Their two-dimensional placement matters too, so this glyph has no fixed word translation across signed languages.

The documented early history of the wider system reaches 1974 in Copenhagen, where signed-language researchers encountered Valerie Sutton’s DanceWriting, her way of notating dance movement. Work on SignWriting grew from it. Deaf writers used the system to record signed languages directly for teaching, learning, and preservation; styles and conventions developed across signed-language communities.

Use it as one part of a complete SignWriting sign.

Separate fill and rotation modifiers can follow a handshape. The fill modifier 𝪛 selects a palm-orientation variant; the rotation modifier 𝪡 changes hand direction and helps distinguish left from right hands.

Whether a handshape contrast matters depends on the signed language and the written construction. SignWriting’s inventory serves different signed languages, while local conventions determine which differences appear. Read 𝡤 as handshape information within a spatial layout, not as a universal translation token.