SignWriting Hand-Hinge, Thumb Side

It names one handshape, not a complete sign.

𝢀 belongs to ISWA (the International SignWriting Alphabet, SignWriting's symbol set) and identifies a hinged hand configuration with the thumb to the side. It has no fixed word meaning: its reading depends on the full written sign and the signed language.

SignWriting combines handshapes with symbols for movement, contact, location, and face or head cues. Read the full arrangement to understand a sign in its particular language.

Where did SignWriting come from?

It began as movement notation and was adapted for sign-language research.

In fall 1974, Valerie Sutton adapted Sutton Movement Writing, her system for recording body movement, for a University of Copenhagen research project. The project compared hearing people's gestures with Danish Sign Language.

Feedback from Deaf readers in different countries and later publishing projects shaped SignWriting into a general-purpose writing system. Sutton Movement Writing and DanceWriting are related movement-notation systems. William Stokoe's analysis of sign components influenced later notations, including SignWriting; HamNoSys is a separate system for writing sign languages.

What changes in a full sign?

A handshape's role depends on its orientation and place in the layout.

SignWriting can change a symbol's fill (its black-and-white pattern), variation, rotation, reflection, and position. Those choices show which hand is present, which way its palm faces, and where it sits in the written sign.

In a SignWriting editor, select the handshape and set the hand, palm direction, viewing angle, and rotation. Then read the whole arrangement; the surrounding symbols give this component its role.