SignWriting Rotation Modifier 12

Put it after the symbol it changes; place any fill mark first.

To use a SignWriting rotation modifier 12, arrange the sequence as base → optional fill → 𝪫. The base is the main symbol being changed. This mark turns its base in 45° steps; with hand symbols, rotation choices also distinguish orientation, including mirrored forms.

The Unicode 16.0 character list shows 𝪫 on a dotted circle. The circle marks where this combining mark attaches; it is a display aid, not part of the written sign. That is why 𝪫 can look blank when it appears alone: there is no base for it to change.

Where did SignWriting come from?

It grew out of Valerie Sutton’s notation for body movement. SignWriting developed in 1974 from Sutton’s DanceWriting, her system for recording dance and other movement. In Denmark, she began writing Danish signs; Deaf people who saw them recognized the signs. Deaf adults learned the system in a U.S. workshop in 1977. In 1979 Sutton worked with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, a U.S. college, on manuals illustrating technical signs. SignWriting arranges symbols for hands, movement, face, and location in two dimensions to record signed languages.

A 2020 study documents expert users of Italian Sign Language adapting standard SignWriting glyphs to represent local linguistic features. That adaptation concerns the system’s use; 𝪫 itself remains an orientation mark and does not name a sign alone.