| Stokoe notation | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | alphabet |
Period | 1960 to present |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | ASL |
| Related scripts | |
Child systems | ASL-phabet |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
Stokoe notation (/ˈstoʊki/STOH-kee) is the first[1]phonemic script used forsign languages. It was created byWilliam Stokoe forAmerican Sign Language (ASL), with Latin letters and numerals used for the shapes they have infingerspelling, and iconic glyphs to transcribe the position, movement, and orientation of the hands. It was first published as the organizing principle ofSign Language Structure: An Outline of the Visual Communication Systems of the American Deaf (1960),[2] and later also used inA Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles, by Stokoe, Casterline, and Croneberg (1965).[3] In the 1965 dictionary, signs are themselves arranged alphabetically, according to their Stokoe transcription, rather than being ordered by their Englishglosses as in other sign-language dictionaries. This made it the only ASL dictionary where the reader could look up a sign without first knowing how to translate it into English. The Stokoe notation was later adapted toBritish Sign Language (BSL) in Kyle et al. (1985)[4] and toAustralian Aboriginal sign languages in Kendon (1988).[5] In each case the researchers modified the alphabet to accommodate phonemes not found in ASL.
The Stokoe notation is mostly restricted to linguists and academics. The notation is arranged linearly on the page and can be written with a typewriter that has the proper font installed. UnlikeSignWriting or theHamburg Notation System, it is based on theLatin alphabet and isphonemic, being restricted to the symbols needed to meet the requirements of ASL (or extended to BSL, etc.) rather than accommodating 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.
Stokoe notation is written horizontally left to right like the Latin alphabet (plus limited vertical stacking of movement symbols, and some diacritical marks written above or below other symbols). This contrasts withSignWriting, which is written vertically from top to bottom (plus partially free two-dimensional placement of components within the writing of a single sign).
Stokoe coined the termstab ("tabula" or sign location),dez ("designator" or handshape & orientation), andsig ("signation" or motion & action). These are used to categorize features of sign-languagephonemes, somewhat like the distinction betweenconsonant,vowel, andtone is used in the description of oral languages. A sign is written in the ordertab-dez-sig: TDs. Compound signs are separated with a double dashed pipe, approximately TDs¦¦TDs.
A serious deficiency of the system is that it does not provide for facial expression,mouthing, eye gaze, and body posture, as Stokoe had not worked out their phonemics in ASL.[6] Verbal inflection and non-lexical movement is awkward to notate, and more recent analyses such as those ofTed Supalla have contradicted Stokoe's set of motion phonemes.[citation needed] There is also no provision for representing the relationship between signs in their natural context, which restricts the usefulness of the notation to the lexical or dictionary level. Nonetheless, Stokoe demonstrated for the first time that a sign language can be written phonemically just like any other language.
In the tables below, the first column is a web-based approximation of the Stokoe symbol using the inventory available inUnicode, and the second is anASCII substitution for the purpose of citing examples in this article. Proper display of the third column requires the Stokoe font available at the external link below; without that font, you will see the corresponding ASCII character, as used in Mandel (1993).
Thetab symbols are a null sign for a neutral location and iconic symbols for parts of the head, arm, and torso. In addition, thedez (handshape) symbols below may be used to indicate that the location is the passive hand in a specific shape.
| Unicode approximation | ASCII approximation | Stokoe[a] | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ø | 0 | 0 | neutral location |
| ⩇ | Q | h | face, or whole head (symbol is superimposed ᴖ and ᴗ) |
| ∩ | P | u | forehead, brow, or upper face |
| ⊔ | T | m | eyes, nose, or mid face |
| ∪ | U | l | lips, chin, or lower face |
| Ȝ | } | c | cheek, temple, ear, or side face |
| Π | N | k | neck |
| [ ] | [ ] | [] | torso, shoulders, chest, trunk |
| Ƨ | 7 | i | non-dominant upper arm |
| √ | J | j | non-dominant elbow, forearm |
| ɑ | 9 | a | inside of wrist |
| ɒ | 6 | b | back of wrist |
Given a handshape(dez)⟨D⟩,[b]⟨QD⟩ would be D signed at the face,⟨JD⟩ the same handshape signed at the elbow, and⟨9D⟩ on the inside of the wrist.
The symbols for handshapes are taken from the ASL manual alphabet:⟨A⟩ represents a fist, the handshape used for fingerspelling "A" (and also "S" and "T", since the difference is not significant outside fingerspelling and initialisms);⟨B⟩ represents a flat hand, the handshape used for fingerspelling "B" and "4",etc. When adez involves two hands, two letters are used.
Dez symbols may also be used astabs. For example,⟨QB⟩ represents a flat hand, B, located at the face, Q, and <BB> represents a dominant flat hand B acting on a passive flat hand B. The latter is disambiguated from two B hands acting together by using another letter for thetab, such as⟨ØBB⟩ for two B hands acting in neutral space, or⟨QBB⟩ for both hands at the face.
Besides the shape of the hands, thedez includes their orientation. This is indicated, when necessary, with subscripts, which are introduced in the next section.
| 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') |
| 3 | vehicle classifier hand, thumb + index + middle fingers (as ASL '3') |
| O | tapered hand, fingers curved to touch thumbtip (as ASL 'o') |
| R | crossed fingers (as ASL 'r') |
| V | spread index + middle fingers (as ASL 'v' or '2') |
| W | thumb touches pinkie (as ASL 'w') |
| X | hook (as ASL 'x') |
| Y | horns (as ASL 'y', or as index + pinkie) |
| 8 | bent middle finger; may touch thumb (as ASL '8', this is a common allophone of Y) |
There are three diacritics that modify the shape of thedez. A dot placed above it shows that a finger not normally seen is prominent, usually because it is involved in the production of the sign. For example,⟨Ȧ⟩ (ascii 'A) is a fist with the thumb extended, as in⟨UȦᶠ⟩not. Three dots or ticks over a letter shows the fingers are flexed, so that⟨B⃛⟩ (ascii ;B) is a flexed flat hand, and⟨V⃛⟩ (;V) is two flexed fingers. The forearmtab sign prefixed to thedez (ascii j) shows that the forearms are prominent in the production of the sign, as in⟨Bɑ jB^ω⟩tree.
The movement of the hand, orsig, is written with superscripted letters after thedez, as D# (anydez D which closes). Multiple movementsigs are arranged linearly when the movements are sequential, as in TD×∨× (anydez D which touches atab T, moves down, and touches again),1 but stacked one above the other when signed simultaneously, as in TD×ͮ (adez which moves down while in contact with thetab).2
A dot placed above thesig indicates that the motion is sharp, as in TD×̇ (sharp contact by thedez D),3 while a dot placed after thesig indicates that the motion is repeated, as in TD×· (repeated contact by thedez; TDx" in ASCII).
A tilde with a two-handdez, TDDs~, indicates that first one hand performs thesig, then the other. Without the tilde, both hands are understood to act together.
A subset of thesig symbols used for motion are also used to indicate the orientation of the hand. In this use they are subscripted after thedez instead of superscripted, as in D# (anydez D which starts off closed).4 Stokoe analyzed the orientation of the hand as part of thetab, the handshape.
| Movement(sig) | Orientation(dez) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unicode | ASCII | Stokoe* | Description | Unicode | ASCII | Stokoe* | Description |
| Dʌ | D^ | D^ | moving upward | Dʌ | ^D | D^ | facing or pointing upward |
| Dv | Dv | Dv | moving downward | Dv | vD | Dv | facing or pointing downward |
| Dɴ | Dw | Dʳ | moving up and down | — | |||
| D> | D> | D> | to the dominant side | D> | >D | D> | facing the dominant side |
| D< | D< | D< | to the center or non-dominant side | D< | <D | D< | facing the center or non-dominant side |
| D≷ | Dz | Dᶻ | side to side | — | |||
| D⊤ | Dt | Dᵗ | toward signer | D⊤ | tD | Dt | facing signer |
| D⊥ | Df | Df | away from signer | D⊥ | fD | Df | facing away from signer |
| Dᶦ | Dm | D= | to and from | — | |||
| Dɑ | Da | Da | supinate (turn palm up) | Dɑ | aD | Da | supine (palm facing up) |
| Dɒ | Db | Dᵇ | pronate (turn palm down) | Dɒ | bD | Db | prone (palm facing down) |
| Dω | Dg | Dw | twist wrist back & forth | — | |||
| Dᵑ | Dr | Dⁿ | nod hand, bend wrist | Dŋ | rD | Dn | bent wrist |
| D◽[D′] | D*[D′] | D][D′] | open up (resultingDez D’ shown in brackets) | D◽ | *D | D] | open |
| D#[D′] | D#[D′] | D#[D′] | close (resultingDez D’ shown in brackets) | D# | #D | D# | closed |
| Dᴥ | De | De | wriggle fingers (symbol looks like a cursivee) | — | |||
| D@ | D@ | D@ | circle (symbol is a spiral) | — | |||
| D⁾⁽ | D)( | D) | approach, move together | D₎₍ | )(D | D) | near |
| D× | Dx | Dx | contact, touch | D× | xD | Dx | touching |
| D≬ | D$ | Dg | link, grasp | D≬ | $D | Dg | linked |
| D‡ | D+ | D+ | cross | D‡ | +D | D+ | crossed |
| Dʘ | Do | Do | enter | Dʘ | oD | Do | inside |
| D÷ | D% | D: | separate | — | |||
| Dʻʼ | D§ or D& | D( | exchange positions | — | |||
* Proper display requires installation of the Stokoe font available at the external link below.
Several linguists, including Kyle & Woll, state that Stokoe'stab conflates two parameters, handshape and orientation, and split offori (orientation of the hand) as a fourth parameter. Kendon, however, notes how this greatly complicates the phonological description of signs, and prefers to retain orientation as an aspect of the handshape, with changes of orientation analysed as other changes in the hands, rather than as changes in an independent parameter.
When thetab is a hand shape, or thedez consists of two hands, a symbol may be placed between the two letters to indicate their relative position. These include a few of the movement/orientation letters above. In addition, there are symbols to indicateposition above, below, next to, and behind: the underscore on the B inB L shows that the L hand is placed under a B hand, with or without contact,etc.
| Unicode | ASCII[a] | Description |
|---|---|---|
| B̲ A | B A | (underline) A under B |
| B̅ A | B A | (overline) A over B |
| BˡB | B|B | B next to B |
| A⌕A | A\A | A behind A |
| B‡B | B+B | B hands or forearms cross |
| F≬F | F$F | F hands (fingers) clasped or linked |
| 5ʘG | 5oG | G hand (finger) within 5 hand (between fingers) |
This is the ASL word “Snake” in Stokoe notation:
The first letter, ᴗ (like a U), shows that the word is signed at the lower face (mouth or chin). The second, V⃛ɒ, shows that the hand has the shape of a fingerspelled "V". The V has two diacritics: the three dots... above it show that the fingers are bent (curled), while the subscriptɒ shows that the hand is held with the back of the hand facing up. The last letters,@
⊥, are a compoundsig: the spiral shows a circular motion, and the tack˔ underneath shows that the motion proceeds outward. This is a mimetic sign for 'snake', mimicking the motion of a fanged snake.[7] It is alphabetized under to thetab U, then by thedez V, then by thesig @; the searcher does not need to know what it means or that it is glossed with the English wordsnake in order to look it up.
Following is a passage fromGoldilocks:
The first use of Stokoe notation appeared in the ASL Dictionary compiled by Stokoe, Casterline, and Croneberg, for which it was devised. Other indigenous sign language dictionary projects, for example theDictionary of British Sign Language/English, ed. David Brien, pub. Faber and Faber 1992, andSigns of a Sexual Nature[citation needed] have included Stokoe notation. The notation has also been used to analyze Australian Aboriginal sign languages. These non-ASL projects have had to extend the notation to cover phonemes not found in ASL.
