SignType: A cross-linguistic database of signs

在聋人有机会形成文化社区的地方，数百种手语独立出现。这些手语有多相似，有哪些不同之处？这些都是语言学家试图回答的问题。该项目旨在开发一个工具来比较手语的一个方面，即手语的视觉形状。在NSF的支持下，在一个由手语研究人员和数据库专家组成的国际小组的帮助下，哈里·范德赫斯特博士和雷切尔·查农博士将建立一个关于标志视觉形状的数据库SignType。该数据库将成为语言研究界和聋人社区的网上资源。SignType将包括一些手语的手语清单的照片和录像带，但该数据库最重要的部分将是使用通用编码系统的每个手语的分析数据结构。编码系统将包括手的形状、运动和位置、面部表情和许多其他特征的代码。SignType将结合其他手语研究人员通过将各自的编码系统转换为通用编码系统所做的几个清单。SignType将允许研究人员回答这样的问题：有多少不同的手形或位置？有什么偏好吗？一旦开发完成，SignType还可以为开发通用(图形)符号表示法系统提供基础。此外，还有许多潜在的实际应用，例如为词典或手势动画/识别软件提供材料。

Hundreds of sign languages have emerged independently everywhere that deaf people had the opportunity to form cultural communities. How similar are these sign languages and in what ways do they differ? These are questions that linguists try to answer. This project aims to develop a tool to compare one aspect of sign languages, namely the visual shape of signs. With NSF support, and the help of an international panel of sign language researchers and database experts, Drs. Harry van der Hulst and Rachel Channon will build SignType, a database of the visual shape of signs. This database will be a web-based resource for the linguistic research community and the deaf community. SignType will include photographs and videotapes of sign inventories of a number of sign languages but the most important part of this database will be an analytic data structure for each sign, using a universal coding system. The coding system will include codes for the shape, movement and location of the hands, facial expressions, and many other characteristics. SignType will combine several inventories that other sign language researchers have made by translating their separate coding systems into the universal coding system. SignType will allow researchers to answer questions like: How many different handshapes or locations are there? Are there preferences? Once developed, SignType can also provide a basis for developing a universal (graphic) notation system for signs. There are, in addition, many potential practical applications such as providing material for dictionaries or sign animation/recognition software.