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Everything about Stokoe notation

Phonemic script for sign languages

Stokoe notation is the first phonemic script used for sign languages. It was created by William Stokoe for American Sign Language (ASL), with Latin letters and numerals used for the shapes they have in fingerspelling, and iconic glyphs to transcribe the position, movement, and orientation of the hands. It was first published as the organizing principle of Sign Language Structure: An Outline of the Visual Communication Systems of the American Deaf (1960), and later also used in A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles, by Stokoe, Casterline, and Croneberg (1965). In the 1965 dictionary, signs are themselves arranged alphabetically, according to their Stokoe transcription, rather than being ordered by their English glosses 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 to British Sign Language (BSL) in Kyle et al. (1985) and to Australian Aboriginal sign languages in Kendon (1988). In each case the researchers modified the alphabet to accommodate phonemes not found in ASL. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: Stokoe notationA 5-minute orientation
  2. Pick up a classic book: Handbuch deutsche GebärdenspracheThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  3. Read the landmark paper: The British Sign Language Variant of Stokoe Notation: Report on a Type-Design ProjectCited 1 times
  4. Go sideways: A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic PrinciplesA closely related topic
  5. Go sideways: HandshapeA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

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🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Writing direction
  2. Symbol usage
  3. Example
  4. Published use of Stokoe notation

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

📚 Books worth reading

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