Stokoe notation

Stokoe coined the terms tab ("tabula" or sign location), dez ("designator" or handshape & orientation), and sig ("signation" or motion & action). These are used to categorize features of sign-language phonemes, somewhat like the distinction between consonant, vowel, and tone is used in the description of oral languages. A sign is written in the order tab-dez-sig: TD^s. Compound signs are separated with a double dashed pipe, approximately TD^s¦¦TD^s.

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 of Ted 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 in Unicode, and the second is an ASCII 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).

The tab symbols are a null sign for a neutral location and iconic symbols for parts of the head, arm, and torso. In addition, the dez (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 a dez involves two hands, two letters are used.

Dez symbols may also be used as tabs. 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 the tab, 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, the dez 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 the dez. 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 forearm tab sign prefixed to the dez (ascii j) shows that the forearms are prominent in the production of the sign, as in ⟨B_ɑ jB_^^ω⟩ tree.

The movement of the hand, or sig, is written with superscripted letters after the dez, as D^# (any dez D which closes). Multiple movement sigs are arranged linearly when the movements are sequential, as in TD^×∨× (any dez D which touches a tab T, moves down, and touches again),¹ but stacked one above the other when signed simultaneously, as in TD×ͮ (a dez which moves down while in contact with the tab).²

A dot placed above the sig indicates that the motion is sharp, as in TD^×̇ (sharp contact by the dez D),³ while a dot placed after the sig indicates that the motion is repeated, as in TD^×· (repeated contact by the dez; TDx" in ASCII).

A tilde with a two-hand dez, TDD^s~, indicates that first one hand performs the sig, then the other. Without the tilde, both hands are understood to act together.

A subset of the sig symbols used for motion are also used to indicate the orientation of the hand. In this use they are subscripted after the dez instead of superscripted, as in D_# (any dez D which starts off closed).⁴ Stokoe analyzed the orientation of the hand as part of the tab, 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 (resulting Dez D’ shown in brackets)	D◽	*D	D]	open
D#[D′]	D#[D′]	D#[D′]	close (resulting Dez D’ shown in brackets)	D#	#D	D#	closed
Dᴥ	De	De	wriggle fingers (symbol looks like a cursive e)	—
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.

¹ TDx-v-x in ASCII

² TDxv in ASCII

³ TDx! in ASCII

⁴ Closing hand and closed hand would be D# and #D in the ASCII system.

Several linguists, including Kyle & Woll, state that Stokoe's tab conflates two parameters, handshape and orientation, and split off ori (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 the tab is a hand shape, or the dez 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 indicate position above, below, next to, and behind: the underscore on the B in B 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)

• ASL-phabet, a simplified notation used in ASL-English dictionaries for Deaf children and Deaf education
• HamNoSys, a phonetic notational system used primarily for linguistic research
• SignWriting, a popular system that arranges symbols in a two-dimensional space rather than in a line
• si5s

Sources

• Free Stokoe font
• Description on the SignWriting site
• The MUSSLAP Project Multimodal Human Speech and Sign Language Processing for Human-Machine Communication.
• Towards a Unicode encoding of Stokoe Notation