The International Movement Writing Alphabet (IMWA) is a set of symbols that can be used to describe and record movement. Its creator,
Valerie Sutton
Valerie Sutton (born February 22, 1951) is an American developer of movement notation and a former dancer.
Early life
She was born in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City, the daughter of a physicist father and a poetry, poet/Model (perso ...
, also invented MovementWriting, a writing system which employs IMWA. It in turn has several application areas within which it is specialised.
Application areas
Sign language transcription
Sutton SignWriting is optimised for
sign language
Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...
s and has the most development so far.
Dance notation
DanceWriting is a form of
dance notation
Dance notation is the symbolic representation of human dance movement and form, using methods such as graphic symbols and figures, path mapping, numerical systems, and letter and word notations. Several dance notation systems have been invented ...
.
Mimestry notation
MimeWriting is for classic
mimestry.
Kinesiology
SportsWriting is for the
kinesiology
Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...
of
ice skating
Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...
and
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...
.
Identification numbers
The IMWA has more than 27,000 elements that are represented by unique identification numbers. Each identification number specifies six attributes——as dash-separated values. The symbol is specified with a three-digit value whereas all other attributes use a two-digit value (e.g., 01-01-001-01-01-01).
There are eight categories: hand, movement, face, head, upper body, full body, space, and punctuation.
There are 40 groups. The {{clarify span, keyboard design and symbol palette, date=April 2014 are based on the 40 groups.
History
Valerie Sutton
The IMWA was originally designed for describing sign language and consequently was named ''Sutton's Sign Symbol Sequence'' (SSS) by its inventor, Valerie Sutton. The original symbol set, SSS-95, was limited in size due to memory constraints in personal computers at the time. The SSS-99 symbol set expanded the number of symbols, and the SSS-2002 set was the first to use the current identification numbering system. The final version, SSS-2004, was renamed ''International Movement Writing Alphabet'' (SSS-IMWA) to reflect its usefulness in applications beyond sign language.
External links
MovementWritingIMWA Design DocumentsIMWA Keyboard Design
category:writing systems
category:constructed scripts
