Editing SignWriting (section)

{{short description|System of writing sign languages}}
{{for|the signage profession|Signwriter}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2025}}
{{infobox writing system
 | name      = SignWriting
 | type      = [[Iconicity|Iconic]] [[featural script]]
 | languages = [[American Sign Language]], [[Danish Sign Language]] and other [[sign language]]s
 | time      = 1974–present
 | sample    = SignWriting-render.svg
 | imagesize = 64
 | iso15924  = Sgnw
 | unicode   = [https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1D800.pdf U+1D800&ndash;U+1DAAF]
 | note      = none
 | direction = horizontal (left-to-right) or vertical (top-to-bottom)
 | footnotes = <p><span class="infobox-label" style="padding-right:2.4em;">'''Website'''</span> [https://signwriting.org SignWriting.org]</p><p><span class="infobox-label" style="padding-right:3em;">'''Mobile'''</span> [https://m.signwriting.org m.SignWriting.org]</p>
}}
{{contains special characters|SignWriting}}

'''Sutton SignWriting''', or simply '''SignWriting''', is a system of [[written sign language]]s. It is highly [[featural alphabet|featural]] and visually iconic: the shapes of the characters are abstract pictures of the hands, face, and body; and unlike most written words, which follow a primarily linear arrangement, SignWriting is structured two-dimensionally. It was developed in 1974 by [[Valerie Sutton]], a [[dancer]] who had, two years earlier, developed [[DanceWriting]]. Some newer standardized forms are known as the '''International Sign Writing Alphabet''' (ISWA).