Transcription
There is no universally accepted transcription system for sign languages, and each one has their own pros and cons.
Cross-linguistic
Hamburg Notation System (HamNoSys)
HamNoSys is a pictographic system that aims to transcribe all sign languages and was originally developed in 1985 at the University of Hamburg for research purposes. The latest revision of HamNoSys is HamNoSys 4. (Hanke 2004). It is read linearly from left to right and, while you can be very precise in its transcription, it can be rather verbose and cumbersome to read. While transcribing non-manuals is possible, it is rather limited. It is not in unicode and requires a particular font.
- HamNoSys overview slides - PowerPoint slide overview of HamNoSys
- HamNoSys font - The font for displaying HamNoSys
- Online HamNoSys input palette - Browser-based virtual keyboard for HamNoSys
- HamNoSys LaTeX package on CTAN - Package for writing HamNoSys in LaTeX
SignWriting
SignWriting is a pictographic system that transcribes sign languages with the benefit of being non-linear. It was invented by Valerie Sutton after her method of transcribing dance, DanceWriting, was brought to the attention of the Deaf community.
Sign Language IPA (SLIPA)
SLIPA is a sign language transcription system expressly intended as a sign language analog for the IPA useful for conlanging, created by the conlanger David J. Peterson.
- SLIPA Cheetsheet - Short reference for using SLIPA
Language-specific
A number of notation systems are specific to certain sign languages.
Stokoe Notation (ASL)
Stokoe Notation transcribes specifically ASL. William Stokoe, its inventor, pioneered sign language linguistics as a whole by analyzing ASL and is in large part responsible for the widespread recognition of sign languages as languages rather than non-linguistic gestures. Being specific to ASL, it only has symbols for the locations, handshapes, and movements used in ASL. (Stokoe 1960)