Editing SignWriting (section)

== Arrangement of symbols ==

[[file:Jack and Jill.gif|thumb|320px|An example of SignWriting written in columns, the ASL translation of ''[[Jack and Jill (nursery rhyme)|Jack and Jill]]''|class=skin-invert-image]]

One of the unusual characteristics of SignWriting is its use of two-dimensional layout within an invisible 'sign box'.  The relative positions of the symbols within the box iconically represent the locations of the hands and other parts of the body involved in the sign being represented.  As such, there is no obvious linear relationship between the symbols within each sign box, unlike the sequence of characters within each word in most scripts for spoken languages.  This is also unlike other sign language scripts which arrange symbols linearly as in spoken languages.  However, since in sign languages many phonetic parameters are articulated simultaneously, these other scripts require arbitrary conventions for specifying the order of different parameters of handshape, location, motion, etc.  Although SignWriting does have conventions for how symbols are to be arranged relative to each other within a sign, the two-dimensional layout results in less arbitrariness and more iconicity than other sign language scripts.<ref name="ThiessenGrammar">{{cite book
 | last        = Thiessen
 | first       = Stuart
 | title       = A Grammar of SignWriting
 | year        = 2011
 | type        = M.A. thesis
 | publisher   = University of North Dakota
 | location    = Grand Forks ND
 | url         = https://arts-sciences.und.edu/academics/summer-institute-of-linguistics/theses/2011-thiessen-stuart-m.html
 | access-date = 1 April 2013
}}</ref>

Outside of each sign, however, the script is linear, reflecting the temporal order of signs.  Signs are most commonly now written in vertical columns (although formerly they were written horizontally).  Sign boxes are arranged from top to bottom within the column, interspersed with punctuation symbols, and the columns progress left to right across the page.  Within a column, signs may be written down the center or shifted left or right in 'lanes' to indicate side-to-side shifts of the body.