{{Short description|Writing system to describe movement}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2024}}

The '''International Movement Writing Alphabet''' (IMWA) is a set of symbols that can be used to describe and record movement. Its creator, Valerie Sutton, also invented '''MovementWriting''', a writing system which employs IMWA. It in turn has several application areas within which it is specialised: * '''SignWriting''', for sign languages, the most developed so far.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=El Ghoul |first=Oussama |last2=Jemni |first2=Mohamed |date=2009 |title=Multimedia Courses Generator for Deaf Children |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aci&AN=45526288&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site |journal=International Arab Journal of Information Technology |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=458–463 |via=EBSCOhost}}</ref> * '''DanceWriting''', a form of dance notation. * '''MimeWriting''', for classic mimestry. * '''SportsWriting''', for the kinesiology of ice skating and gymnastics.

== Identification numbers == The IMWA has more than 27,000 elements that are represented by unique identification numbers. Each identification number specifies six attributes—{{clarify span|category, group, symbol, variation, fill, and rotation|date=April 2014}}—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.{{clarify|date=April 2014}}

There are 40 groups{{clarify|date=April 2014}}. The {{clarify span|keyboard design and symbol palette|date=April 2014}} are based on the 40 groups.

== History == thumb|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.

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://movementwriting.org MovementWriting] * [https://www.movementwriting.org/symbolbank/IMWA2004/ IMWA Design Documents] * [https://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs2/sw0123-SSS-2004-Keyboard.pdf IMWA Keyboard Design]

Category:Writing systems Category:Constructed scripts