A Layer-Based Evaluation of Signed Language Writing Systems

This comparative working paper applies the critical review framework to Filhol (2020), Grushkin (2017), Thiessen (2011), and Unicode SignWriting. The comparison demonstrates a recurring pattern: each work identifies a real part of the signed-writing problem, but the insight is often displaced onto the wrong layer or pressed too far toward becoming the whole answer. The paper argues that signed writing analysis becomes clearer when semantic representation, literacy design, symbol analysis, character standardization, writing systems, text models, rendering, evidence, and infrastructure are kept distinct. This document DOI record includes the comparative matrix as a companion packet file for the evaluation.