Norwegian Sign Language: Overview of Resources and Experiments with Automatic SignWriting Transcription

Abstract

Norwegian Sign Language (NTS) remains an under-resourced sign language despite its official recognition in Norway since 2022. The limited availability of structured, reusable, and publicly accessible datasets continues to hinder both linguistic research and the development of sign language technologies such as recognition and translation systems. This paper presents an overview of existing datasets and potential data sources for NTS, categorizing them by accessibility, format, and suitability for computational research. We further discuss legal, ethical, and practical considerations related to data reuse, including copyright and privacy constraints. In addition, we report on a series of pilot experiments exploring alternative data acquisition strategies, including dictionary videos, SignWriting resources, and broadcast news material. These preliminary experiments explore whether automatic SignWriting transcription can serve as an intermediate representation for NTS, and examine its potential role in sign identification within continuous signing. The aim of this work is both to document ongoing efforts and to support future initiatives toward the sustainable development of NTS resources.

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