Fingerspelling is an alternative method for the deaf to communicate besides sign language. As the name suggests, it involves spelling out the letters of the alphabet. The manual alphabets are known as finger alphabets or hand alphabets. Fingerspelling is also used to indicate numbers.
Different sign languages use different manual alphabets, and their fingerspelling methods are accordingly different. So you have distinct differences in manual alphabets and hand signs for sign languages in Latin, Hebrew, Greek, Devanagari and so on. In general -
- The person doing the fingerspelling holds up one hand or both hands with the palms facing the person he/she is addressing. American Manual Alphabet and the International Manual Alphabet use one-handed signals, while the manual alphabets in the Turkish Sign Language require use of both hands.
- Using one hand or two hands, the fingerspeller may trace the alphabet letters in the air or make certain established hand signs to denote each individual letter.
- The person signing may or may not make mouth movements, voicing the word being spelled, to accompany the hand signals.
- In some sign languages, like in the Italian Sign language, the finger spelling is slow and precise, while in other, like in the British Sign Language, it can be rather rapid fire.
Apart from its use by deaf communities, fingerspelling has also been used to create ciphers and signals.
Beginners can find fingerspelling confusing and hard to understand, especially reading what another person is fingerspelling. Learning how to fingerspell fluently takes time and continual practice.
