Fingerspelling in American Sign Language

As you are learning sign language, you need to master the skill of American Sign Language fingerspelling (spelling out words by hand one letter at a time).

In American Sign Language, fingerspelling is used to indicate names, titles, and places. Try not to use fingerspelling as your first choice when you don’t know the sign. Instead, attempt to get your point across by combining other signs or using some other method.

The manual alphabet is the foundation of spelling with your hands. Visit our American Sign Language Alphabet page for 6 free downloads to help you learn the manual alphabet. Practice makes perfect!

Manual Alphabet Video Demonstration

In the video below, the letters of the manual alphabet will be demonstrated:

Fingerspelling Tips

Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Hold your dominant hand in a comfortable position upright and in front of your shoulder with your palm facing forward at a slight angle.
• Maintain a smooth rhythm as you spell the words. Aim for articulation, not speed. Speed will come naturally. Right now, you just want to make sure you form the letters correctly so people will understand you. Try not to bounce your hand as you spell, or you will make someone very dizzy! Also allow a slight pause between words.
• Mouth each word as you fingerspell it–not each letter.
• For words with double letters, open your hand slightly between the letters. For open letters such as B and L, move your hand slightly to the right with a very slight bounce for the second letter.
• To distinguish abbreviations, capitalize each letter by moving your hand in a small clockwise circle as you sign each letter.

You can also practice reading fingerspelling by using Dr. Bill Vicars’ Fingerspelling Tool.

Being able to sign and understand fingerspelling is very important when you are new to sign language and haven’t learned a lot of signs. You will find that the more fluent you become in ASL, the less you will be relying on American Sign Language fingerspelling.

Michelle Jay

Michelle Jay is the founder of StartASL.com. She earned a Bachelor‘s Degree in Deaf Studies, with an emphasis in teaching, from one of the nation’s premier programs at California State University, Northridge. Michelle is a published author and has contributed thought-provoking articles to academic publishers such as Greenhaven Press. Her unique articles have done much to support Deaf Culture, and have been printed in resource publications such as American Chronicle and Perspectives on Diseases & Disorders: Deafness & Hearing Impairments.

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