Editing Fingerspelling (section)

==Families of manual alphabets in sign languages==

[[File:Relationships between the manual alphabets of sign languages.png|thumb|Relationships between the manual alphabets of sign languages, expressed as a [[phylogenetic network]]<ref name=Power2020/>]]

Power et al. (2020) conducted a large-scale data study into the evolution and contemporary character of 76 current and defunct manual alphabets (MAs) of sign languages, postulating the existence of eight groups: an Afghan–Jordanian Group, an Austrian-origin Group (with a Danish Subgroup), a British-origin Group, a French-origin Group, a Polish Group, a Russian Group, a Spanish Group, and a Swedish Group. Notably, several defunct versions of German, Austrian, Hungarian and Danish manual alphabets were part of the Austrian-origin group, while the current MAs of these sign languages are closely related to the French, American, [[International Sign]] and other MAs in the French-origin Group. [[Latvian Sign Language]]'s MA dangled somewhere between the Polish and Russian Groups, [[Finnish Sign Language]] (which belongs to the [[Swedish Sign Language family]]) had a French-origin MA, while [[Indo-Pakistani Sign Language]] (whose lexicon and grammar have independent origins) currently used a two-handed manual alphabet of British origin.<ref name=Power2020>{{Cite journal |last1=Power |first1=Justin M. |last2=Grimm |first2=Guido W. |last3=List |first3=Johann-Mattis |date=January 2020 |title=Evolutionary dynamics in the dispersal of sign languages |url=https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_3076167_3/component/file_3076168/content |journal=[[Royal Society Open Science]] |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=191100 |publisher=[[Royal Society]] |doi=10.1098/rsos.191100 |pmid=32218940 |pmc=7029929 |bibcode=2020RSOS....791100P |access-date=26 June 2020|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Yoel (2009) demonstrated that [[American Sign Language]] is influencing the lexicon and grammar of [[Maritime Sign Language]] in various ways, including the fact that the original [[two-handed manual alphabet#BANZSL alphabet|BANZSL two-handed manual alphabet]] is no longer used in [[the Maritimes]]<ref name=Yoel>{{cite thesis |last=Yoel |first=Judith |date=2009 |title=Canada's Maritime Sign Language |degree=PhD |location=Winnipeg |publisher=University of Manitoba |url=https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/handle/1993/21581 |format=PDF |access-date=2020-01-23}}</ref>{{rp|8,9,75,142}} and has been replaced by the one-handed [[American manual alphabet]], which has been influencing [[lexicalisation]].<ref name=Yoel/>{{rp|142}} Although all participants in her survey had learnt and could still produce the BANZSL fingerspelling, they had difficulty doing so, and all participants indicated that it had been a long time since they last used it.<ref name=Yoel/>{{rp|142}}

===One-handed===
[[File:NGT handalfabet.webm|thumb|[[Dutch Sign Language|Dutch manual alphabet]]]]
Two families of manual alphabets are used for representing the [[Latin alphabet]] in the modern world. The more common of the two<ref>Carmel, Simon (1982). ''International hand alphabet charts.'' [[National Association of the Deaf (United States)]]; 2nd edition. (June 1982). {{ISBN|0-9600886-2-8}}</ref> is mostly produced on one hand and can be traced back to alphabetic signs used in Europe from at least the early 15th century.

Some manual representations of non-Roman scripts such as Chinese, [[Japanese manual syllabary|Japanese]], Devanagari (e.g. the [[Nepali manual alphabet]]), Hebrew, Greek, Thai and Russian alphabets are based to some extent on the one-handed Latin alphabet described above. In some cases, however, the 'basis' is more theory than practice. Thus, for example, in the [[Japanese manual syllabary]] only the five vowels (ア /a/,　イ /i/,　ウ /u/,　エ /e/,　オ /o/) and the Ca (consonant plus "a' vowel) letters (カ /ka/, サ /sa/, ナ /na/, ハ /ha/, マ /ma/, ヤ /ya/, ラ /ra/, ワ /wa/, but notably ''not'' タ /ta/, which would resemble a somewhat rude gesture) derive from the [[American manual alphabet]]. In the [[Nepalese Sign Language|Nepali Sign Language]] only four 'letters' derive from the [[American manual alphabet]]: अ /a/, ब /b/, म /m/, and र /r/).

The [[Yugoslav manual alphabet]] represents characters from the [[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet]] as well as [[Gaj's Latin alphabet]].

[[File:Ukrainian manual alphabet 2003.JPG|thumb|right|[[Ukrainian manual alphabet]]]]
Manual alphabets based on the [[Arabic alphabet]],<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Richardson|first1=Kristina|title=New Evidence for Early Modern Ottoman Arabic and Turkish Sign Systems|journal=Sign Language Studies|date=Winter 2017|volume=17|issue=2|pages=172–192|doi=10.1353/sls.2017.0001|s2cid=44038104|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/648902}}</ref> the Ethiopian [[Ge'ez script]] and the Korean [[Hangul]] script use handshapes that are more or less iconic representations of the characters in the writing system.

===Two-handed===
[[File:Bsl-sign-language-coloring-at-coloring-pages-for-kids-boys-dotcom.svg|thumb|alt=British Sign Language Chart Colouring Picture|[[British Sign Language]] uses a [[Two-handed manual alphabets|two-handed alphabet]].]]
[[Two-handed manual alphabets]] are used by a number of deaf communities; one such alphabet is shared by users of [[British Sign Language]], [[Auslan]] and [[New Zealand Sign Language]] (collectively known as the [[BANZSL]] language family) and another is used in [[Turkish Sign Language]]. Some of the letters are represented by iconic shapes and in the BANZSL languages the vowels are represented by pointing to the fingertips.

Letters are formed by a dominant hand, which is on top of or alongside the other hand at the point of contact, and a subordinate hand, which uses either the same or a simpler handshape as the dominant hand. Either the left or right hand can be dominant. In a modified tactile form used by [[deafblind]] people the signer's hand acts as the dominant hand and the receiver's hand becomes the subordinate hand.

Some signs, such as the sign commonly used for the letter ''C'', may be one-handed.