AY Honors/Sign Language/Answer Key

The American Sign Language alphabet is a manual alphabet to complement the vocabulary of American Sign Language when spelling individual letters of a word is the preferred or only option, such as with proper names or the titles of works. Letters should be signed with the dominant hand and in most cases, with palm facing the viewer. In most drawings or illustrations of the alphabet, some of the letters are depicted from the side to better illustrate the desired handshape even though, in practice, the hand should not be turned to the side in order to produce the letter. The letters cee and o are two that are often mistakenly turned to the side by beginners who become used to seeing them from the side in illustrations. Important exceptions to the rule that the palm should be facing the viewer are the letters gee and h. These two letters should be made, not with the palm facing the viewer or the speaker, but with the palm facing sideways - the hand in an ergonomically neutral position.