Lassal - The American Sign Language Alphabet: Letters A-Z, Numbers 0-9

Title Lassal The American Sign Language Alphabet
Reference Guide ASL Fingerspelling with the Letters AZ and the Numbers 09
Seen from Two Viewpoints Illustrated by Lassal Nominated for the
German Prize for Civic Engagement 2013 Version 1.0
2015 LegendaryMedia Dedication For those who came over to play. Introduction Introduction Contrary to common belief, signed alphabets do not belong to the same system as the sign languages of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing. While the national sign languages of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing are widely accepted as languages of their own, the manual alphabets are used for fingerspelling, thus for the representation of the letters of a writing system, and sometimes a numeral system, using only the hands. While a national sign language is therefore a specific language, fingerspelling can be used to represent any writing system, including a specific sign or oral language. Despite the different systems, fingerspelling is commonly used in sign languages for several purposes:

• To represent words from an oral language which have no sign equivalent, or where the sign equivalent is unknown.
• To clarify.
• When teaching or learning a sign language.
• Until a person receives a sign name, the person's name is usually fingerspelled.

Considering that the manual alphabet is part of the education of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, and that it is fairly easy and fast to learn and to use for any person, the manual alphabet can be described as a bridge or stepping stone for the communication gap between the Hearing and the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing communities worldwide. Some difficulties and complications for a wider usage of fingerspelling alphabets:

• International differences between sign languages and fingerspelling alphabets (they are not interchangeableeach country has its own official versions).
• Extensive costs for licensing high quality visual material necessary for education inside and outside the national official educational systems.
• Free or cheap material found online or being passed around is often incorrect or ambiguous.
• Not much material with a fun or coolness factor which would speaks to children.
• Languages and representational systems might change and adapt through time.
• If languages and representational systems are left undocumented and unmaintained, unwanted variations and permutations will increase the complexity and difficulty of a future language maintenance.

The aim of this book is to provide an approved documentation of the American fingerspelling alphabetin cooperation with national organizations and educational systems of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing communities in the United States.

This book is part of a series of documentations of international fingerspelling alphabets. Sign up for the ASL New Releases mailing list and get a collection of unique poster charts with the ASL Alphabet. Click here to get started: ASL CHARTS Instructions Instructions While fingerspelling you should try to follow these rules:

• Keep your arms still and your hand in one place (unless the sign requires otherwise).
  Make it easy for the viewer to follow you.
• Use your dominant hand for fingerspelling.
  If you are left-handed, use your left hand. Likewise, if you areright-handed, use your right hand.
• Focus on being precise instead of on being fast.
• Keep a consistent pace and include a perceptible pause between words.

How to Use the Illustrations POINTS OF VIEW
Or How to Use the Illustrations The illustrations consist of three elements. Next to the letter/number represented you will find two illustrations with hand signs. As you can see in the image on the top, the upper part shows the hand sign as seen from the viewer and the lower part shows the hand sign as seen from the signer.

Please note that the bottom illustrations basically shows the sings from the backwith the aim to clarify the positions of the fingers. The American Manual Alphabet THE AMERICAN MANUAL ALPHABET A a B b C c D d E e F f G g H h I i J j K k L l M m N n O o P p Q q R r S s T t U u V v W w X x Y y Z z Alphabet Overview ALPHABET OVERVIEW
As Seen by the Viewer A-I J-R

Next page