How do signers spell words with their hands, and why?

Fingerspelling is spelling a word letter by letter using only the hands. Each letter of the writing system has its own handshape, and the full set is called a manual alphabet. There are about forty of them around the world. Signers use fingerspelling to bring in words from the surrounding spoken language, most often names of people and places, and for words that have no sign at that moment.

It is not the same thing as signing, which surprises many beginners. Fingerspelling was introduced into some sign languages by educators, and it works as a bridge between the sign language and the spoken language around it. Even in ASL, which leans on it more than most, it makes up only about 8.7% of casual signing. The rest is signs, with their own grammar.

Manual alphabets also come in different shapes. ASL, French Sign Language and Irish Sign Language spell with one hand; British Sign Language spells with two. In ASL, the letters J and Z are drawn in the air, so the finger traces the shape of the letter. Names are a good example of the human side. Laurent Clerc, the deaf teacher who co-founded the first school for the deaf in North America, had a scar on his right cheek from a childhood burn. His name sign was made with the handshape for the letter U, with two fingers stroked down that cheek.

Reading fingerspelling is its own skill. Fluent signers keep eye contact and take the word in as a whole, while learners often need it spelled slowly, looking straight at the hand.