Manual Alphabet

Manual alphabet is used to fingerspell a series of the alphabetical letters to form a phonetic or a spoken/written word when there is no signed word in a sign language. E.g. a person's name, a place, a technical word, etc. There are different manual alphabets around the world. Some countries or sign language cultures have similar manual alphabets with a few modifications, borrowing an alphabet from one another, but their sign languages remain to be distinct.

The one-handed American manual alphabet is a set of 26 manual alphabetical letters, corresponding to the English alphabet. It is used for fingerspelling a string of alphabetical letters of a certain English word, person's name, etc. This manual alphabet is derived from the French manual alphabet of the 18th century. This manual alphabet with a few modifications is used in many countries or sign languages. For example, the German and American manual alphabets are almost similar; however, ASL and German Sign Language are entirely different.

The two-handed British manual alphabet is commonly used in Australia, England, New Zealand and some other countries. Both British manual alphabet and British sign language are entirely different from the American manual alphabet and American Sign Language which are mainly used in the U.S. and Canada.

American Manual Alphabet for Kids

You can download the poster (pdf) of American Manual Alphabet.