Sign Language Alphabets
Many people are not aware that there are many different sign languages! While we primarily use American Sign Language, we wanted to share a variety of languages and their alphabets to show how diverse the world of Deaf people is!
American Sign Language
The American Sign Language alphabet uses one hand for each of the 26 letters. The roots of American Sign Language trace back to the 18th and 19th centuries and are heavily influenced by French Sign Language.
British Sign Language
The British Sign Language (BSL) alphabet, a two-handed manual alphabet, has roots dating back to the 16th century, with formal standardization efforts emerging in the 18th century. The first known documented use of BSL was in a marriage ceremony in 1576, with BSL alphabet depictions appearing in print as early as 1720.
French Sign Language
French Sign Language requires only one hand, and individuals can choose to use either their left or their right. There are a total of 26 signs, corresponding to the 26 letters of the alphabet. French Sign Language is frequently attributed to Michel de l'Epee, but his attempts to popularize the sign language he encountered resulted in an overcomplicated system. Eventually the French Deaf people established their more intuitive system.
Japanese Fingerspelling
Japanese does not use letters in the same way that ASL does, but they have their own fingerspelling technique based on hiragana.
Chinese Sign Language
The Chinese alphabet has developed over time and the modern version is based on pinyin, the romanized pronunciation guide for Chinese.
Russian Manual Alphabet
The Russian alphabet is based on the Cyrillic letters.
