# Handshape

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{{Short description|Aspect of sign languages}}
{{Globalize||United States|date=March 2023}}
{{Distinguish|Handshake}}
In [sign language](/source/sign_language)s, '''handshape''', or '''dez''', refers to the distinctive configurations that the hands take as they are used to form words.<ref name="Tennant&Brown">{{cite book | vauthors = Tennant RA, Gluszak M, Brown MG | title = The American sign language handshape dictionary. | year = 1998 | publisher = Gallaudet University Press |isbn=1-56368-043-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americansignlang00tenn/page/407 407] |url=https://archive.org/details/americansignlang00tenn |url-access=registration |quote=Handshape. }}</ref> In [Stokoe](/source/William_Stokoe) terminology it is known as the {{sc|dez}}, an abbreviation of ''designator''. Handshape is one of five components of a sign, along with [location](/source/location_(sign_language)) ({{sc|tab}}), [orientation](/source/orientation_(sign_language)) ({{sc|ori}}), [movement](/source/movement_(sign_language)) ({{sc|sig}}), and [nonmanual features](/source/Nonmanual_feature). Different sign languages make use of different handshapes.

== Constraints ==
Possible handshapes are constrained by a variety of mechanic and neural factors. [Evolutionary](/source/Evolution) forces have led to some handshapes being easier or more natural for humans to produce than others. These tendencies can be summarized as follows:<ref name=":0">{{cite journal | vauthors = Miozzo M, Peressotti F | title = How the hand has shaped sign languages | journal = Scientific Reports | volume = 12 | issue = 1 | pages = 11980 | date = July 2022 | pmid = 35831441 | pmc = 9279340 | doi = 10.1038/s41598-022-15699-1 }}</ref>

# The selected (extended) finger is either the thumb or the index finger
# Neighboring fingers are coupled
# All fingers have the same shape

A 2022 study of handshapes found that 85.6% of handshapes in 33 sign languages conform to these biological tendencies. Additionally, 35 handshapes were found to be represented in 89.2% of the 33 languages examined. Handshapes that did not conform to these tendencies were common in [fingerspelling](/source/fingerspelling). This may be due to fingerspelling being a result of culture and explicit learning rather than arising naturally.<ref name=":0" />

==In American Sign Language==
thumb|160px|right|A sign language interpreter at a presentation. The two handshapes are the flat (B) hand and the tapered (O or M) hand.
{{main|American Sign Language phonology}}
[American Sign Language](/source/American_Sign_Language) uses 18 handshapes for ordinary signs, plus a few marginal handshapes taken from the [American Manual Alphabet](/source/American_Manual_Alphabet) for fingerspelling.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Stokoe WC, Casterline DC, Croneberg CG | title = A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles. | publisher = Linstok Press | date = 1976 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=source is severely outdated|date=July 2022}}

Not all handshapes occur with every orientation, movement, or location: there are restrictions. For example, the 5 and F handshapes (the approximate shapes of the hand in fingerspelling 5 and F) only make contact with another part of the body through the tip of the thumb, whereas the K and 8 (a.k.a. Y) handshapes only make contact through the tip of the middle finger, and the X handshape only with the flexed joint of the index finger.{{Citation needed|reason=information might be outdated|date=June 2023}}

== See also ==
* [Classifier handshape](/source/Classifier_handshape)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{sign language navigation}}

Category:Sign language

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Handshape](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handshape) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handshape?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.