signLingo
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Reference

japanese sign language

JSL fingerspelling traces kana in the air, and the language uses mouth shapes as grammar rather than decoration.

Numbers5

  • 1

    Index finger straight up.

  • 2

    Index and middle fingers up.

  • 3

    Index, middle and ring fingers up.

  • 4

    All four fingers up, thumb tucked across the palm.

  • 5

    Open hand, all five fingers spread.

Words & phrases1

  • flat hand

    All five fingers straight and pressed together, palm forward.

    One of the base handshapes JSL builds many signs from.

what this chart doesn’t cover

Fingerspelling is a small corner of JSL. Real signing carries grammar in movement, facial expression and the space in front of you — none of which a still handshape can hold. Treat this as a doorway, and learn the rest from Deaf teachers.

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