The American manual alphabet is one of several in use today. It is ASL’s closest relative to a writing system, which most spoken languages employ. Each handshape in the manual alphabet corresponds to a written letter in the English alphabet (for ASL and other systems that use Latin characters). There is no "grammar" inherent to the manual alphabet—it simply takes the grammar of the language in which it is being used. For example, a signer of ASL who chooses to fingerspell a word or sentence using the manual alphabet will follow the grammatical rules of ASL.

It is believed that the American manual alphabet developed out of the Old French system, from which ASL has inherited about sixty percent of its signs. Although the exact origins of Old French Sign Language are not known, we do know of other systems that were developed and in use from as early as the mid-sixteenth century.

Middle Ages-- Monks communicated by made-up systems of gestures and manual spellings.

Mid-fifteenth century-- Pedro Ponce de Léon developed a series of gestures (representing letters) that corresponded to positions of the tongue, teeth, and lips.

1620-- Juan Pablo Martin Bonet published de Léon’s manual alphabet and claimed that he was the inventor.

1680-- George Dalgarno published the Didascalocophus, a two handed system, in which each letter was represented by a designated spot on the left hand. In order to indicate a letter, a signer would touch the designated spot with any finger of the right hand (for vowels) or the right thumb (for consonants).

Mid-eighteenth century-- Jacob Rodriguez Pereire adapted Bonet’s alphabet by adding 30 handshapes each corresponding to a sound (as opposed to a letter). He also developed signs for numbers and punctuation.

 

Students at the National Institution for Deaf-Mutes in France (see history to learn more) all came in with their own personal systems of gestures and ways of communicating. Gradually, a system evolved between the students and the teachers at the Institute and is probably what led to the creation of a French alphabet, from which we get the American manual alphabet.