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Non-dominant handshape tendency in ASL: "ABCOS15"

 

In American Sign Language the letters and numbers "ABCOS15" are the typical handshapes formed by your non-dominant hand when it is serving as the base hand for a two-handed sign. 

For two-handed signs in which the hands do not have the same handshape you will notice that typically the non-dominant hand is in one of these shapes: "ABCOS15." 

a.gif (156187 bytes) b.gif (461540 bytes) c.gif (438798 bytes) o.gif (401307 bytes) s.gif (221650 bytes) cl-5.gif (14554 bytes)


You see those shapes on the non-dominant signing hand when it is providing a stationary base for your "in-motion" dominant hand.


For example, if you are right handed and are doing a two-handed sign in which only one hand moves then the left hand will almost always be one of those handshapes (ABCOS15) and vice versa for left-handed people.

 



 

Notes: 
Memory aid:  "It took me 15 years to get my BA in SOC."

 




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