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What is The Origin of Fingerspelling?

What is The Origin of Fingerspelling?

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Faith
The handshapes were originally taken from a book of prayers written by a Franciscan monk, Melchor Yebra. Each letter of the alphabet had a prayer associated with it; if a monk was too ill to recite the prayer, he could indicate his prayer intent by making the corresponding handshape. Use of the handshapes to form whole words and messages evolved, allowing monks to communicate without violating their oath of silence. The concept of a handshape representation letters of the alphabet was then borrowed for use in education of the deaf at the National Institution for Deaf-Mutes in Paris, where Laurent Clerc was a pupil and an instructor. In 1817, when he and Thomas Gallaudet established the American Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons, in Hartford, Connecticut, finger-spelling was an integral component of Signed Language.
In the 1995 and 60s, the Rochester Method of educating deaf students required both teachers and students to speak English and fingerspell each word simultaneously. Everything from daily lessons to the school play was done this way. Most national Sign Languages have developed some kind of fingerspelled alphabet one-handed or two handed. Most of these alphabets correspond to the alphabet of the spoken or written language used in the country. Finger spelling, as used in Kenya, is a direct, letter-by-letter representation of English words. As an incorporated component of sign language communication, fingerspelling has various but specific uses within KSL.
Titany answered the question on May 12, 2022 at 09:43

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