The American Sign Language Handshape Dictionary

Now, students and others interested in learning American Sign Language (ASL) can look up specific signs without needing to know their meaning in English beforehand. The American Sign Language Handshape Dictionary can help users locate a sign whose meaning they have forgotten, or help them find the meaning of a new sign they have just seen for the first time. Instead of offering a conventional alphabetical arrangement of English words and their corresponding signs, The ASL Handshape Dictionary organizes more than 1,600 ASL signs by 40 basic handshapes and includes detailed descriptions on how to form each sign. In easy-to-follow style, The ASL Handshape Dictionary explains how signs are used in ASL structure and presents clear, explicit directions on how to identify a sign and its meaning in the specific context of its use. A complete English word index provides the option of referring to an alphabetical listing of English terms to locate an equivalent sign or choice of signs.