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November 23rd, 2021
American Sign Language

American Sign Language (ASL) is a complete, natural language. ASL is expressed by movements of the hands and face. It is the primary language of many North Americans who are deaf and hard of hearing, and is used by many hearing people as well.

It is suggested that ASL arose more than 200 years ago from the intermixing of local sign languages and French Sign Language (LSF, or Langue des Signes Française).

Fingerspelling is part of ASL and is used to spell out English words. In the fingerspelled alphabet, each letter corresponds to a distinct handshape. Fingerspelling is often used for proper names or to indicate the English word for something.

Try using the alphabet in the Yukon News article below to learn how to spell your name in ASL!