In sign languages, handshape, or dez, refers to the distinctive configurations that the hands take as they are used to form words. In Stokoe terminology it is known as the , an abbreviation of designator. Handshape is one of five components of a sign, along with location (), orientation (), movement (), and nonmanual features. Different sign languages make use of different handshapes.
In sign languages, handshape, or dez, refers to the distinctive configurations that the hands take as they are used to form words. In Stokoe terminology it is known as the , an abbreviation of designator. Handshape is one of five components of a sign, along with location (), orientation (), movement (), and nonmanual features. Different sign languages make use of different handshapes.
== Constraints == Possible handshapes are constrained by a variety of mechanic and neural factors. Evolutionary forces have led to some handshapes being easier or more natural for humans to produce than others. These tendencies can be summarized as follows: The selected (extended) finger is either the thumb or the index finger Neighboring fingers are coupled All fingers have the same shape
Discovered by embedding cosine similarity (sentence-transformers MiniLM, 384-dim).